LuminAR by Natan Linder and Pattie Maes from the Fluid Interfaces Group at the MIT Media Labreinvents the traditional incandescent bulb and desk lamp, evolving them into a new category of robotic, digital information devices.
The LuminAR Bulb combines a Pico-projector, camera, and wireless computer in a compact form factor. This self-contained system enables users with just-in-time projected information and a gestural user interface, and it can be screwed into standard light fixtures everywhere. The LuminAR Lamp is an articulated robotic arm, designed to interface with the LuminAR Bulb. Both LuminAR form factors dynamically augment their environments with media and information, while seamlessly connecting with laptops, mobile phones, and other electronic devices. LuminAR transforms surfaces and objects into interactive spaces that blend digital media and information with the physical space. The project radically rethinks the design of traditional lighting objects, and explores how we can endow them with novel augmented-reality interfaces.
“So when looking for somewhere using the iPhone I had two choices; use an augmented reality app such as Layer, or using something like Yelp. … Holding your phone like some kind of sci-fi binoculars and moving around the landscape makes you look like a dick. Don’t get me wrong, it’s a nice thing to demo, and people always go “ooh that’s cool”, but generally, you look like a complete and utter dick. Instead, I used Yelp.”
Porthole is an augmented reality application, powered by Pachube, that provides a view into the data environments hosted by Pachube. It overlays realtime sensor data on your camera view and enables you to query the current status of sensor environments.
The Dutch government have released an urban screen that takes filmed footage of passers by in the street and displays them in a street fight scenario to encourage them to intervene.
If you’ve read any of my previous posts you’ll know that I’ve got a problem with augmented reality on personal devices. I think this is a great example of AR on situated tech and it’s being used to encourage social change - a great progression from Chris O’Shea’s Hand From Above project.
YDreams‘ largest project to date, “El Faro” Visitors Centre, is the gateway to Santander Group’s financial complex on the outskirts of Madrid. The centre is a creative mix of advanced robotics, hi-res LED paneled columns and interactive interface design that offer visitors memorable and impactful forms of exploring the group’s history and global presence.
Knee-high autonomous robots greet and guide visitors to their destination in the center, a large-scale model of the financial campus uses augmented reality and advanced graphics to explore points of interest, and a 12-meter tactile, interactive wall senses when people approach, triggers eye-catching graphics and lets visitors explore multimedia contents about “Ciudad Group Santander”.
This is the N Building in Tokyo. The entire front is a QR Code that you can point your mobile phone at to see the building augmented with a digital overlay.
There’s something about it that irks me. It’s far from rubbish. No, I think the implementation is fantastic. Hats off to the team that made it happen. I’m really very glad people are doing stuff like this - but the fact that it needs special software and a mobile device that you need to hold aloft, pointed at the building makes me feel a bit weird. Why expect people to do that?
Surely you can display useful (and fun) information about the building, it’s status and its inhabitants without resorting to making people hold their phones out or up in the air.
Don’t ask me how it should be done because I don’t have an answer yet - but that’s the feeling I get. I’ll have to get back to you on that one.
It also had networked informatics and data logging. Robocop must have some kind of data uplink. Wonder if it’s GPRS, EDGE, 3G or something like this. They should use Pachube.
We’re not that far off unmanned combat robots like ED209 either. It’s basically a glorified Aibo (1999 ) with big guns. In fact, check out this news story!.
