Evolution Of Augmented Reality And The Future Of Augmented Reality Companies

We are becoming increasingly proficient with technology. From the voice commands to the satellitenavigation systems, technology is assisting us in everyday life. I am not stating this as a point to freak on! But how many times have we been prompted by Google’s auto-correct while typing in mail or how many times we have blindly trusted it to correct out the spellings and the context of a word by auto spell. We are in an age where technology will lead our path in evolution. We are totally dependent on technology for our communication. Augmentation will make devices as such Google’s glasses and it’s likes, indispensable in the future.

Scientists and Augmented reality communities are seeing possibility, which can change our future. Concepts like the augmented reality are letting us see these possibilities of augmented reality saving energy and solving the problem of space with virtual or augmented reality.

Augmented reality companies are putting on a game face since the google glasses splash on the scene. Now other companies like Vuzix also bringing their product and have made quite an impression. Let us take a look at the new developments in the increasingly amusing world of AR.

AR & Co an augmented reality company and a developer of AR hardware have introduced the first augmented reality graphics card in Asia. The game engine based on AR will let the users to experience augmented reality in their desktop. Other companies that have similar integration is like the Sony’s Wii, which uses motion sensors to create interaction with the game. ‘Dekko’ an augmented reality operating system changes everything in real-life into a 3D game! Over imposing the real world into 3D graphics in real-time-Dekko’s augmented reality operating system can turn any surface into a videogame.

Among the augmented reality company like Metaio have a reputation. An ambitious company, mataio have plans to turn the entire landscape of the world into an AR world. In the recent AR summit, Metaio has been shortlisted for it’ commendable AR Engine.

If you thought that the Google’s Glasses were going to be the ultimate device to see augmented reality or the next iPhone. Then, you have to look at the winner of this year’s AR awards. Among all the augmented reality companies the smart glass from Vuzix has taken the winner spot. Vuzix M-100 is a smart-glasses which uses your smartphone and expands it into an AR device. From the usual functions that a smartphone has to perform.  Connected to your phone with Bluetooth or Wi-Fi Vuzix M-100 recognize your voice and gesture and you can command the smart-glass instead of using the smartphone. Integrated with GPS and head tracking system this device can track your
current direction also your movements and an onboard camera recording 720p images can read barcodes of any product and fetch information over the cloud.

Though it might seem to make you look like a cyborg this type of device is just going to be part of our life in the future. Many augmented reality company like Adstuck are seeing bigger opportunities here. I am not being devil’s advocate though, think of the potential of this device used in a crisis situation like fire or a terrorist attack. It can give lifesaving options to the user and a better chance of survival. But, it just cannot be decided where augmented reality is going to take us. This is only going to be decided by you.

Adstuck revolutionised world's greatest Newspaper

The print media is in a ‘catch twenty two’ situation. With readers converting to digital media and the advertisements on prints overtaking reading space, the limits of this treasured medium has been realized.  More of the print publications have converted to online content now in the form of E paper or E-magazines. With digital media gradually getting more advertisers attention, the pie’s share of sponsors is also getting smaller and lesser. This is causing threats on the entire print media to extinction, editors and publishers are struggling to keep this beloved media alive.

Increasing demands in advertising and advertising spaces is getting more expensive with each year.  Advertisers are getting desperate now to find even half of the value worth in advertising space and time, with the same amount, what they used to pay some years ago. Companies are under constant pressure. With steep competition and soaring cost hikes, attempt to solve this losing equation is hard. But, today’s business owners are looking for new ways to find their customers and in their preferred medium. The answer to this pickle is innovation, and technology is somewhere the solution seems to be lying.

Augmented Reality (AR) is a very recent concept, where it attempts to bridge existing media like print with virtual reality. Taking the help of computer generated images; AR can map your world with information from the internet.

The good thing about AR is its flexibility. It can be used in existing print spaces like newspaper, posters, magazine, Hoardings, signposts, etc. AR can also be integrated in boardroom projectors letting you interact with the contents of any presentation physically. Even at home, your humble webcam and PC can get you going with this technology.

Augmented Reality attempts to bridge between the existing information in physical world with the online virtual world. New cloud services and other technologies also connecting with it, the possibilities are indefinable.

In India the technology has been used by the print media with a huge success now. Application such like Alive, which lets you use your mobile phone as an AR device are already available. Developed in association with Adstuck consulting, this is the first augmented reality application in India.

Another app was Areal  developed by Adstuck,  with an instant hit and has been downloaded multiple times on its first day itself and a staggering amount of AR content ware viewed before the day ended. The sheer appeal of this technology and the convenience of carrying it on your mobile devices or tablets; is something the developers are confident about. Introduced with such a good response, major brands and companies followed into it right away.

Today Areal in association has produced AR contents for  innovative companies like  Cloud Nine, KUM Bangalore and Mauruti Suzuki to name a few.     

To download Areal please visit: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.adstuck.areal   

     

Augmented Reality: What, How & Why??

Augmented reality (also known as AR) sounds like a reference to life on a distant planet, or some sort of Fringe device that slips your mind into a fifth dimension. In fact, this term is used to describe an emerging type of technology. Put simply, AR can help you learn about the people and places around you in real time, and is found primarily in smart phone applications today. But location-based services are just the tip of the iceberg.

At its core, augmented reality is all about changing our view of the world by merging our environmental surroundings with digital data and media. But for this technology to evolve, there must be rules regarding what can truly be defined as augmenting reality, and what can’t. “The key is that the virtual content be registered (or aligned) with the right parts of the physical world,” explained Blair MacIntyre, PhD, associate professor at Georgia Tech’s College of Computing and director of the school’s Augmented Environments Lab. “Also, the application must be interactive.”

Beyond these basic principles, how is this technology being used today? And what can we expect to see in the near future? 

Smarter Shopping, More Immersive Gaming with Augmented Reality: ABI’s Shey imagines a world in which consumers download applications from stores to help them make purchasing decisions. For example, in a hypothetical Ikea application, when you point your phone’s camera at an empty room, you could begin to decorate it with furniture available from Ikea’s catalog. The app could then let you purchase those goods.

AR could even help retailers boost brand awareness. Shey sees cloud-based AR as a way for brands to establish themselves, assuming existing cell phone networks can handle the added data. And despite that possible hurdle, he argues that most of today’s phones don’t have the processing power needed to perform advanced AR tasks. “If you want to add contextual information to an application you’re using, when it comes to augmented reality, you’re talking about a lot of processing power,” he said. “There [also] has to be some processing that happens in the cloud to provide the value to the application.” However, 1-GHz mobile processors from Qualcomm, Samsung, and others are starting to hit higher-end handsets.

In the immediate future, experts agree that after the first wave of AR mobile apps, the gaming industry will be the first to harness the power of this technology. That’s because AR works best in controlled environments, meaning it would be localized to your living room and used strictly for gaming. In fact, gaming manufacturers have already dangled their toes in the water. A title called The Eye of Judgement, released in 2007 for PlayStation 3, used the console’s eye camera technology to make playing cards come to life. When the cards were placed under the camera’s lens, it created 3D Augmented reality creatures that appeared on your TV.

For now, the future of AR remains somewhat murky. Dr. MacIntyre says many questions have yet to be answered. “When will non gaming apps start becoming useful and widespread? Will mobile phone-based AR be enough, or will it only take off when head-worn displays become practical?” The answers seem to rely on our infrastructure. Until data networks for cloud-based AR improves—it’s possible that 4G cellular networks are a step in the right direction—and until developers can create more precise models, mobile AR will remain little more than just a promise of a richer, more digitally connected world.

Source: http://www.adstuck.com/blog/?p=635