I found this video clip which does well to sum up my current opinion on marker-based Augmented Reality, which seems to be breaking into the mainstream via desktop applications and fixed webcams:
Me too (doing some AR stuff)! from Anatoly Zenkov on Vimeo.
You’ve seen it around the office – someone prints out a marker and everyone huddles around the only computer with a webcam. Anatoly Zenkov has noticed it too, and he wants you to realise that all you’re really looking at is a static 3D image overlaid on a piece of paper. Nothing culture-shifting about that now is there?
Let me be among the first of the dissenters:
There is far more to AR than barcodes and webcams.
There are thousands of helpful & exciting uses for the technology. Think past ‘tethered’ AR experiences and consider what good Mobile AR can do with GPS and with markerless tracking. Endless potential lies that way. I assure you, the future is far brighter than we think.
Where I initially believed that the Advertising and Entertainment industries would drive innovation and push AR into popular consiousness (they are currently doing so), I now believe that good AR (as distinct from any old AR) will be driven by paid applications on next-gen handsets.
I think I’ll serialise posts about the best applications for Augmented Reality over the coming weeks. Why not subscribe now to hear about it first? You know it makes sense.
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Web Discoveries for May 27th
These are my del.icio.us links for May 27th
I am learning PHP to create my first WordPress plugin. Sometimes my geekiness knows no bounds.
Because you know it makes sense to bookmark pages like this.
Very useful for a little side project I’m working on. For a sneak peek see http://digitalcortex.net/plugins
Some interesting ideas about how to ‘dis-incorporate’ brainstorm meetings, and get attendees warmed up quickly.
Web to Mobile / Mobile to Web agency who have built some of the best integrated creatives.