Tech Stream

Augmented Reality

26 June 2009

Listen and download: MP3

We caught a glimpse this week of some mobile applications that allow you to look at the world around you and see an overlay of virtual information.  Point the phone’s camera at a building and a dialog box pops up on the screen with what it is, when it was built, how far away it is from you etc.   You can still see the physical world but now virtual content has been added on top. This is an example of augmented reality.  More after the jump…

The advent of smartphones with GPS, built-in digital compasses and high quality cameras and screens has made mobile augmented reality applications possible.  Here’s a video for an Android app that uses this technology:

And another application called Wikitude which is in use in the Netherlands:

When computer generated content is mixed with real world space we open opportunities for games as well. Check out this video for a zombie-killing game which is being used on an NVIDIA  mobile device:

But there’s more to augmented reality than just changing what we see through a screen. There’s plenty of research into using projectors and special glasses to create or view virtual layers in our physical space. Here’s an example created at the RCVLab at Queen’s University in Canada:

The sixth-sense projection technology being developed at MIT could also be thought of as an augmented reality system. Its looks a little “minority report” but this video will probably blow your mind.

To find out more about augmented reality I spoke with Professor Bruce Thomas from the Wearable Computer Lab at the University of South Australia.  And Christy Dena, a cross-media researcher and consultant. You can hear our interviews in the MP3 link above.

For a more thorough overview of augmented reality technologies I recommend the fantastic report posted this week at NextWeb, the gaming website Games Alfresco and the resources and news at Not Just Reality.