Some projection mapping eye candy

For projection mapping, you need the guys from Drive Productions. This is definitely one of those technologies that I can see making the world all the more intriguing and psychedelic pretty soon. Before we all start to wear augmented reality goggles, of course.

Cartoons go AR with Helicopter Taxi for iPhone

Besides the fresh feel-good boost, the trailer of this iPhone app also gives you a peek into what could grow into the interactive children's cartoon of the future:

Diminished reality

This is controversial stuff which reminds me of the movie 'They Live'. Researchers have developed a software algorithm that can remove certain objects from a camera feed in real time, after you select those objects. They 'sell' it as the opposite of augmented reality, where we add more stuff to our existing reality. Now, you can make your reality simpler by simply removing objects from your perception.

Obviously this can get a little dangerous, and I can see this being the basis of a new Japanese gameshow, but another pitfall is that when people start using this, they could become so dependent on artificially simplifying their world that they lose all natural, mental abilities to do so. I think though that with an explosion of technologies blending the virtual and the physical, it will all work out organically as long as we stay aware.

More augmented hyperreality

This is a prime movie in its ability to show, in 3D, a potential future that is perfused with augmented reality. Data will float around us like an aura, we have to avoid not bird droppings but ads popping up in front of our heads, and we can customize the look of our world in an instant. Welcome to the world of distraction and illusion.

This movie raises one question very strongly, and that is of privacy. Do we want our data out in the open for anyone to see, or do we rather keep it private? Or do we want certain people to see certain things, and other people to see other things? Of course this is very dependent on the mental state of the person using the technology, and I think that we would want the individual to be able to decide. A main advantage of having it out for anyone to see is that for others, it makes sense what you are doing in your virtual cloud, so you don't look like a fool. Plus it may act as a trigger for communication to others, so you could come to collaborate and help each other with things. And do we want a world where people communicate, share, and collaborate? Or do we want a world where people keep things to themselves? I say the former leads to a more holistic and happy society, and we should try to nudge people towards opening themselves and their personal dataspheres up to everyone. Will it be chaotic and distracting? Oh yes. But I firmly believe that having an incredible amount of data out in the open will make it organically organize itself towards a world that is meaningful, interactive, and beautiful.

Towards invisible objects

This is the way to make something invisible with basic electronic building blocks, so not based on bending light and all that. You take a camera behind the thing you want people not to see, motorize it so it can move in any direction, have a projector or display on the front of the object, you detect the gaze of the observer, move the camera behind the object so it is filming what the observer would see in case there were no object, and project this image onto the front of the object.

Now this is exactly what Daniel Franke has done with a cube. The movie feels a little, say, geeky, but you'll get the idea of the experience later on.

Architectural projection mapping

A colorful work of augmented reality that speaks for itself.

Via Bruce Sterling

3D LEGO instructions

This technology would have freed up a lot of time in my childhood years, as I spent hours figuring out where that one LEGO element needed to be put. On the other hand, isn't the endless puzzling an intrinsic part of the creative process, and the satisfaction resulting from completing such a complex task? Doesn't this prepare children for the inherent complexity of the world, by showing them directly that the things around them can be purely the result of their own actions?

Yes, technologies like augmented reality can make things all too easy. But it depends on how they are used. They can also completely change the paradigm of instruction manuals. What if it challenged children to memorize the construction process visually? This would take them more and more out of associative, language-based thinking, and stimulate holistic, visual model-based thinking. Which is crucial in developing creative intelligence.

I sometimes wonder if everybody will be a genius in, say, 50 years.

adidas goes AR

Adidas has launched a line of sneakers that allow you to use it as a game controller. And the promo videos are not to miss. The shoes have a QR ("Quick Response") code printed on the tongue that enables your webcam to see how you're holding your shoe. Adidas is very much employing new technology as a branding feature here, as I don't see a whole lot of practical uses in holding your shoe -especially when it's all old and smelly- in front of your pc. But some interesting apps that encourage people to get more physical with their pc may pop up. How about playing first-person soccer with your own feet, personal dance lessons with direct feedback, or a virtual running coach that sees how you run?

augmented reality video games

This video done by Parrot shows a powerful example of blending virtual and physical gaming. You control a physical quadricopter with your iPhone, and look at the screen to see it fighting, say, a robot.

a high-tech bank visit in Santander; autonomous robots, information decoration, and augmented reality

Ciudad Group Santander has enhanced the visitors center of a bank with state of the art interactive technologies. Interactive displays will enter a dialogue with the visitor to prompt him about his intentions. Then, one of a swarm of red robots that look not unlike shelled sea creatures will come up to the visitor and guide him to his destination. Another highlight is a model of Santander's financial city with movable screens on the side of it. Sliding these screens across the model will reveal specific information about the space behind the screen at its current position. Check out the movie below.

transparent walls on demand

This augmented reality trick reminds me of the good old Doom cheat code that let you walk through walls. I just wonder if all this augmented data will not draw us further away from an embodied existence and only confuse us more. With these augmented reality systems I always have the feeling that we should not aim to provide people with more data, but with means to have people refine their perceptual skill so they can develop a deeper connection with things they choose to perceive.

photoshop your world on the fly

Change the perceived world with the tip of a finger through augmented reality photoshop glasses. But: as always when we create an idealized virtual realm in which we feel comfortable, we fragment our reality and a holistic understanding and oneness with it for the sake of temporary pleasure. This is why virtual technologies that abstract us from a physical embodiment are such a slippery slope, and this movie shows that very lucidly.

MS Matrix

Our perception of reality will dramatically alter, especially if Microsoft goes Augmented Reality. Enjoy this little movie, that shows the movie 'The Matrix' in case it would have run on Windows XP.

By the way, I haven't had much time to post recently, since I'm busy setting up a new project. But I will catch up soon.