Google Heads-Up Display Glasses Are Coming by the End of 2012. Google plans to launch glasses with a heads-up display by the end of 2012, the New York Times reports citing sources familiar with the matter.
The glasses, who were previously rumored to have a front-facing camera with flash and a voice input interface, will be Android based, sources say. They will include a display, mere inches from the wearer's eye, streaming real-time info about your surroundings, similar to the various augmented reality applications we've seen on smartphones. The data will be fetched through a 3G/4G data connection, and the glasses will retrieve information about their surroundings through GPS and several sensors. The glasses will cost "around the price of current smartphones," sources say. While definitely not very precise - current smartphones cost anywhere from $150 to $600 - this price range shows that Google intends the glasses as a product for the mass market. Will these glasses be something you need as opposed to want? Image courtesy of Flickr, Jason McDermott. Microsoft Tag. They're in your favorite magazine, on product packages, and bumper stickers.
They're Tag barcodes, QR Codes, and other recognition technologies. You can use them to connect customers from your offline marketing materials to information, entertainment, and interactive experiences on their smartphones. These mobile interactions let people engage with your product and identify with your brand the moment they encounter your message. People’s phones are an essential part of their daily life, connecting them to their entire world of friends and information. Using recognition technologies to make virtually anything clickable lets you quickly take advantage of today’s phone-centric lifestyle and help you direct customers to the most relevant information about your brand. With the Tag solution, you also get access to free reporting that measures the success of each of your campaigns. Marketing Goes Mobile Your customers are on the go.
What Are 2D Barcodes? What Is NFC? Why Use Tag? IBM launches augmented reality app for grocery stores. Attention, shoppers.
IBM has unveiled an augmented reality mobile app that lets you pan store shelves with your smartphones to receive personalized product tips, recommendations, and coupons. The app is one more example of a creative use of augmented reality, which blends digital data with real-world imagery. The app brings the benefits of digital commerce to traditional brick-and-mortar stores, where 92 percent of retail still takes place, according to market researcher Forrester Research.
As you enter a store, you can download the app on a smartphone or tablets, register for the service, and create a profile of features that matter to you, such as ingredients you’re allergic to or your favorite foods. Then, as you browse the aisles and point your phone’s video camera at merchandise, the app will recognize the products and overlay digital details on top of the images.
You’ll be able to see info such as ingredients, price, reviews, and discounts that apply that day. Second-Screen Engagement: The Marketer's Holy Grail? One of the biggest advertising buzzwords to emerge out of the digital era — "engagement" — has a lot of loaded implications.
In an advertiser's ideal world, engagement would be as natural as breathing — inviting a potential consumer to shift from brand familiarity to brand interactivity, inching toward the point of purchase or, even better, the level of word-of-mouth ambassador. While there are many strategies for capturing the magic of engagement, the world of the second screen looks to be the most promising. Just think about it: When was the last time you were without your smartphone or computer, especially while lounging at home in front of the television? Second-screen innovation naturally promotes a higher level of engagement, encouraging users to interact with brands via exclusive content or media.
And many advertisers and media agencies know the value of that engagement — not to mention companies looking to raise brand awareness or drive sales. For the Ad Agency. Google Heads-Up Display Glasses Are Coming by the End of 2012.
Companies. Metaio. Engineer. Adidas Originals: 3D Neighborhood. Black Eyed Peas: BEP360 mobile app. How augmented reality is an opportunity for developers (Inside Apps) Augmented reality in smartphones is just getting started.
If you have a smartphone or Nintendo 3DS, you've probably played with some form of augmented reality, which superimposes graphics, words and other useful information over real-life images. Yelp, for instance, offers its Monocle feature, allowing you to see local listings superimposed over the image captured by the phone's camera. It uses the compass and gyroscope to locate the specific listings, which move in and out of view depending on where you hold the device. The augmented browser Layar came to prominence by accomplishing the same feat on Android smartphones. Turn a Nintendo 3DS's camera on a special playing card, and a virtual monster leaps out on to the screen.
"It's a novel user interface that's got everyone interested," said Jay Wright, a senior director for Qualcomm focused on augmented reality. Augmented Reality.