Nokia's Vision of Augmented Reality (Video)
Augmented Reality, the class of technologies that overlay data on top a user's view of the real world, is a very hot field right now. Mobile AR apps, like Layar and Wikitude are getting the most attention, but there are other ways Augmented Reality can be implemented beyond the mobile phone.
Nokia released a video today that demonstrates how Augmented Reality could be served up using glasses and other fashion accessories. In the video embedded below you'll see a woman surf the web and post rudimentary IM replies all using her eyeballs. It's a cool video, but it does raise one big question about AR: how can AR apps best add value to the physical world around us? This Nokia video is eye catching, but it doesn't answer that question.
From the video's description on YouTube:
This concept allows to you to experience immersion and effortless navigation in an Augmented Reality environment. New types of interactions involving near-to-eye displays, gaze direction tracking, 3D audio, 3D video, gesture and touch. Through these new types of social linkages people will be connected in innovative ways between the physical and digital worlds.
It's hands-free and weightless compared to a tablet, no small screen problem as you have on a mobile phone - but is it truly useful? Unlike most other AR apps we've seen lately, where the physical world is referenced by the AR - the two seem unrelated here. It takes all kinds, though, and who's to say how AR will be used?
(Also, isn't this music a little creepy? It sounds bittersweet about the inevitable and yet slightly frightening future.)
None the less, we'd love to get our hands on a prototype of this technology to test it - just as soon as it becomes real.
Thanks to Rouli Nir for tweeting about this.
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Those glasses would be cool but I don't think the wrist band would be needed as they would just track eye movement :p
The music isn't as creepy has the stalker other boyfriend.
Where do I get these glasses, and can they play VP6 encoded Flash videos? You know, for uh... YouTube. Yeah, YouTube.
Worse demo I've ever seen. Pls Nokia do better, this promo is such a turn-off for such a sexy technology.
Matt - it could have been better for sure, but worst ever seems like a serious exaggeration.
That was ridiculous. It's like they're trying to create something that we've seen years ago in science fiction films. THAT'S NOT DEVELOPMENT!!!
The idea of using sunglasses as a transparent display for AR is genius, and would work much better than the current crop of AR enabled phones. I'll take a pair of those wireless earbuds too.
The main problem with all this AR stuff is not so much the tech itself, but the data behind it. I've yet to come across a service that has had 100% accurate POI data for where I live.
OH my god! I think my eyes were hurt by the bad acting.
Besides that, this video does NOT show any example of augmented reality since the information does not interact with the "real" world. Those are just transparent screens mounted on glasses and windows.
It's all about hype and buzzwords, but this time they got it wrong.
O would still love to have one of those glasses though.
May be the lamest, corniest commercial ever, but I still want a pair of those glasses!
Posted by: http://claimid.com/ryanbrohman
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September 8, 2009 6:27 PM
Agree with those above; Not AR, but the glasses ROCK!
Wonder how that wrist band will interpret a pull?
She will have broken eyes after one month of usage :)
Nokia's Vision of Augmented Reality (Video) http://bit.ly/aD99v pretty trippy! AR glasses, etc. via @augmented [from http://twitter.com/marshallk/statuses/3849901871]
Posted by: Marshall Kirkpatrick
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September 9, 2009 12:54 AM
As mentioned above, there's no real AR going on here - it's just a VR headset where you can see the real world at the same time. Now, this is a cool idea, especially if you could marry it with AR sensors (and have a way of autodarking the glasses while in heavy use mode).
The whole VR thing seems very back to the 90's but it's worth noting that there has been steady progress in this field. I've been book marking a lot of this stuff:
http://delicious.com/dpjanes/headset
In particular for those of you drooling over the glasses:
http://www.myvu.com/Crystal-C24.aspx
Personally, I suspect 640 pixels across is not enough. 800px or 1200px would be even better, with independent LR channels for 3D.
In the future, you'll only be able to respond with smiley faces.
That was horrible, why this video was even made?
I'm curious about the haptic bracelet. Looks cool, but when she puts on the suntan lotion, I'd be afraid that I'd end up accidentally deleting my music library or something....
Posted by: eclectiqus.myopenid.com
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September 9, 2009 2:14 PM
Wow - location aware phones and augmented reality enable your boyfriend to stalk you to the point where it eventually destroys the relationship...great.
enjoyed the video - but that's just an almost traditional ubiquitous computing / pervasive computing use case; like others have said: this has nothing to do with augmented reality.
They obviously haven't been working their case from user researches and personas... :-)
Poor little rich girl in her small little house facing the Geneva lake... and her hair is always so perfect in the morning...
Please! what a joke!
Show me the same on a busy and rainy day, in the filthy subway train of a large metropole, and I would start believing it... ;-)
By the way, do they have the sunglasses in black and for men ?
Do I really want my reality to be augmented? I can only assume this is going to lead to unimaginably invasive advertising.
Check out this video by the NRC, Nokia Research Center Helsinki, with their Mixed Reality vision.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G6L7q8FTRB8&fmt=18
Posted by: Christoph
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September 21, 2009 3:51 AM
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