Goodbye Virtual Reality, Hello Augmented Reality | Brian Solis: Social Media Expert - PR 2.0. InShare0 Credit: Wired If you haven’t yet heard about Augmented Reality or Web Squared, allow me to make a quick introduction. This is the next iteration of the Web and also desktop and mobile applications and is indicative of the future hybrid Web and device experience. And no, it’s not called Web 3.0. Augmented Reality joins the likes of the Semantic Web, Geo-Location, Artificial Intelligence, among many other emerging technologies in what the father of Web 2.0, Tim O’Reilly, refers to as Web Squared. Augmented Reality (AR) refers to the live direct or indirect view of a real-world environment whose elements are supplemented with, or augmented by, computer-generated imagery.
What does this mean for you? As a user, Augmented Reality apps merge the virtual with reality – or the augmented data and objects with real life experiences. In the last weeks, we’ve witnessed the release of several new Augmented Reality applications for mobile platforms. Examples: Yelp’s Monocle My iPhone. Realidad Aumentada Innovae Vision. Bokodes: La alternativa holográfica del MIT a los códigos de barras. Versión light. Augmented Reality Pop-Up. Augmented Reality: Here's Our Wishlist of Apps, What's On Yours?
There’s another dimension present, everywhere we go, that a growing number of technologists are working to uncover. These people aren’t talking about theoretical physics or a magical world of fairies and gnomes – they’re talking about information that could offer more context to traditionally physical lived experience. Augmented Reality (AR) is the phrase being used and this practice of making layers of data available on top of real world experiences could be a big one soon. Improvements in geolocation, bandwidth, mobile devices and APIs are the foundation of this feeling that a useful Augmented Reality may be more realistic today than ever before.
AR isn’t new, but it’s been pretty hokey so far. Now there’s a movement to make it really worth doing. Place Data The most common dreams for AR are probably concerning historical and other data about locations. How did this man make friends in the first place? Find My Keys or Car Shopping! Face Recognition and People Search What About You?
Zugara’s Augmented Reality Dressing Room Is Great If You Don’t Care How Your Clothes Fit. Augmented reality, or the blending of the real world with computer graphics on the fly, is one of the most exciting fields in tech right now. Unfortunately, there haven’t been many practical uses of the technology — we’ve seen some very impressive video game peripherals and a few Terminator-style phone overlays from companies like Layar, Sekai Camera, and Seer Android, but these still have a ways to go before they’ll hit the mainstream. Zugara, an interactive marketing agency, has built something a bit more practical for the time being. It’s put together the Webcam Social Shopper, offering a way to help you try on clothes online from the comfort of your bedroom.
At least, it lets you overlay a static image on top of your body and pretend you’re wearing it. Which is sort of a start. From a technological standpoint, the application is pretty cool. On the other hand, it could be handy for figuring out which clothes might look good together. You can find more information on the project here. Realidad Aumentada Innovae Vision.