Qualcomm's secret mobile weapon: Augmented Reality

The mobile industry will soon undergo a massive consolidation of the smartphone/tablet space. We simply have too many vendors and Intel's focused entry later this year should force the ARM vendors to merge, some to fail, and only the strongest will survive. 



Currently, the strongest contender is Qualcomm. While the company boasts a number of advantages in terms of processor performance, wireless capability, and massive market presence - Qualcomm's strongest qualification may be its leadership in augmented reality. 


A few days ago the company concluded its contest for augmented reality apps and Pixel Punch won with their AI product Paparazzi. 



Augmented Reality

Augmented Reality is quickly taking the lead as the likely space in which the next "killer" application will be born. 


For those who don't know what augmented reality is, the concept originates from blending artificial reality with the real world.   



One of the first compelling demonstrations of this was a demo that HP released a few years ago called Roku's Reward. In the game, the player explores the streets of his city and what he sees through the screen of his tablet.



Remember, Roku's was coded long before Apple's iPad was a reality. The title depicts a magical world and includes a fetching princess who lip locks the geek playing the game.  

While many of us imagined scenarios where, in the real world, kids playing the game might end up under very real cars, the concept was compelling and reminded me a lot of playing imaginary games outside when I was a child. 

For those that remembered Star Trek Next Generation this was clearly going to be the big step towards the Holodeck  or simulated reality.


However, Roku is clearly an interim step towards that goal, as HP's grand vision of augmented reality has yet to make it to the actual market.

Qualcomm's Augmented Reality Vision


Qualcomm's vision is to use the Smartphone/Tablet as a magic window into the unseen. Yes, this could mean imaginary things like Roku's Reward or the Pixel Punch game that won Qualcomm's contest, but even more compelling is the critical utility that could potentially be provided.

For example, imagine leveraging your smartphone to walk through a car repair course - using your actual vehicle as an example.   



An image of your engine, for instance, could be augmented to showcase what you need to remove/replace and the order you need to do it.  

And how about doing a plumbing or an electrical job? Rather than reading complex instructions which could be easily misinterpreted, the device could, step by step, show you how to fix, upgrade, or replace components in real-time.

Ikea could likely save a fortune on instructions and returns by leveraging this technology to accurately guide the home assembly from any point.  


Now, imagine a firefighter who needs to find a water source, gas or electrical cut off - STAT.

 Assuming the plans are available, an augmented reality enabled smartphone or tablet could be used as an "X-Ray vision device" to help the firefighter navigate and eliminate the threat in a timely manner.

Similarly, an EMT could, when arriving at an accident, use his or her device to scan a victim for pre-existing problems that could increase risks. 



In addition, augmented reality devices could also help walk a medic through the best techniques for saving a life or addressing injuries, all while factoring in allergies and other potential complications pulled from connected databases.

Finally, shoppers scanning for products would see those with the best prices jump out, highlighted by a suggestion that they buy someplace else or on-line to save money. 



Products with safety issues could show up as red, while those boasting high Consumer Reports ratings would have flashing stars over them. 

For a shopper, this really could be the next "killer application."  


Wrapping Up: The Next Killer Application


As with all new technology, it will likely take time before the market embraces what is possible and cost effective.  

But the idea of blending virtual information with real images is amazing to me, as the benefits range from unique entertainment to saving lives. 

Imagine, for instance, after an earthquake being able to scan for cellars or basements with cell phones to search for likely areas where victims might be trapped.   

The opportunities to do amazing things - which we quite literally couldn't live without - are unparalleled with augmented reality. 

This is Qualcomm's secret weapon, and it may assure the company thrives, rather than simply survives the coming conflict.

Rob Enderle is one of the last Inquiry Analysts. Inquiry Analysts are paid to stay up to date on current events and identify trends and either explain the trends or make suggestions, tactical and strategic, on how to best take advantage of them. Currently, he provides his services to most of the major technology and media companies. The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of the writer

Kinect controller coming to Windows PCs | News | PC Pro

Kinect controller coming to Windows PCs

 

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By Barry Collins

Posted on 22 Feb 2011 at 07:44

Microsoft's Kinect interface is officially coming to the PC, with the release of a developers' kit later this spring.

The wireless Kinect interface has been an enormous success on Microsoft's Xbox 360 console, and has inspired legions of homebrew hackers to do weird and wonderful things with the controller.

Hackers have already used the device to bring gesture-based controls to Windows 7 PCs and home entertainment systems, as well as more esoteric uses, such as using the built-in cameras to turn a TV screen into an "augmented reality mirror" that shows the human skeleton beneath the user's body.

Microsoft initially resisted attempts to hack Kinect, but now seems keen to tap into the creativity of third-party developers.

The Kinect for Windows Software Development Kit (SDK) will initially be launched in the next couple of months, but only for non-commercial use. A commerical SDK will be made available at a later date.

"The community that has blossomed since the launch of Kinect for Xbox 360 in November shows the breadth of invention and depth of imagination possible when people have access to ground-breaking technology," writes Microsoft's Steve Clayton, on the the Official Microsoft Blog.

"Already, researchers, academics and enthusiasts are thinking through what’s next in natural and intuitive technology. For example... students at the University of Washington’s Biorobotics Lab are using Kinect with a commercially available PHANTOM Omni Haptic Device to explore how robotic surgery could be enhanced by incorporating the sense of feel."

Microsoft sold eight million Kinect units in the device's first two months on sale.

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User comments

Minority Report

Looks like Kinetic could be included in windows 8 and DirectX 12 then at some stage.Control windows and apps whith your hands instead of a mouse.DirectX12 support would mean general access to games from kinetic.Imagine people on the Stock exchange waving their arms about to control their PC's....Oh hang on a minute they do that already.:-)

By Jaberwocky on 22 Feb 2011 

Strange things could happen

I'm just thinking of a situation where an Italian, madly gesticulating in a conversation under the watchful eye of his Kinect finds he's just reformatted his hard drive.

By milliganp on 22 Feb 2011 

why on earth would anyone want to wave their arms and hands to control a PC, unless they needed a workout?

By Noghar on 22 Feb 2011 

Read more: Kinect controller coming to Windows PCs | News | PC Pro http://www.pcpro.co.uk/news/365428/kinect-controller-coming-to-windows-pcs#ixzz1EmUngMv0

TripAdvisor launches new virtual tours feature for TripAdvisor iPad app

The new feature enhances TripAdvisor’s popular iPad app, which has already reached the top spot for free iPad travel apps in more than 50 countries including India. than 40 million monthly visitors & 5 million plus unique users a month on mobile alone, announced the launch of a new virtual tours feature for the TripAdvisor iPad app. Built using augmented reality technology, the new functionality allows travellers to take a virtual walk through their travel destination with nearby places superimposed over Street View from Google. The new feature enhances TripAdvisor’s popular iPad app, which has already reached the top spot for free iPad travel apps in more than 50 countries including India. It provides travellers with an even more engaging and insightful way to discover great hotels, restaurants and attractions. “With virtual tours on the TripAdvisor iPad app, we’ve made the experience even more engaging and helpful for travellers,” said Mike Putnam, Director of Mobile Product for TripAdvisor. “For travellers who have ever booked a hotel or restaurant and arrived only to be disappointed by the neighbourhood, this feature brings a whole new way to gain insights into their destination. Now travellers can get the full picture in advance, along with the wisdom of TripAdvisor’s more than 40 million reviews and opinions.” Travellers can access the new functionality by clicking on the Street View icon for hotels, restaurants or attractions. This is applicable to all places in the world where Street View by Google is available. In addition, travellers have a wealth of other helpful travel planning features at their fingertips with the app, including: TripAdvisor’s more than 40 million reviews and opinions for hotels, restaurants, and attractions. Travellers can even add their own reviews while their experiences are fresh. “Near Me Now” functionality, so travellers can determine what hotels, restaurants and attractions are nearby. Unique map-based browsing, giving travellers the lay of the land in their travel destination. Access to the TripAdvisor forums, where users can ask questions of their fellow travellers and receive helpful feedback. Traveller photos of hotels, restaurants, attractions and destinations. “Apart from its ability to allow extensive research for pre planning for holidays, the application becomes a most handy travelling companion on the go by advising travellers on places to stay, eat & see based on their current location” says Sharat Dhall, Managing Director, TripAdvisor India. Price and Availability The TripAdvisor iPad app is available for free in the Apple App Store in 18 languages and 26 countries. For more information about TripAdvisor’s mobile offerings, including its apps for the iPhone, Android, Nokia and Palm smartphones,

Ford promotes Grand C-MAX with augmented reality outdoor campaign

Paul Milligan, February 21, 2011

Ford of Britain has launched an augmented reality campaign at selected shopping centres nationwide featuring the 7-seat Grand C-MAX car on JCDecaux Innovate’s mall six-sheet screens. The campaign allows people to handle and explore miniaturised 3D ‘virtual’ models of the cars on screen and in the palm of their hand.

Ford is promoting the new Grand C-MAX with an augmented reality outdoor campaign

The campaign, created by Ogilvy & Mather in London and digital production company Grand Visual, allows users to interact with the car by holding their hands up to the screen. Virtual buttons allow the user to choose the colour of the car, open doors, fold the seats flat, turn the car 360 degrees and select demos of the car’s key features such as Active Park Assist.

Rather than using a printed marker or symbol as a point of reference for interaction, the user interface is based on natural movement and hand gestures allowing any passerby to immediately start interacting with the screen content. A Panasonic D-Imager camera measures the users real-time spatial depth output and Inition’s augmented reality software merges this real life footage with the 3D photo-real Grand C-MAX on screen.

The campaign was planned and booked by Mindshare and Kinetic and will run for two weeks at Bluewater, Greenhithe; Bullring, Birmingham; Metrocentre, Gateshead; St David’s, Cardiff; Princess, East Kilbride and in Westfield, Derby.  This campaign from Ford follows on from their SMAX ‘Ice Climber’ activity last year which also eschewed traditional billboards in favour of more immersive technologies which allow consumers to interact more intimately with the brand.

Mark Simpson at Ford said: “Using live interactive outdoor campaigns is a great way to really engage with the audience in a way that is not possible with static posters. This has enabled us to create a targeted and tactical campaign that is relevant and fun to use.”

Augmented Reality To Become Our Sixth Sense?

Late last month, augmented reality developers Layar announced that it was making its platform available to all developers of iOS apps, opening the door for a lot more innovation and practical use-cases for AR technology. "All apps and services that have a location aspect can now easily and without license costs be enhanced with an AR view of their content," Layar co-founder, Maarten Lens-Fitzgerald told WebProNews. "It fits with the new trends within the AR industry, which is the democratization of this new medium - lowering the barrier to enter the new realm of AR." 

Since then, WebProNews spoke with Layar's augmented reality strategist Gene Becker about what the future holds for not only Layar and the apps that take advantage of its platform, but for the technology and the industry as a whole. "We think of AR as really a emerging medium for creative expression and communication. It's a medium that's digital, that's interactive, but it's also uniquely physical in nature," he said.  

"Think about the web back in 1994," he said. "The web was really - as we look back on it now - it was a democratization of the ability to publish - basically to put anything out on the web and connect with anybody in the world. We see augmented reality as kind of being in the early stages, a little bit like the web in 1994. That was kind of the days of black text on gray backgrounds, but it was a fundamental shift in terms of what kind of capabilities it gave people to publish and communicate with the world." 

"We think it's really important that we enable anybody to create AR experiences to augment their physical world, and that's going to be one of the things that really helps AR to take off and become mainstream, and a part of everybody's life," he continued.  

Once Layar opens up its platform to other developer ecosystems, growth is bound to be fueled even more. Lens-Fitzgerald told us, "We are always looking to expand to other platforms," and Layar's Layar Stream feature, for content discovery went to Android even before iOS.  

"When you augment the world it's probably going to touch just about everything eventually, but I guess if you look at the kinds of content layers that we currently have on our platform, you can kind of get a sense of the range of things that are starting to be touched," said Becker of the technology. "We have commercial layers, and things like retail store finders. We have promotions - marketing promotions for new films coming out...there are games. People are making a variety of different kinds of interactive games...there's data visualizations - people looking at things like visualizing earthquake magnitudes in real time, looking at pollution visualization...there's also art exhibits both from established museums as well as from 'guerilla artists' who were sort of appropriating AR space for their works." 

"I think ultimately, it will touch everything," he said.  

"I think one of the big challenges that we have is, it is early days, and up until now, a lot of people have really positioned augmented reality as this sort of really cool technology thing," Becker said.  "That's pretty typical for a new, emerging space. We really feel like one of the big challenges for this year and the next couple years is to get past that 'wow, gee whiz technology' thing, and really get onto the business of creating a new medium that people can use to express, to connect, and to communicate." 

"The early adopters - the techies - get it," he added. "They like it, but that's not where we're going to add value to people's lives more broadly." 

Of course Layar isn't the only company out there making use of AR, and Layar prefers it that way.  

"There's definitely a growing number of AR companies out there," said Becker. "Most of them are actually our good friends. It's a small industry, and at this point, I think the fact that there is competition is actually one of the best things that we can see, because it says there really is something here. There's a real market. It supports multiple players, and we're looking forward to helping push the envelope along with a lot of our friends in the States." 

"I think that over time, AR is really going to become an essential aspect of the mobile experience," he said. "The same way that today we think about email and social media and mapping and so forth. I think that AR is really going to be something that people use every day when they're out and mobile. In the longer term, we all like to envision a world where we have immersive displays that you can put on just like a pair of sunglasses, and then suddenly the entire world can be sort of continuously augmented with information all around you. And I think that's several years away still, but I think that when it gets to that point AR's going to be almost like a sixth sense that we just rely on that we won't know in some ways, how to do without." 

Do you think we'll reach that point?

Google, Apple to Spar in Mobile Augmented Reality

Google and Apple are set to tussle in mobile augmented reality, pitting Android handsets against the iPhone, according to ABI Research, which sees a $3 billion AR market.

Google and Apple meet on several battlefields in the mobile computing war, but there is one big front where the rivals have yet to show their weapons: mobile augmented reality.

Mobile augmented reality (AR), which comprises the overlay of information on real-world views seen through a mobile phone's camera viewfinder, is the window to theInternet of Things, where real-world objects have data associated with them.

For example, one AR application could allow users to point their phone's camera at a building, click on an information label associated with the building and see information about the building's history.

ABI Research analyst Mark Beccue has been studying mobile AR, which to date has largely been a niche market covered by startups such as Layar and Wikitude, which have built AR browsers for smartphones such as Apple's iPhone and Google's Android platform.

Beccue said the 2010 revenue total associated with AR amounted to only $21 million, but added that the total could explode to $3 billion by 2016.

Who will facilitate the growth, which he sees infiltrating mobile marketing, online search, tourism, retail, social networking and many more verticals? Google and Apple, of course.

Google and Apple will become major rivals and facilitators in this space because they each possess computer vision technologies that rely on smartphone cameras that send image information to the companies' computing clouds, then back to the users' phones to complete an action.

Google offers Google Goggles, a visual search application that lets users take pictures of objects such as landmark bridges, book covers, wine bottles and other two-dimensional objects.

Apple acquired Polar Rose, which makes facial recognition software and other products that enable the "automatic creation of events based on visual cues in images."

Apple hasn't said what it is doing with these assets, but Beccue believes the computer maker could adapt the assets as a social networking capability on the iPhone. For example, Beccue said a user might hold his or her phone camera up to a person and see that person's social networking feeds from Facebook, Twitter and other social apps.

Of course, there are all sorts of privacy concerns with this, so Beccue said such a service would have to be completely opt-in. If an iPhone user didn't choose to turn on the facial recognition enablement for the app, his or her social feeds would not be accessible from other users' iPhone cameras.

Google, which has deliberately (Google Buzz) and inadvertently (Google Street View) challenged privacy boundaries, has interestingly declined to make facial recognition a part of Goggles due to the privacy concerns.

"Google is being driven by search, which is being driven by a new kind of search, [which] would be [the Internet of] Things," Beccue said. "They started with books and CD covers, but we're talking about anything. There are a lot of different pieces they need, but they have very sophisticated algorithms."

For example, Google could marry Google Goggles with its Google Shopper application.

This would allow a shopper to point his or her phone camera at an article of clothing in a retail store and learn perhaps not only all of the sizes available, but all of the colors and even information about which stores might carry the clothing article at a discount.

The key to real AR market growth, Beccue told eWEEK, is to embed AR into a wide range of apps running on a variety of devices. That's when we'll see the tipping point en route to that $3 billion estimation ABI expects in the next five years.

ADVERTISING | 18.01.2011

Augmented reality ads on the rise around Europe

 

Smartphones are one way to experience augmented reality

A growing number of European startups have taken to creating virtual experiences that double as commercials. But as this sector is rapidly expanding, challenges remain.

 

On Tuesday, the American pop band Black Eyed Peas released a new ad campaign to help promote the band's latest hit single: "The Time (Dirty Bit)."

In their recent music video, lead singer will.i.am points a Blackberry PlayBook at a billboard showing a videogame version of himself, and out pops a 3D hologram of the character who proceeds to monkey around the skyscraper. 

What was a special effect in the music video became an iPhone app, which allows users to mimic this augmented reality experience.

"Technology has finally caught up with our imaginations," wrote will.i.am on the band's website last year, when the song debuted. "[Our album] is symbolic of adopting these new technologies, such as augmented reality."

Bringing the virtual world into the real world

This new ad campaign is just the latest example of augmented reality as a rising technological tool that takes the world and combines it with a layer of virtual information glued on top of it. 

The Black Eyed Peas have used augmented reality in one of their music videos

To see this augmented world, people need an AR browser, an app that has been downloaded onto a smartphone or tablet computer.

Using the phone's GPS coordinates and built-in compass, the browser can guess what a user is looking at and pull up points of interest in that line of sight. 

Information about hotel room availability, or where the nearest cafe is, is then laid on top of whatever the user sees in the phone's camera view - so people can click on and explore their surroundings using a phone in the way they navigate their desktops with a mouse.

Once the augmented view has been set up, AR browsers can serve the user simple location-based ads or create virtual experiences that double as commercials.

This sentiment appears to be shared by several large corporations - Lego, Mini Cooper and Red Bull to name a few - that want their brands to be associated with visionary thinking and experimental advertising. 

As more of these companies add AR to their marketing strategies, some interactive agencies are anticipating big business - to the point where some have engaged lawyers to help them in future battles over virtual ad space. 

AR is big business

A recent study by ARC Chart, an industry analysis firm, estimates that revenues generated worldwide by mobile phone augmented reality applications will reach 1.7 billion euros by 2015.

The media buildup around this technology has been helping developers, even those whose core product had little to do with AR, find corporate sponsors and advertisers willing to fund their mobile apps.

"Just like we did with the hype around the iPhone, we capitalized on the hype over AR," said Alexander Trieb, co-founder of Tripwolf, a Vienna-based social travel-guide.

"We can't monetize AR as a standalone application, but it definitely adds to the value we provide the user and the advertiser."

In the last year, Tripwolf has added an áugmented reality mode to its mobile app, which features their hotel sponsors. Similarly, AR browser Wikitude, another Austrian start-up, also serves location-based hotel ads to users.

Every time someone books a hotel using the Wikitude browser, the company collects a small commission - a model similar to a website collecting money when users click on an online ad.

European startups pushing AR ahead

Metaio, the Munich-based AR company behind the Black Eyed Peas app, is one of the key players producing AR advertising. 

Like its European competitors - Total Immersion, Layar, or Wikitude - the firm was created with an industrial focus but has now shifted much of its attention to consumer projects. 

Augmented reality combines the world with a layer of virtual information glued on top of itIn the last year, Metaio has created a number of AR ads in Germany alone. 

For Coke Zero, for instance, it made a print ad that animates when viewed with through an AR browser. Similarly, it created a special AR edition to the Sueddeutsche Zeitung and a Frauennotruf Muenchen ad against domestic violence.

These campaigns did generate some PR, but the novelty of watching a two-dimensional image jump to life could quickly wear thin. So what exactly is the benefit of future AR ads? 

Using the example of the Black Eyed Peas app, Jan Schlink of Metaio imagined the next stage. 

"We could have a hyperlink on that poster to download sound samples or hidden bonus tracks," he said, "So you stand in front of a poster and can directly download the sound just by triggering it through the image."

Also, for smaller companies like Wikitude, gimmicky AR campaigns can serve as important door openers. 

"They show users what is possible with the technology," said Martin Herdina, the chief executive of Mobizily, the company behind Wikitude.

AR startups seeking ubitquity

But for now, the number of users who can reach these AR experiences is still limited, he added.

"My goal for 2011," Herdina said, "is to turn augmented reality from a some fancy future lab project into a Google Maps - the de facto mobile navigation system and a service that makes everybody's life easier on a day-to-day basis."

The improved processing power of smartphones and the faster mobile Internet speeds have already been making augmented reality accessible to more people.

Industry analysts say these numbers will only increase - Forrester predicts that mobile Internet adoption will grow at a healthy clip, with audiences tripling from 13 percent of Western European mobile users in 2008 to 39 percent in 2014.

But becoming the next Google Maps is still a long way off. 

First, the different AR companies would need to agree on standard data formats and interoperability.

Are the days of good old poster ads numbered?Right now, different AR browsers - like Wikitude, Junaio and Layar - all operate on different, incompatible platforms.  So to view a single application or ad campaign, users need to download the specific browser for which it was developed - a multi-step process that could be a bit off-putting.

The AR business is at such a nascent stage that every major company is arguing that its own model should be become the standard. 

Wikitude, for instance, is pushing for the industry to adopt its Augmented Reality Markup Language (ARML). 

Herdina is hoping the competing AR browsers will reach an agreement in February at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, but he said the battle is far from over.

Pushing through unclear legal questions

Technical problems aside, the second major obstacle also may be AR's devling into uncharted legal territory when it comes to copyright protection, and privacy, according to John Nicholson, an American attorney at Pillsbury Law in Washington, D.C., a legal practice dedicated to virtual worlds and social media.

"Adding location-based data just adds just one more layer of personal identification and makes it even easier to build a profile that says: this person is most likely a 38-43 year-old male, with this buying profile, with these interests, and he's right here," he said. "It's the right here part that starts to make people a little more nervous."

However, he speculated that perhaps developers could build some of these blockages into the system before AR spreads too widely.

"In an ideal world," Nicholson said, "A developer would design privacy into the system, so if the application recognized that you're in a potentially sensitive area, like a hospital, it would automatically turn off its own location tracking."

Despite these incomplete foundations, AR firms are going ahead with their lofty plans for the future, what many have called "augmented vision," where every inch becomes potential advertising space - billboards could float about like balloons or brand mascots could bounce out of buildings with coupons and special offers in hand.

In fact, according to Jan Schlink of Metaio, his company has already begun working on a pilot city for augmented vision.

"[It would be] where you track the real natural features around you: you stand in front of a building, point your phone onto it and the software really recognizes the building as it is - there is no marker, no poster, nothing," he said.

Author: Sruthi Pinnamaneni, Vienna
Editor: Cyrus Farivar