ReadWriteWeb

The hype surrounding augmented reality has started to die down, but that's no reason you shouldn't learn how to build your own AR applications. There are now a variety of tools to give users of varying skill levels the ability to create AR tools of their own. Here are three tutorials with different barriers to entry.

When content management systems (CMS) like WordPress and Blogger hit the Web several years ago, the Internet entered a new age where it became quick and easy for anyone with a computer to contribute content. This week, augmented reality (AR) took a significant step toward becoming more like the read/write Web with the launch of an online mobile AR CMS for creating content on the Layar platform.

Today in Amsterdam, popular augmented reality (AR) mobile browser maker Layar is celebrating the one year anniversary of its launch with an event called NEXT. In the company's brief lifetime, it has attracted millions of users to the Layar mobile application on Android and iPhone devices with its impressive catalog of layers. Today, the company made several announcements including additional international pre-load deals with handset manufacturers, new features for its browser, and partnerships with major brands.

Last week in Santa Clara, California, luminaries from the augmented reality industry gathered for Augmented Reality Event 2010 - a conference focused on the business of AR. The two-day event was a great success filled with eye-opening sessions about AR and its possibilities for the future. Fortunately I had the chance to sit down one-on-one with two of the biggest names in the space - leaders of a pair of companies some refer to as "the titans of AR."

Location-based applications are all the rage right now, but anyone who uses them knows that current GPS technology only allows for a certain amount of accuracy. If you pull up Foursquare, Gowalla or any other social check-in app while in a dense business area, chances are the place you're looking for is not at the top of the list. This is because current GPS chips and satellites are only accurate to roughly 20 feet at best, but this number could shrink significantly with the recent launch of the first of several new GPS satellites.

Back-end geolocation data providers SimpleGeo announced today that it has raised over $8 million in Series A funding. Included among the investors is Redpoint Ventures, First Round Capital and Foundry Group, which like SimpleGeo, is located in Boulder, Colorado. While the news of the funding is certainly interesting, the more fascinating story about SimpleGeo is how the company got to where it is today.

Amsterdam-based mobile augmented reality developers Layar are announcing today the launch a new service that will make it easy for users to discover the most popular local AR content from their iPhones or Android devices. Layar, a mobile AR browser that serves 1.2 million augmented objects each day, will now include a feature called Layar Stream which will make finding the best needles in the augmented haystack much simpler.

Dutch mobile augmented reality (AR) developers Layar announced today the launch of the world's first mobile marketplace for AR content, bringing a new model for the monetization of mobile AR to the Android and iPhone platforms. Anyone looking to take advantage of the excitement behind AR experiences can now create AR content, syndicate it on Layar's platform and benefit from its use by charging users a small one-time fee to access it.

Augmented reality (AR) has a long way to go before it achieves widespread acceptance and exposure to the public, but thankfully, many of the leading companies are continuing to make large strides towards this goal with commercialization of applications and the growing popularity of AR advertising. Earlier this month, metaio, one of leading vendors of AR software and services, updated its iPhone application junaio to version 2.0 in an effort to keep up with the growing AR browser market, but it is a truly useful implementation of AR in this app that will help the emerging technology reach more users.

Thanks to the growing popularity of mobile augmented reality (AR) applications such as Layar and Wikitude, as well as countless advertising campaigns from corporate giants, AR is beginning to make its way out of the shadows of obscurity and into popular culture. Once an experimental technology left for expert engineers, AR is becoming more and more accessible to both developers and consumers of the experiences. Now, the greater AR community has another feather for its cap as Time Magazine has recognized it as one of its 10 Tech Trends for 2010.