Sunday, November 24, 2013

#Week 8: Bravo Augmented Reality

Hi guys, welcome back
Augmented reality is an old concept. It is a combination of two words: “augmented”, which means enhanced or increased, and “reality”. So, augmented reality simply means enhanced reality! To understand what “enhanced reality” really means, instead of explaining it in details, I am going show you some examples of augmented reality that you can actually use.
I. Kinect
Everyone knows Kinect. Yes. It is awesome when you own an Xbox with Kinect, right? It totally changes the way we play games, watch TV or movies because we can use our bodies as the remote controller. When playing games, we can now jump, kick, punch, dance… instead of tapping those buttons on the controllers. If you have never tried a Kinect before, watch this ad and buy one to experience yourself.

Have you ever wondered how Kinect works? The innovative technology behind Kinect is a combination of hardware and state-of-the-art software contained within the Kinect. For the hardware part, there are three main components:
+ A video camera: used for facial recognition and other detection, a depth sensor
+ A combination of an infrared projector and a monochrome camera working together to help Kinect “see” the world in 3-D
+ A multi array microphone: used to isolate the players’ voices from other noises in the room.

Kinect really changed and enhanced the way we play games. However, there is something else about it. The use of Kinect isn’t just for gaming or entertaining. It can be used in many fields, for example: medical. In this video, the Microsoft Cambridge Research team built a system using Kinect to help brain surgeons visualize 3D brain scans. Using this system, neurosurgeons can prepare for surgery by looking inside a patient's brain before they cut it open. Doctors can see the skeleton, brain, blood vessels, and the targeted tumor on a tablet—which they can move around the patient's head—helping them to plot the best brain surgery path. Cool, right?

II. Wearable devices
The most famous wearable augmented reality device is the Google Glass.


Google Glass is a small computer that attaches to your eyeglasses frame. It communicates with the Internet via natural language voice command and display information from your smartphone on an optical head-mounted display. Google Glass can do a lot of things. Here are just a few of them:
+ Texting: you can send text messages to anyone, just by talking to Google Glass.
+ Taking pictures and recording videos, hands-free. To do that, just say “take a picture” and your Google Glass will do the job for you.

+ Video calling is so much better since the receivers see what you’re seeing, from your perspective, not from your phone’s or camera’s. Cool, huh?

+ Navigating: it has never been easier!

+ Translating: it’s like having a personal interpreter who knows every single language on Earth with you wherever you go

Now, let’s see it in action

*You may not know*
This is the ancestor of Google Glass and all digital wearable devices: the Sword of Damocles, which was created in 1968 by Ivan Sutherland.


Another approache to augmented reality wearable device is the Meta Spaceglass.

Let’s check it out:

III. Smartphone Apps
Last but not least: apps on your phones. These apps are awesome and really usable. You should check it out and indulge yourself in the future of technology!!!
1) iOnRoad Augmented Driving
Have you dreamed of a car that can actually “see” the road in front of you and be able to warn you possible collision threats like you are driving too close to other cars or getting off the road?
Your dream came true. However, it is not your car that alerts you, it is your smartphone instead. Simply mounts your phone on the dashboard and iOnRoad starts automatically as you move. iOnRoad shows your current speed, direction and your distance to the vehicle in front of you (in seconds).
2) AcrossAir apps
They are wonderful 3D navigator apps for you phone. Each version supports different location. It simply tells you nearest subway stations, in what direction and how far away they are from your current location.


AcrossAir also has some other augmented reality apps like Twitter AR or Nearest Place. These apps use your phone’s camera and compass to show places like hotels, restaurants, banks, supermarkets… or people tweeting around you.


3) Golfscape GPS Rangefinder
This is an augmented reality range finder for Golf lovers, covering 35K+ courses around the world. It uses GPS to pinpoint your location of the golf course and shows to distances to the targets. In addition, it also shows the hazards that you might want to know about.  Golfscape GPS Rangefinder is a handy app for those who love golf.

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