We wander in a fog of ignorance, blindly staring at people, buildings, and landscapes without receiving the slightest hint of information about what we’re seeing. We are crippled by what we can store only in our brains. This will change. We will cross between the real and virtual worlds more easily than we cross from a sidewalk to a street. We will live in the realm of augmented reality via wireless Internet, and I pity the fools who resist.
Second Life offers one of the best mainstream virtual reality programs with 3D scenery and avatars. But it is clumsy, slow, and primitive. It portrays more “virtual” than virtual + reality. It binds us to desktops or laptops. That is not the future, which demands we bring the virtual with us.
The first step on the way to advanced augmented reality might be snapping a camera phone photo, transmitting it via wireless Internet, and reading information on the screen. GPS location data combined with image recognition software will identify a building, for example, and transmit such data as the building’s name, address, tenants/offices, and historical significance (if any). Text will be supplemented automatically by audio and video files on the phone.
Nokia Corp. (NYSE: NOK), which conducts extensive research in virtual/augmented reality, is working on a relatively confidential Point & Find image recognition business. Today, if you walk along the U.K.’s famous historical Roman site, Hadrian's Wall, you can buy software that automatically triggers video clips based on your phone’s GPS location.
But this is still too primitive for me.
Automatic augmented reality The next step is automatic augmented reality, which is under development by universities and corporations around the world. In the future, when I again visit the Place de la Bastille in Paris, I want to point my phone at the monument and view the Bastille prison/fortress as it was in the 1700s. I want to see it being stormed during the French Revolution and view and hear the wardens, inmates, aristocrats, and revolutionaries tell their stories.
The seeds of this scenario are being sown, albeit in an extremely modest way. The Georgia Institute of Technology’s Voices of Oakland project enables researchers to walk in Atlanta’s Oakland Cemetery and listen to information about the cemetery and people who are buried, based on GPS location. A futuristic application might be to see an image of the deceased person and hear his or her tale.
As a prelude to the future, you must watch D’Fusion’s augmented reality demonstration, in which a building rises from ruins.
Notably, the future will not involve watching augmented reality on a phone, but rather on eyeglass displays, as I've previously written. You will not bump into objects, because the surroundings and incoming data will be viewed through retinal imaging Terminator-style glasses, which already are in development.
Our eyes will be cursors as we navigate the display’s menus via eye movements, a technique that has been researched for years. We might also employ voice commands, but no one will hear us. We will use subvocalizing, which also has been demonstrated.
Although we’ll be able to retrieve a staggering amount of information, the possibilities for mischief -- criminal and otherwise -- also will be staggering. Just as we can take control of phones via Bluetooth ("Bluejacking"), so could our augmented reality be jacked or hacked. Our GPS position could be compromised, or we could be fed false data and videos. We could look at a face, and data displayed about that person could be false.
Virtual reality packages will be fraught with digital rights management issues. Imagine visiting an art museum and viewing information on your glasses about each painting and sculpture, with videos of the artist and prices for his/her work. Now imagine the wireless signals are blocked or the data in your glasses is scrambled because the museum claims the sole right to provide information.
The problems notwithstanding, wireless Internet augmented reality is how most of us will view the world. People who are too poor to afford it will be at a tremendous disadvantage. A minority will have sufficient funds but will live apart, upholding their unaugmented “purity” in communes where they will preach “seeing the world as it truly is.” The rest of us won’t want to imagine how we could have ever lived in such ignorance.
The Japanese have a very basic type of augmented reality, according to a "trends" weblog by Nokia researcher Jan Chipchase. By placing a red, blue or green filter over a book's pages, you can see different versions of the text.
Yes, it's really primitive by what we (I) want to see augmented become. But it's a start.
No, the automobile application doesn't have to be graphics intensive. It can be just text downloaded to the phone. You can do that today with the phone's browser.
But the point of my article, of course, is to look at the future where augmented reality is, uh, a reality, and grahpics-intensive applications are plentiful.
As for cellular data service, it depends. When I use 3G, sometimes the experience isn't bad on the phone or the computer (when the phone is tethered as a modem). With a strong 3G signal, the phone and laptop can be fairly snappy. I've even used my BlackBerry Curve as a modem via EDGE, and for many applications it works fine.
However, phones use slower-speed microprocessors to reduce costs and improve battery life, so even if the wireless connection is fast, loading pages can be slow.
That link to the 3D scanner was cool, thanks! Although I've noticed on 2 different machines now that my media player keeps breaking (have to manually drag the video bar across) - at least it works in one of the browsers this time.
(using cell phone to obtain auto info) "The problem is the speed of the wireless network and the speed/storage capacity of the phone"
This mobile app doesn't have to necessarily be graphic heavy - I'm assuming something has to tell the phone which car your requesting info about, then a service that has most of the related info (web2.0 data aggregation)....you're so right though..I've yet to have a fast and snappy "always on" internet ANYTHING experience on a cell phone..then again as I've mentioned, I have had 'cheap' cell phones lately and the best I've had is a blackberry 8300(I think) series, and I didn't use it for the web at all (not that the phone should have much to do with the internet service).
I believe there are several handheld 3D scanners on the market, such as this one. One of the most interesting developmens is 3D "printers" that can create a prototype of a product with a scan. So you can "construct" your own product! Manufacturing companies have had things like this for a while, although a "product plant on your desk" is a long way from happening.
It's certainly possible to tag products with a variety of methods, ranging from passive (no radio) tags to active (one-way or two-way radio). If consumers want this service, it could be available now, although it wouldn't be cheap. But with the variety of ways to tag products, this is completely do-able. Every tagged product could have a unique ID, so a simple database lookup would identify everything.
Using a cellular phone to obtain automobile information isn't a problem. The problem is the speed of the wireless network and the speed/storage capacity of the phone to accommodate all the downloaded data -- which then has to be divided into windows, files, whatever for easy viewing.
Augmented reality certainly could be useful when buying a car, although there's so much information on the Web about cars, now that the "Blue Book" and other data is available online. The Web has changed the entire buying process for cars.
I saw a hand held scanner 10 years ago that captured 3-D images so well
that it was kinda scary. Thought it would have hit the market already.
Augmented reality plus the scanner reminds me of "gargoyles" in "Snow
Crash" by Neil Stephenson. Gargoyles were people equipped with those
devices that scanned and indexed EVERYTHING.
a little side step from augmented reality - what would be awesome and practical is having the ability to 'tag' your books and cd like items with rfid stickers or something, and via your computing device(mobile/laptop/desktop) those items 'tagged' are indexed. So when searching for a specific book the app will tell you what is where, what quadrant etc..what is even more practical or almost 'obvious' is that capability via augment reality goggles/glasses/poker dot visors. you do a search and the visor tells you where it is. Gee, we just went from indexing of web pages..on to enterprise and social..back to household/physical items. hmmm.
How difficult would it be to create a wireless webapp/service where when at a car dealership purchasing a used vehicle, all the data that is associated with that vehicle(price/price comparison(advertised within area)/blue book value(s)/user rating/comments/dealer rating/milage/features etc) and carfax is accessible on a mobile device (I'm assuming gps and rfid would be necessary). I guess we should expect that to debut with augmented reality.
We hear the next big thing so often...the next BIG thing is augmented reality, yeah?
I'm a mathematical idiot (2 + 2 = ?), but I love reading about quantum mechanics -- beginning/end of the universe, string theory, dark matter, etc. I wish I understood the mathematics involved, but I don't, so I read all the non-mathematical (well, within reason) books. I've read A Brief History of Time, which I enjoyed, and I have a companion book to it, although I need to find it.
It really helped me to have read The Singularity Is Near before reading Accelerando. A person who doesn't understand the concepts of the Singularity might be somewhat confused about what Accelerando is discussing. Accelerando is relevant to my augmented reality column because the pre-Singularity involves everyone having external computers with wireless access to worldwide data. If you lose the computer, you are "blind" to most of what's occurring around you.
I've read several Philip K. Dick novels and short stories, but not Radio Free Albemuth, which I think is supposed to be filmed.
I'll definitely have to check out "Accerlerando"! The most difficult book that I proactively read is "A brief History of Time". If it wasn't for the subway commute in NYC, I wouldn't have gotten through that book. I didn't understand the majority of it, however I trust that my subconscious was able to 'grok' it, perhaps continuously.
I for some reason don't fully embrace the "Big Bang" theory..ignorantly I'll admit.
"One" by Richard Bach to me is a classic.
"Radio Free Albemuth" by Phillip K Dick has a lasting effect..every time I hear a high pitch tone ringing in my ear(like now), I think about that book for some reason..sadly I don't recall the plot in detail.
I'd like to request IE to host a watercooler - registered members only thread for off topic posts. Share arbitrary data.
you know, allowing augmented reality to fully take effect, the laws that prohibit use of motorized vehicles while talking on mobile devices will have to be revisited. I heard that using "hands free" mobile devices while driving is up next to get the axe.
Well, in two years we can check my prediction and in seven years we can check yours, and then mine again!
Yes, as I implied, I read The Singularity Is Near. It was rough going in parts, but a fascinating book. If you're looking for a science fiction novel that, to me, seems like a great "companion" to it, check out Charles Stross' Accelerando -- a great novel about pre- and post-Singularity in the "real" world (well, in the real world of science fiction).
Cellular operators aren't going to develop applications. It's the software developers that strike deals with the operators. If there's a good augmented reality application, the operators will want it....assuming they get a cut of revenues.
Of course, for all this to happen, wireless networks will have to be faster to accommodate all the data. This will likely require 5G, at the minimum. Remember, I'm thinking about accessing multiple streams of text, audio and video data.
In addition, because heads-up displays and other similar technologies should be connected via wireless, not wires, today's "personal area network" data rates (Bluetooth, ultrawideband, whatever) will have to be faster between the glasses and the cellular phone.
As for Time's page format, I completely agree. I thought the same things as I was looking at it. It's terrible.
One reason is because companies need online revenues, so they divide a single article into multiple pages so there are more ads and/or ad impressions. Another reason is because, I guess, Time simply doesn't "get" the Web or care to make it easier for reader because of reason 1.
There definitely should be a list of all the 25 gadgets to navigate directly to the specific one.
interesting feedback and highly agreeable. Do you see any weaknesses? So its simplicity is also it's competitive force. I hadn't visited craigslist in a while, however when I did, their improvements weren't noticeable, not saying that they aren't continuously improving. The only leverage I find that they have is TRAFFIC and what they provide seems like it can be duplicated easily..although it hasn't been done(?). I think a craigslist2.0 can happen elsewhere, UNLESS I'm missing something.
"I'll hazard a completely unfounded guess about when these type of
displays will become mainstream: 2028 at the latest. 2018 if you're
an optimist. 2010 if Apple introduces them."
Hilarious!
Well, as you're likely very familiar with the "law of accelerating returns" in "Singularity Is Near" reference - I will say by 2015 (willing to wager) they will be a common product at Best Buy.
You mentioned augmented reality in regards to real estate - I feel you on that completely - my question is whether webapplications would have 'rights' to this feature or will the Carriers hoard it. Who will provide this service? That'll definitely help barking up the right tree as I have a real estate web app in the queue.
.
I'm inclined to scream at how Time's layout of the article. First I get a pop up. 2, I gotta browse 25 f%&^ing pages to see them all - Someone touched on how some publications hadn't figured out how to leverage the web and print editions. Why not just have a list with images - 10 per page, a nice ajax "roll-over" with detailed summary or other cool features and allow the user to look at what they want.
Poor navigation - I'll give who gave that 'order' a D- or an F+. USABILITYUSABILITYUSABILITY - That right there is PROTECTING YOUR BRAND.
an established publication such as TIME not doing it right...WT@!?
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