Augmented Reality on Your Desk—All You Need Is a Lightbulb Socket
...the premise behind a project from researchers in the Future Interfaces Group at Carnegie Mellon University. Called Desktopography, it uses a small projector, a depth sensor, and a computer to project images onto surfaces; the projections can move around to stay out of the way of objects that are also on the surface. It screws into a lightbulb socket, and the latest prototype uses the lamp for power, says Robert Xiao, a graduate student who leads the project.
If you place an object—say, a cup—on the area where one of the images is projected, software helps it quickly move to an open spot.
“It’s about trying to break interaction out from our screens and our devices, where they’re separated from reality, and a separate world, really … and try to merge those onto our environment,” Xiao says.
Xiao is trying to be realistic, saying it could take about five years to make his project a real product.
See the full story here: https://www.technologyreview.com/s/608198/augmented-reality-on-your-desk-all-you-need-is-a-lightbulb-socket/
How an international team made an augmented reality detective game
One studio with a novel approach to augmented reality play is Funbakers, who have just released their AR title Silent Streets for iOS and Android. What makes the game particularly interesting is the way it marries modern technology with classic storytelling.
The game is set in the fictional Victorian town of Snowport. You play a detective who arrives in town, and quickly finds himself embroiled in a murder mystery.
It is, basically, a good old-fashioned detective story. Not long after booting up the app, however, the AR-elements kick in.
When searching an environment for important objects, you can use your phone’s camera to find the items in the ‘real world’. If you decide to travel to another area of the city, you have to physically walk a prescribed distance (don’t worry - the step counts are modest). This can be done in the background, so you don’t have to keep staring at your phone while you’re walking about (those pesky safety concerns that were raised about Pokémon Go don't apply here).
Meanwhile, you may have ‘encounters’ as the app runs away in the background - your phone may vibrate as you walk, for example, to inform you that you have encountered a mysterious stranger in game.
The result is a satisfying mix of the old and the new. The AR elements are less intrusive than other games of its ilk, while lending the whole experience (already blessed by excellent production values) a very welcome sense of tangibility.
Making and selling the game
Pricing wise, the game’s first episode is free. Players can then buy the later episodes, while the game also offers the option to take ‘cab rides’ (i.e. watch ads or pay real money) to quickly skip the in-game walks - albeit in a way that stays true to the game's fiction.
Like many modern development teams, the Silent Streets crew operate remotely. Demid said: “I'm in Maynooth, while Kevin Boylan - our intern programmer from IT Carlow - works from home in Co Wexford. Other team members are indeed scattered all over the world, from Brazil and England to Belarus and Russia.
“We use Slack and Skype extensively, but sure sometimes there's loss of information, and we may spend an hour quarrelling in a text chat!
See the full story here; http://www.newstalk.com/How-an-international-team-made-an-augmented-reality-detective-game
RYOT Studios’ Molly Swenson on Turning Impact Storytelling and Virtual Reality into a Business (Video)
[She talks about RYOT's repositioning to include branded content in VR and AR.]
See the full story with 18 minute video here: https://thevideoink.com/ryot-studios-molly-swenson-on-turning-impact-storytelling-and-virtual-reality-into-a-business-bf21673078da
Gene Munster Thinks Apple’s Augmented Reality Glasses Will Launch in 2020 for $1,300
Munster estimates that "Apple Glasses" will initially be priced at $1,300. That price point might limit early demand, but like all emerging technologies, costs are high initially but come down rapidly over time -- Munster expects average selling prices to decline to $1,000 by 2022 -- spurring adoption in the process.
As far as avoiding the same mistakes, one important step that Apple is taking is releasing ARKit for iOS well in advance of Apple Glasses. This helps Apple build a pipeline of AR content, starting with the iPhone. You can be confident that once Apple Glasses are ready to launch, Apple will make it easy for developers to bring existing AR apps to Apple Glasses (Google Glass was lacking on the content front, as there were only a few dozen third-party apps).
Apple has taken note of the importance of aesthetics when it comes to wearables, which is why it offers such a wide array of Apple Watch configurations to cater to diverse consumer preferences. Additionally, industrial design is one of Apple's greatest strengths. It's not clear what the optimal interface for AR glasses should be, but Apple also has a strong track record in this department; each of Apple's game-changing products were built on revolutionary new interfaces.
See the full story here: https://www.fool.com/investing/2017/06/29/gene-munster-thinks-apples-augmented-reality-glass.aspx
5 Takeaways from VRTO that will Help to Guide VR Forward
The VR Industry’s Unique Culture Will Fuel Innovation
With technology evolving so rapidly, in my own talk at VRTO on how to monetize VR, I warned attendees to steer clear of innovating for VR. We are in an industry that needs to maintain a focus on solving for the jobs to be done, not the technology, and we also have to preserve our culture of people rallying behind changing the world.
It’s Different in Canada
Under Ana Serrano’s leadership as the Chief Digital Officer of the Canadian Film Centre (CFC), her Team is driving Canadian innovation with a blend of government, corporate and private funding, paired with four activities which reinforce each other. First, they are investing in technology and content creating companies for VR, AR, MR and more. Second, they’re running labs on a range of capabilities in the ecosystems. And, they’re working in the space themselves to build expertise and learnings, as well as sharing their own research findings, in their new quarterly Pulse on VR study that is posted free for the industry to access. Serrano highlighted that the study proves Canadian companies are already monetizing VR.
It’s not just the collaboration and support from government-backed groups. Keram Malicki-Sanchez, Founder and Executive Director at VRTO Virtual & Augmented Reality World Conference & Expo, credits an aggregation of three unique factors that are helping to drive the success of VR in Canada. It’s “the combination of multiculturalism, government subsidized arts and technology innovation programs, and in Toronto particularly, this model of artist run coops that make the power tools available to artists.”
Partner Up
Corporate Vice President of Alliances for AMD, Roy Taylor, flew in to speak at VRTO. But one of his main goals of attending was to “listen, and to learn.”
One of AMD’s focuses right now is to better understand the new needs of out-of-home VR businesses, such as allowing for the best playback performance.
And we can learn exponentially faster with AI. AMD’s Taylor was also clear that “ No way can we develop VR, without at the same time develop artificial intelligence and deep neural networks.”
Out-of-Home VR Is Being Monetized, And There Are Ways To Solve for Its Challenges
Canadian-born IMAX, The VOID, and the hundreds of VR arcades popping up world-wide, are proof that out-of-home VR has a range of business models that work.
But moderator Charlie Fink called attention to the labour, through-put and guest count peak and valley challenges that still need to be solved.
Pay Attention to Untapped Markets
A handful of Znaimer’s media innovations engage boomers, and he sees a great opportunity to build VR solutions for them. His message was clear. “I want to dispel this idea that boomers aren’t interested in kicks, they’re not interested in ‘wow moments’, they’re not interested in deeply shallow things…and they are definitely not slow to adapt.”
See the full story here: https://uploadvr.com/5-takeaways-vrto-will-help-guide-vr-forward/
Snapchat bought the AR location intellectual property of startup Drop
In 2013, Drop developed an app that would let you post photos or text to a certain location, like a landmark or business, and your followers would get an alert to check it out when they came nearby. By utilizing Drop’s intellectual property, Snapchat could launch a similar feature allowing users to discover location-based messages with the Snap Map or Snapchat’s AR lenses.
See the full story here: https://techcrunch.com/2017/06/30/snapchat-drop/?ncid=tcdaily&utm_medium=TCnewsletter
Google Is Experimenting With Virtual Reality Advertising
Clay Bavor, VP of Virtual Reality for Google, introduces the Daydream View VR headset during the presentation of new Google hardware in San Francisco, California, U.S. October 4, 2016. REUTERS/Beck Diefenbach - RTSQQSZ
According to an animated GIF created by Google (GOOG, -2.64%), the VR ad prototype resembles a small cube with corporate logos adorned on all sides. By either clicking on the cube or staring at it long enough, people can trigger the cube to generate a small screen above that shows a video ad, sort of like a small clown might burst out of a jack-in-the-box toy.
See the full story here: http://fortune.com/2017/06/28/google-virtual-reality-advertising/
Queen, Adam Lambert team up for virtual reality concert
Queen and Adam Lambert have teamed up with Universal Music Group to bring their show directly into your living room.
The band’s May 2016 concert at Barcelona’s Palau Sant Jordi will now be available in full 360° through VRTGO, Universal Music Group’s virtual reality platform, they announced Wednesday.
“VR the Champions” is available for $9.99 for iPhone and Android devices and accessible through most web browsers.
See the full story here: http://www.nydailynews.com/entertainment/music/queen-adam-lambert-team-virtual-reality-concert-article-1.3286545