reactable: electronic music table surface

Posted on 2007/07/15 by bobk

This is not only musically interesting it also looks great. Developed by the Music Technology Group at Universitat Pompeu Fabra located in Barcelona. The multiuser table is being used by Bjork on her 2007 tour. The analogue synth style sounds generated definitely recall the Kraftwerk era and the new possibilities that were – and are now – about to unfold. It also breaks new ground with objects as instruments much in the same way the Theremin did nearly 100 years ago.

Site: http://mtg.upf.edu/reactable/

Augmented reality card gaming: The Eye of Judgement

Posted on 2007/07/15 by bobk

It looks as though the olde D&D or Magic gaming is about to be augmented. This Sony Computer Science Laboratories video shows a game called “The Eye of Judgement” in which players lay out an augmented card game on a table top. The game also appears to have a screen version.

“To praise the heroes who once saved the world, these cards were created”. When you hold up your cards to the computer, it revives the heroes and the battle resumes! Fantastic. But if your opponent is right in front of you – you may have to let the wookie win. Video from Jan. 2007.

http://youtube.com/watch?v=-NNWGP1KlaI

If anyone sees this available or has information let me know!

Total Immersion t-immersion.com

Posted on 2007/07/15 by bobk

Total Immersion started in France and is now active in the US, Japan, Korea, and Saudi Arabia. This demo is from early 2007. Revenues of $4M in 2006, forecasting $7M in 2007. They work with Alcatel and Lucent apparently. Hard to tell if the audience is wearing goggles or not. Explains that a core focus will be on games. See it for yourself, in the future, your avatar will dance all over print media!

Augmented urban architecture

Posted on 2007/07/15 by bobk

In the future, people will jump up and down and punch invisible purple spheres. This video shows a variety of applications, mostly artistic. The urban scenes are fantastic. The future will also have some pretty cool sound effects. Apparently, artists will be able to create entirely new species of animals to populate the augmented spaces. If anyone knows the source let me know. Dates from late 2006.

Hitlab and imagic books

Posted on 2007/07/15 by bobk

This very interesting 3 minute video focuses on augmented books and displays springing from other flat surfaces. It also and explains the use of “markers”. Looks like it comes from Australia. And, guess what, looks like some of the first colonizers of the augmented world will be furries.

Moisture farm – AR Tatooine

Posted on 2007/07/15 by bobk

Moisture farm AR Tatooine
An odd, echo-y voice says “one of your evaporators has been damaged”. “Attention: bantha heard nearby”.

Yes you read correctly, this is an augmented reality Tatooine. One can almost smell the banthas but I’m only scared the voice will say “Let the Tusken Raiders win”. Let’s see if we can find the the table-top battle chess from Episode 4.

French firm demo of augmented reality

Posted on 2007/07/15 by bobk

This video is by a French company that here demos AR for auto manufacturing. Video dates to 2005. If you can determine the name of the firm please let me know. Now, this video itself is created “virtually” meaning the audience was viewing the demo on a screen, not seeing the live cars as you see it.

This video shows some really practical applications and the animations are top notch.

If I can find out more about this I’ll update the post.

Scientific American: Augmented Reality: A New Way of Seeing

Posted on 2007/07/15 by bobk

This article dates to 2002. It explains what computer interfaces will look like “in the next 10 years”. Now, it’s 2007 and we’re almost halfway there. Or are we? Remember – Da Vinci invented the helicopter 500 years ago. Whatever we see emerge from augmented reality will likely look as different from what’s in the lab now, as Da Vinci’s model helicopters look compared to today’s real ones. This is an interesting article with lots of historical information.

Read the article: Augmented Reality: A New Way of Seeing

The Invisible Train

Posted on 2007/07/15 by bobk

Now this is what I’m talking about. Developers Daniel Wagner, Thomas Pintaric, Florian Ledermann, and Dieter Schmalstieg of Vienna University of Technology created this project in which a 3D train is displayed on an HP Ipaq. The track exists in “real life” (aka. RL) and the train is augmented. The site contains lots of movies and a PDF explaining the approach.

PDF: http://studierstube.icg.tu-graz.ac.at/invisible_train/documents/wagner05_pervasive.pdf

Site: http://studierstube.icg.tu-graz.ac.at/invisible_train/

Photo credit: Vienna University of Technology