AR Weekly Digest #54

1. Samsung Patents Smartphone-Connected Glasses

Samsung Electronics Co. has filed a design patent for wearable computer glasses that are connected to a smartphone. Reports say that the device will be attached using a micro-USB connection. This connection could probably overcome the issue with battery life and make glasses lighter than Google’s version. Similarly to Galaxy Gear Smartwatch there glasses will be an addition to phones and not a standalone device.

Referred to as “sports glasses” in the patent, they’re described as having integrated earphones for listening to music, can act as a hands-free headset for taking calls, and will display notification alerts while you’re exercising. There’s no word about support for apps though at this point, but maybe there will be more information about this later.

It’s not clear whether Samsung has any plans to launch the eyewear as it refuses to comment on its plans. Like many big companies, Samsung files for patents on a wide array of technologies. Many of those products never launch. If Samsung releases its spectacles, it will be the latest in a series of efforts by the South Korean company to break into the wearable technology market.

URL: http://blogs.wsj.com/digits/2013/10/24/patent-filing-shows-samsung-preps-electronic-eyewear

2. National Geographic Presents Earth Explorers Augmented Reality

National Geographic launched augmented reality experience scavenger hunt at The Science Center of Iowa, which was a part of “National Geographic Presents: Earth Explorers” exhibit. It was created and set up by Geomedia and Global Experience Specialists, Inc.

The exhibition’s theme is the exploration of dangerous and remote parts of the world (e.g. deepest depths of the oceans, Poles, dense rain forests, mountains, etc.). To engage “explorers” and make their experience memorable there are compass shaped AR markers scattered through the exhibit that visitors have to track down and find on their own personal devices. Once found, the markers reveal an inside look at animals related to that part of the world. Additionally, finding a marker rewards the visitor with a trophy – a tool used by explorers in that part of the world to better explore their environment. After all the trophies have been collected, a final Earth Explorers special trophy is given out for completing the quest!

You can watch the video of how the exhibit looks like by following the link.

URL: http://geomedia.com/2013/10/30/national-geographic-presents-earth-explorers-augmented-reality

3. History Lessons on Smart Screens During Bus Ride

Public transportation commuting is usually a mundane routine, but an artist Ilse Heesterbeek is now trying to make the journey a lot more exciting. Her 2013 graduation project, called History Travels With You was on display at the DAE during Dutch Design Week, impressing everyone with an original concept and great implementation.

To make commuting a little more enjoyable for people, Heesterbeek suggests to install GPS-enabled smart screens onto public bus windows and add augmented reality feature to retell the story of the local surroundings, Geo-synchronized objects and pictures appear as the bus passes a particular parts of a town. This way passengers in the bus are able to “see herds of cows on the passing landscape that signifies a former cattle market”.

Projects like this can be a great way to get to know cities better and also entertain people commuting.

URL: http://www.psfk.com/2013/10/augmented-reality-history-windows.html

4. Wearable Computing at the AIrports of the Future

Airports of the future will have “wearable computing” announces SITA lab refering to their studies. The technology research team of the air transport IT provider SITA has conducted the earliest trials into the use of wearable computing at airlines and airports and issued its findings.

Jim Peters, chief technology officer, SITA, speaking at the Europe Aviation ICT Forum in Vienna, said: “Wearable devices like Google Glass offer new opportunities to mobilise staff, keeping their hands free, while keeping them connected to the traditional check-in and reservation systems.”

As part of its testing, SITA Lab developed an application called SWIFT Boarding using the smart headgear’s built-in camera as a scanner and the heads-up display. It is supposed to scan and verify boarding passes and passports simultaneously. Although the app worked, the tech was considered to not be fast enough for the sorts of volumes involved in passenger processing.

Peters also explained that Google Glass, Vuzix smart glasses and other similar products could be used more widely in the airport environment – to read and verify bag tags or for maintenance purposes, for example – and these are areas that SITA Lab may explore in the future. However, the devices still have many drawbacks such as speed of processing, camera quality, high price, which should be overcome to be able to meet the high speed passenger processing requirements needed at airports.

URL: http://www.futuretravelexperience.com/2013/10/wearable-technology-innovative-apps-and-smartphone-trends/

5. Karndean’s New App to Change the Way People Choose Floors

The UK’s market leader in luxury vinyl flooring Karndean Designflooring has launched a brand new Augmented Reality app which allows users to view any Karndean floor in real time at any place.

‘We know a product sample is not always enough to help decide which of our floors will look best in the space,’ says Heather Horton, Karndean Designflooring head of digital. ‘Although our samples allow you to feel the surface texture of our flooring, you also want to know what the floor will look like in your home. In order to help narrow down the choices we’ve created our iPad and iPhone app that’s sure to change the way people buy flooring.’

Users can also take snapshots as they go along with testing flooring, edit out walls and furniture and then save to compare – and then share with others when there is a taugh choice to make,

URL: http://www.karndean.com/en-gb/floors/inspire-me/karndean-designflooring-app

AR applications:

Prepared by:

Augmented Pixels

3D Augmented Reality Solutions

http://augmentedpixels.com/

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