white peak | dark peak - an audio-visual word-map of the Peak District National Park - grazie Darren!

white peak | dark peak

an audio-visual word-map
of the Peak District National Park

Alec Finlay

  • with Ann Atkinson
  • Tony Baker
  • Bevis Bowden
  • David Cobb
  • David Gilbert
  • Rebecca Hall
  • Alan Halsey
  • Hamish Ironside
  • Judy Kendall
  • Martin Lucas
  • India McKellar
  • Geraldine Monk
  • Peter Riley
  • Mark Rutter
  • John Sewell
  • Andrew Shimield
  • Caroline Smith
  • Ian Storr
  • David Troupes
  • Laura Watts
  • River Wolton

How iPhone 4 Could Change Augmented Reality

Enhanced Image Tracking

image_tracking_jun10.jpgFor some AR experiences, image recognition and tracking are essential to a quality customer experience. The application needs to be able to analyze the data being taken in from the camera in order to properly overlay 3D objects into space, but previously this functionality wasn't available for iPhone developers. When Apple announced iOS 4.0, the inclusion of access to live camera data in the iPhone SDK provided AR developers with the ability to bring image tracking to the iPhone.

Other mobile operating systems, like Android, have had the capability to use image tracking for a while now, but the iPhone had been closed off from raw camera data. Last week, metaio introduced an image tracking application for Android, known as junaio Glue, and now with iOS 4.0, it will be able to bring this same functionality to the iPhone. The company also provides its own mobile AR SDK that allows developers to build apps leveraging metaio's technology, and Misslinger says metaio will include image tracking in the iPhone version of its SDK in the next few weeks.

New and Improved Cameras

But it's not just the software that will make image tracking on the iPhone easier and more available; the forthcoming iPhone 4 also includes a 5 megapixel camera capable of recording 720p video. The higher resolution of images captured by the phone makes the tracking of AR markers and image-based triggers much easier, but, as Misslinger points out, it comes with a catch.

iphone4_cam_jun10.jpgImage tracking for AR requires that visual data be analyzed 30 times per second, and using a high-resolution image could slow down this process and make the tracking less accurate, or lag-ridden. To avoid this, Misslinger says the use of the full resolution will likely be on a case-to-case basis. For closer experiences, a lower resolution image should suffice, but for tracking markers that are larger or father away, the full power of the camera may be required.

The iPhone 4 also includes a second forward-facing camera, and everyone seems excited to see how Apple's vision for the future of video communication will play out. For augmented reality, however, the front facing camera opens up an entire new realm of possibilities on the mobile device. AR experiences traditionally developed for desktop webcams, like virtual mirrors that let users try on sunglasses and clothes, can now be experienced from a handheld device.

Gyroscopic Motion Sensing

gyro_jun10.jpgOne of the biggest surprises at the iPhone 4 announcement was the addition of a gyroscope to the device's arsenal of sensors. As Steve Jobs demonstrated, the gyroscope will allow the device to interpret its specific location as it relates to gravity - as the person turns in 3D space, the phone will recognize this motion based on sensed velocity. Most people immediately thought of augmented reality when this feature was introduced, and Misslinger says this is an obvious tool that AR developers will quickly adopt.

Certainly the gyroscope will help apps stabilize their results and track a user's movement, but there are additional uses for the gyro for AR. At the moment, if a user is using image tracking technology, quick movements of the device can cause the image to blur - interrupting the tracking of a marker or image. Misslinger says he is excited to use the gyroscope to help bridge the gap between when image tracking software loses and regains its capture on an image or marker. With the gyroscope working in tandem with image tracking technology, brief interruptions in tracking due to blurred images could be eliminated.

Faster Processor & High-Resolution Display

chip_screen_jun10.jpgCall it what you will, but Apple's "Retina Display" on the iPhone 4 packs a serious high-res punch, and that bodes well for augmented reality. AR's success, in someways, relies on its ability to create a seamless merging of real and virtual worlds, and with a better display comes better graphics. Misslinger points out that the enhanced display will allow for the inclusion of better 3D models in mobile AR experiences - greatly enhancing the overall user experience.

Additionally, faster processor speeds on the device will allow these larger models to run much smoother than before. Apple's home-brewed A4 processor will allow AR apps to not only render 3D models faster and at a higher level of quality, but it will also help analyze the camera data at more close-to-real-time speeds.

iPhone 4 vs. The World

Apple is famous for admitting that it may not be first to include seemingly basic and simple functionality (like copy/paste and multitasking), but the company aims to do it as seamlessly and efficiently as possible. In the case of image tracking, Apple wasn't first to the game, but it is likely that with the ease at which developers can implement APIs from the SDK that the iPhone could soon establish itself as the leading platform for mobile AR. Add that to the phone's hardware additions and the large number of devices the company is likely to sell and you've got fertile soil from which AR can blossom.

If you'd like to learn more about how companies are using augmented reality for marketing in both desktop and mobile-based experiences, be sure to check out our latest premium report on the subject, Augmented Reality for Marketers and Developers.

Wreckamovie - Before You Close Your Eyes app & online- choose your own persona interactive fantasy RT @ZenFilms

Designed for the iPhone but also to be free online, Before You Close Your Eyes is a 'choose-your-own-persona' interactive mystery game set in a dark fantasy dreamworld.

The game blends psychology and technology to deliver a dark adventure story in which the choices made by you, the player-protagonist, have life-changing consequences!

An opening car crash sends you into a coma that becomes the portal through which you discover The Dreamlands – a vast world of monsters and sorcery somewhere in the collective subconscious.

From car crash to coma you now find yourself on the outskirts of a medieval city where you meet Callen, a tearful 11 year old girl with a bloody knee. Whether you choose to help her or not will begin to determine your personality which in turn will affect how you are treated by others and what moral dilemmas the game presents to you.

If you follow Callen to the city you’ll learn that all the other children are missing and herein lies the central mystery to the game.
via wreckamovie.com

The Copenhagen Wheel project - smart phone controlled bike - big buzz today at @crcat

source here: http://senseable.mit.edu/copenhagenwheel/#

THE COPHENHAGEN WHEEL

Smart, responsive and elegant, the Copenhagen Wheel is a new emblem
for urban mobility. It transforms ordinary bicycles quickly into hybrid e-bikes that also function as mobile sensing units. The Copenhagen Wheel allows you to capture the energy dissipated while cycling and braking and save it for when you need a bit of a boost. It also maps pollution levels, traffic congestion, and road conditions in real-time.

SENSE AND SUSTAINABILITY

Controlled through your smart phone, the Copenhagen Wheel becomes
a natural extension of your everyday life. You can use your phone to unlock and lock your bike, change gears and select how much the motor assists you.

As you cycle, the wheel’s sensing unit is also capturing your effort level and
information about your surroundings, including road conditions, carbon monoxide, NOx, noise, ambient temperature and relative humidity. Access this data through your phone or the web and use it to plan healthier bike routes, to achieve your exercise goals or to meet up with friends on the go.
You can also share your data with friends, or with your city - anonymously
if you wish – thereby contributing to a fine-grained database of
environmental information from which we can all benefit.

ABOUT THE PROJECT

The Copenhagen Wheel will be unveiled on December 15 at the COP15
United Nations Climate Conference. The project was conceived and developed by the SENSEable City Lab for the Kobenhavns Kommune. The prototype bikes were realizedwith the help of our technical partner Ducati Energia and funding from the Ministry for the Environment. Progical Solutions LLC provided technical support for the iphone control of the bikes.

For more information and other inquiries, please contact:
senseable-cph@mit.edu

http://senseable.mit.edu/copenhagenwheel

http://www.mit.edu

team

Carlo Ratti , Director
Assaf Biderman , Associate Director
Christine Outram , Project Leader
Rex Britter
Andrea Cassi
Xiaoji Chen
Jennifer Dunnam
Paula Echeverri
Myshkin Ingawale
Ari Kardasis
E Roon Kang
Sey Min
Max Tomasinelli, Photographer