Augmented Reality for iPhone May Not Come Next Month After All
Developers and enthusiasts have hoped that official support for Augmented Reality (AR), the display of data on top of a view of the real world, would come to the iPhone in early September. Today's announcement of a big Apple event on September 9th that's focused on the iPod, however, gives reason to suspect that the next version of the iPhone operating system will spend more time in the oven.
AR startup Acrossair reportedly told the LA Times in July that Apple told it that official support for AR was coming in iPhone OS 3.1. Acrossair may have introduced the hope that 3.1 was coming in early September. It's still possible that we might see AR support in a week and a half, but other developers tell us they wouldn't be surprised to see some more beta versions tested before it launches.
Augmented Reality apps have been available on Android phones for some time and a handful of iPhone apps have snuck AR functionality into the iTunes App Store already. The most notable among those is Yelp.
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I understand the author's disappointment with not seeing a next generation iPhone. However, I believe the focus on the iPod line is exactly correct. I predict a larger iPod Touch device will be announced, the much hyped iTablet or something similar.
Would you hold such a thing up to the side of your head to make a phone call? Of course not, that would look ridiculous. Instead, I'm hoping that the device will be made to accept all manner of external hardware, headsets, microphones, cameras, etc. that will make it a multifunction device.
I'm hoping this device will work both with WiFi and on a cellular network. In addition, I anticipate that network will be Verizon. AT&T unfortunately is missing an opportunity to support cutting edge devices, however, their entrepreneurial spirit is near zero. They want "sure bet" income, not moving up to the next level. They prefer to soak the current iPhone customers for all they can get, not offer tethering and other advanced features.
There's an augmented reality application for the french subway. It's called Metro Paris 3.0. You can see it on that blog :
http://blog.brasseo.net/2009/08/24/realite-augmentee-pour-lapplication-metro-paris-3-0/
It can help you to find a subway station in Paris.
Sorry for my english.
Overlays based on GPS/compass data are certainly useful.
But for "augmented reality", the key test is whether the video can be turned off without affecting the app. (A video feed underlay is often superfluous to the 2D data overlay.)
I recently wrote this post on the potential for augmented reality on the iPhone: http://bit.ly/yo4VD
Augmented Reality for iPhone May Not Come Next Month After All http://bit.ly/4rtyPK [from http://twitter.com/marshallk/statuses/3669579373]
Posted by: Marshall Kirkpatrick
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September 1, 2009 5:38 PM