Augmenting Reality With Your Mobile Phone

blackbearnh writes "With the release of the 3.1 iPhone OS, application developers will finally be able to develop augmented reality (AR) apps. In other words, Terminator Vision is right around the corner. O'Reilly Media recently talked to Chetan Damani, one of the founders of Acrossair, about how they developed their new AR application, Nearest Tube, which displays the closest London Tube stations over a live video overlay on an iPhone 3GS. According to Damani, developing AR applications on the 3GS is dead easy, and the real trick will be developing good augmented reality apps. 'It's all about who's going to have the most amount of data and the most valid data. So there's the obvious types of apps which you're going to launch and those are the find me my nearest bar, find me my nearest event, find me the nearest tube stop, find me the nearest ATM. And those sorts of apps are all going to be around. But they're only going to be useful for when you're trying to look for things. So if we want to get users to use augmented reality a little bit more, we have to start introducing other bits of functionality, things like show me the offers available in a particular high street. Show me when I'm walking down a high street if there's a table available at a particular restaurant. And it's that sort of interactivity and providing that real-time data in this augmented reality view which is going to start getting people to use it a lot more rather than just for show me where the nearest area is.'"

Re:MOAR! MOAR!

[gnick]

It will then use the 3g to access a database of previous slashdot comments, and suggest 10 appropriately snarky things to say.

I'd be happy if it would just keep track of their (personally tailored) karma status. If a Jehova's Witness shows up at my door and my head's-up display says DFTT, it would save me about an hour a month. (Not that I don't enjoy feeding the trolls, it's just not productive).

Additionally, if I'm looking at some building/statue/whatever and somebody walks up with a comment that I interpret as 50% BS/50% Insightful and has 'Super-kadooper-excellent-karma' floating above his head, I may actually listen to what he has to say.

Re:Think of the possibilities!

[gnick]

Actually, even though you might be a way from finding hookers and blow (I assume those apps would be invite only), there are already apps for identifying speed traps and DUI check-points. The cops (for some reason) have been whining about them.

The Killer App? In-n-Out Burger, baby.

[LibertineR]

I want an app that tells me in real time, how long the line is at the closes In n Out Burger, knows all the archane jargon to help me order my Double-Double(s) with grilled onions, and tells me exactly WHEN I should drive over to collect it. I want it smart enough to send me video of the hot, big chested chick with the clipboard, for when the line gets too long, and NOT send video when the ugly fat chick is out there sweating in the sun, baby!

Oh, and I need it for a BLACKBERRY, fuckers.

Re:memevision

[Plekto]

Frankly could we stop with this stupid "Terminator Vision" meme? I understand it's an easy simile to make for the masses but until we have our phone chips embedded in the brain, just looking at the stuff makes it clear as day that it's nowhere near as advanced as it sounds, it's just a stupid way to advertise the stuff...

I agree somewhat, but it's not going to be long before you can get essentially an iPhone in a pair of sunglasses or a device that does this sort of information overlaying. Of course the first application will probably be language translation.

Exciting possibilities for hacking

[parallel_prankster]

Imagine all the possibilities for hacking this AR system can provide!! How about sending everyone in the area to the same restaurant by showing them empty seats ? How about sending people in the wrong buses ?what about leading people to a dark corner of the street so they can be mugged ? The security questions that this can raise are enormous !