Money Talks with AR

Posted by augmentedplanet under General

They say money talks, thanks to a fun augmented reality application from Harmonypark and Sam Hare it really does have a voice.

Chatterbucks is a new iPhone application that uses natural feature tracking to identify £5 and £10 banknotes from the UK. Once identified a speech bubble appears giving Her Majesty the opportunity to deliver a personalised message to the viewer.

The application is a bit of fun that demonstrates the power of natural feature tracking for mobile devices. Developers have been surprisingly slow to build natural feature tracking applications for the iPhone so its good to see an app appearing finally. Sam and the guys at Harmonypark are working on a application that will recognise Japanese Yen and US Dollars so overseas readers will get to have some money fun soon.

Chatterbucks

Legal Aspects of Augmented Reality Development

Posted by augmentedplanet under Augmented Reality, General

Very few developers I meet know anything about marketing their applications to generate sales or raise overall awareness, even less know anything about the legal aspects of software development. To find out if there are any special considerations that relate to the development of augmented reality applications, we contacted Pillsbury Law to get an insight into legal issues around virtual world & video games.

No mater what kind of software you develop, close your IDE, product mangers grab a cup of coffee; settle back and have a read of our exclusive Q&A with Pillsbury Virtual World & Video Game attorneys Sean F. Kane and John L. Nicholson. It could save you thousands in litigation costs.

Augmented Planet: Firstly, tell us about virtualworldlaw.com and how you help developers stay out of trouble.

Sean Kane:  Pillsbury was the first major law firm to establish a practice dedicated to virtual worlds, video games and social media (www.pillsburylaw.com/virtualworlds).  Augmented reality (AR) is a sector we follow closely.  We have about 30 or so attorneys in our Virtual Worlds and Video Games team who work with developers and other clients to ensure that they are complying with a whole host of cutting-edge legal issues.  We do this by engaging with clients at an early stage and are typically involved in providing advice on business model and technology design issues for a given service or application.  This lets us fully understand a client’s needs and vision for the application, and counsel them on necessary or problematic design elements – before significant time and financial resources are spent on programming and development.

We also routinely attend and participate in many industry events and legal conferences to stay ahead of emerging issues and technologies.

Our team started the Virtual World Law Blog (www.virtualworldlaw.com) to present daily analysis of rapidly evolving business, legal and regulatory issues associated with AR, virtual worlds, goods and currency, and other social media issues.

AP: From my experience, developers generally don’t worry about the legal aspects of the application.  They build it; release it, and then sit back waiting for Apple or Google to send the cheques.  Do developers really need to worry about the legalities of releasing software or is this just a lot of fuss over nothing?

Sean Kane:  Developers must absolutely be aware of and consider legal aspects prior to releasing an application.  Generally, all software is subject to some form of Intellectual Property (“IP”) protection (i.e. copyright, patent, trademark, trade secret).  There are statutory damages available if one developer infringes on another’s rights.  Damages can range from several hundred dollars to several hundred thousand dollars per occurrence of infringement.  We have seen numerous cases where even unknowing infringement was punishable with serious consequences.

So, burying one’s head in the proverbial sand is not sufficient protection.  The same goes for complying with applicable laws concerning things like privacy, virtual goods transactions, handling currency and other mechanisms.  This is an important point, because when you look at the industry, the traditional boundaries between what was a “game,” a “social media” platform or handheld app are all blurring.

The more features developers aim for across these categories, the more they need to appreciate and address significant regulatory issues.

John Nicholson:  In addition to the IP issues, we frequently see new companies try to take shortcuts by copying someone else’s privacy notice and terms of service (TOS).  Not only is this potentially copyright infringement, but a developer who merely cut-and-paste’s someone else’s TOS – which itself may have been blindly copied from another source – runs the risk of the TOS being deeply flawed and not relevant to their objectives and business model.  This presents serious business problems.

As a developer, your privacy notice and TOS reflect operational aspects of your business – how you plan to make money, protect your users and manage risks.  You may have made choices about how your applications and company will operate that are vastly different from TOS text that is widely copied.  If you are careless with your TOS design, you run the risk of actually violating your own TOS, privacy, and other rules.

Developers must avoid this pitfall, as it is a scenario likely to draw attention from government regulators such as the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) here in the U.S.

AP: If I am developing applications for a hobby or I’m a small company, isn’t worrying about legal aspects just overkill?

Sean Kane:  If you are developing applications merely for your own non-commercial use you may have a “fair use” defence available, but it is still necessary to understand the controlling legalities.  Moreover, if you are seeking to monetize an application being a “small company” is not a defence to legal liability.  What would be a better option is to retain counsel that are knowledgeable about augmented reality since a limited budget will go a longer way with attorneys that don’t need to be first trained about what you are developing.

AP: What if a developer thinks “Yeah, but, the chances of me being caught are low, right?  And even if anyone does have objections they’ll only go after big companies who can afford to pay.”

Sean Kane:  Not necessarily, part of any serious intellectual property protection scheme is to monitor any and all potential infringements.  This can be done by the IP owner itself, its attorneys or contracted-out to third parties.  Given the sophisticated technology currently available, monitoring is not a difficult endeavour.  Moreover, IP holders sometimes have little latitude to ignore one infringement, and prosecute another.  An IP owner’s failure to take certain action can result in a loss of the right to seek relief against a future (and potentially larger) infringer.  This is a major component of good IP portfolio management.

Additionally, start-ups should be aware that companies may specifically target smaller developers for infringement claims, believing that they lack sufficient litigation budgets, as a means to quickly obtain favourable decisions which can potentially also be used against larger infringers.

Outside of IP, your question is also typical of the mindset developers everywhere often have toward regulatory issues their applications touch.  Regulatory counselling is a burgeoning area of our practice, because different governments are responding to the rise of virtual currencies, for example, in different ways.  Advance knowledge and compliance when it comes to these regulations is critical for both developers, and those who may acquire and integrate their technology later on.

AP: When I use my car’s GPS the first thing that comes up when the application loads is a disclaimer telling me not to use the application while driving.  If I am using the latest augmented reality mobile application while walking and have an accident, is there any potential liability for the developer?

Sean Kane:  As with anything today, there is always the potential that someone will bring an action for damages.  You can see warning labels on almost every consumer product available, some advising against quite ridiculous and unexpected uses of the product.  Many of these labels are meant to prevent product liability lawsuits.  Given that there are attorneys making their careers suing companies over damages allegedly resulting from product’s design flaws, potential liability goes with the territory of every product.

Developers would do well to ask “What is the likelihood of some damage or injury resulting from the use of my application?”  If the application cannot be feasibly redesigned to avoid potential damage, use of a disclaimer should be considered.

AP: Does augmented reality pose a greater liability over other mobile applications?  For example, I don’t need to be told not to e-mail while walking – so why would an augmented reality application be any different?  Or, does highly immersive AR, for example, provoke new questions?

Sean Kane:  It really depends on the nature of the augmented reality application.  If the application’s purpose is for it to be used while a person is moving around a city full of traffic and other hazards, then a developer may take on a higher degree of responsibility compared to an application meant to be used stationary at one’s home.

The inherent danger of the application’s use will vary by its purpose and design, and users do not always apply good judgment.  Driving and texting, for example, is seen as a growing road hazard despite a host of awareness campaigns and new laws.  Developers should always consider what alternative uses a person might put their application through that differs from its intended use.

AP: “Ambush marketing” made headlines around the recent World Cup games.  Several young ladies were thrown out of a game for advertising Bavaria beer.  A developer later created an augmented reality layer that put the ladies back in the stadium.  The layer disappeared very quickly, so one can only assume that FIFA and all its might demanded it be removed.  Who therefore owns the cyberspace around public venues and how is it realistically possible to enforce it?

Sean Kane:  This would really depend on the jurisdiction where the use occurred, as IP protections can differ greatly.  Since the augmented reality use you describe is built upon an image of the stadium, you initially must identify who holds the copyright in the stadium image used.  It may be FIFA or it may belong to a third party that shot the footage.  In the United States, for example, buildings themselves were not traditionally afforded copyright protections.  However, approximately 20 years ago the Copyright Act was amended to allow for protection of certain aspects of buildings under some circumstances.

Other building designs or elements have been filed as trademarks and protection may flow from such registration.  Just because an owner allows for the public to enter a facility does not mean that there is no protection available for the building.

With sporting venues, it may also come to a contractual issue.  In the U.S., for example, the fine print on some admission tickets essentially gives bearers a “license,” in effect, to attend and do certain things, but not others.  Technologies like AR could prompt changes in these ticket terms, because while teams and venues may not object to spectators taking still photographs, for example, that might not be the case with “broadcasting” real-time game shots via their mobiles, or otherwise incorporating the event into a product or service.

AP: My application uses a marker to present content to my users, are markers copyright free?

Sean Kane:  Markers could be copyright protected, as can any other image or work of advertising.  Once a marker is embodied in a “tangible form,” which can include digital or printed form, it may be subject to protection, provided it meets the legal requirements for copyright.  Two important legal factors to use in considering a marker’s level of protection are its “originality” and whether its nature is merely “functional.”

AP: Not that I deliberately set out to copy others, but when I build an augmented reality browser, it’s pretty difficult not to copy how others have implemented their user interface.  There is only so much screen real estate to use.  Are there any issues I should be aware of?

Sean Kane: It may be possible under copyright law for two independently created works to be separately protectable even if they are virtually identical.  Moreover, under the “Scenes a Faire” doctrine, there may be elements of a user interface that are so intrinsically necessary, that the scope of copyright protection available may be limited.

Copyright law protects the actual expression of an idea, but not the idea itself.  Coincidentally having some of the same elements as another application is not, on its face, an automatic infringement.  That said, if the totality of the look and feel of two applications is substantially similar it is likely that liability will be found, unless one party can demonstrate its work is not at all based on the other work.

Under patent law, knowledge or willfulness is not a necessary element for a finding of infringement.  Therefore, it is necessary to strive for all of the work to be original and not merely a derivation of protectable elements from an earlier application.

AP: Are there any legal aspects I should be aware of when building geolocation applications? Specifically, I am thinking about the location data I may hold about where users go.

John Nicholson:  This is one of those questions that just doesn’t have a quick answer.  Collecting, storing, processing and sharing personal information about your users, including their whereabouts, can be a minefield, and, ideally, it’s something you should talk with an AR or game-savvy lawyer about as you’re designing the application.

The U.S., Canada, Mexico and Europe, for example, have all taken different approaches to the legal protection of personal information.  The U.S. has the most business-friendly, laissez-faire approach, which regulates information where there is a likelihood of harm associated with it – financial, medical and information about children under the age of 13.  Other kinds of information are treated as being covered by the “contract” between the user and the collector embodied in the privacy notice – so we’re back to talking about the importance of a solid TOS.

Geolocation is an emerging category, where businesses, consumers – society, really – are trying to get a comfort level on privacy.  As usual, “the devil is in the details.”  Depending on how you collect and share it, location data might raise concerns about children’s safety, if predators or non-custodial parents have the means to follow children.  Location data might also disclose sensitive medical information about the user, if they visit specific clinics or offices.

AP: Do you see AR or other developers making common privacy mistakes in this area?

John Nicholson:  Yes.  A common problem occurs when developers either simply don’t do what they say in the privacy notice, or they suddenly decide to make a radical change in what they do with personal information and try to change their privacy practices.  We all saw this in the uproar over Facebook’s changes to its privacy practices, for example.

Properly configured, AR can achieve what is considered to be the ideal best practice in privacy management – the concept of “real-time notice and consent.”  For example, if a user has subscribed to a geolocation sharing application/service, the user could select options for informing other members of their location: notify all automatically (default open), notify only friends, notify specific individuals, request permission to notify when an registered individual comes within a certain range, do not notify (default closed), but if that user is a child under 13, you may need parental consent for anything other than the default closed option.

Similarly, on the marketing front, AR-powered advertising could provide real-time privacy notice and selections for users, but you might want to be careful about dropping ads to someone visiting a hospital or clinic.  Finally, even if you don’t share location data or serve up location-specific ads, you probably need to think ahead about what you will do if law enforcement in your country approaches you to request location data they believe you may have on a specific user or users.

AP: So are you saying that there may be different rules about the collection and use of personal information depending on where the service is being used?

John Nicholson:  Absolutely.  And if you plan to host your service in one location – like California – and you have users in the EU, then you may be “exporting” personal information you collect from the EU to the US, simply by virtue of your IT architecture.  This requires jumping through some legal and operational hoops – something start-up developers may not anticipate.  It’s not impossible, just something you need to pay attention to and deal with appropriately.

AP: Back to managing privacy within AR worlds – how are developers supposed to know that a user is under the age of 13?

John Nicholson:  That’s always tricky.  Many websites and applications actually ask – for example, you might develop an AR product that does special things on someone’s birthday.  You might also ask the user’s age so that you can serve up age-appropriate ads – think content triggered by walking past a toy store, for example, versus bars or other adult-oriented businesses.

If you hold information about a child’s age, it’s pretty easy to say that you need to comply with the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act, or COPPA, in the U.S.  But it is not that simple.  You might also be developing AR products that are tailored to children – think of animated characters, images like rainbows, and so on – that a reasonable person would consider “targeted” at children under 13.  In this case, affected developers would probably have to comply with COPPA, as well.

What makes COPPA in the U.S. market challenging for AR and other developers is that they must first obtain parental consent to collect and use certain information about children under 13, and also give parents a way to see the their children’s information and a means to revoke the consent.

These legal requirements all have software programming and business implications developers need to consider early at the design stage – it is much harder and far more expensive to re-engineer for them after launch.  Right now, the FTC enforces COPPA in the U.S. and failure to comply can result in fines of $1,000 per instance.  So while COPPA can be challenging to comply with, it’s just another thing certain developers need to anticipate and deal with appropriately.

___________________________________________________________________________

As you can see, there are a lot of legal issues to consider with some scary consequences. In the long term it never pays to assume that you are complying with the law and ignorance is most definitely not bliss, especially if your software is released in oversea markets. If in any doubt you should always take legal advice from a recognised source.

Thanks to Sean Kane and John Nicholson from Pillsbury Law for taking the time out to talk to us and answer our questions, and to Tom Resau for setting up the interview.

Mr. Kane is a member of the firm’s Intellectual Property practice and a member of the Virtual Worlds & Video Games team. Mr. Kane has represented clients on transactional matters involving various entertainment, communications and consumer products business segments, such as video games, virtual worlds, computer software, the Internet, music publishing, records, motion picture (feature and independent films) and television production and distribution. He also has considerable experience litigating complex business disputes in federal and state courts at trial, appellate levels and in ADR forums throughout the country.

Mr. Nicholson is an attorney in Pillsbury’s Global Sourcing group. Mr. Nicholson helps clients structure, negotiate and document complex sourcing transactions.

He is also a lead member of the firm’s Privacy and Data Protection practice and an active member of the firm’s multidisciplinary Virtual Worlds and Video Games team.

You can contact them or follow the Pillsbury Law blog dedicated to virtual world and games related issues at: www.virtualworldlaw.com

Lost emails please resend

Posted by augmentedplanet under General

General apologies if you have sent me email over the last few weeks and not heard back.  I did a spring clean on my inbox and inadvertently deleted some unread emails.

I try to respond to everyone, but if you haven’t heard by now then I’m afraid you got deleted. Please resend and I’ll get back to you.

Tagwhat Video

Posted by augmentedplanet under General

Interesting video from David Elchoness, CEO/Co Founder of Tagwhat. In the video David talks about their augmented reality browser and:

• Why augmented reality is important
• Tagwhat as a location-based social experience
• How he used Tagwhat to plan a tip
• Future plans for the Tagwhat browser

Tagwhat is an interesting augmented reality browser able to hold it’s head up against the big boys. Interesting take away from the video is the content engine that will allow users to purchase 3D models that can be used in the browser.

Google Goggles What This Means For Augmented Reality

Posted by augmentedplanet under General

Now the dust and the wow factor has settle from the Google Goggles announcement a few days back I thought it would be interesting to take a more in-depth look at what this means to the augmented reality industry.

Multi Search Topics

There are demos a plenty of taking photos of book covers to retrieve reviews and online prices. If you are new to augmented reality then it’s actually not that new. SnapTell have both an iPhone and Android application that provides this functionality. Just take a picture of the cover of a DVD, CD, Book, or Video Game and the software uploads the image to the SnapTell server and runs image recognition to compare the picture against likely matches. Once a match is found you get the usual mix of online reviews and cheaper prices.

Recognising a barcode image I would assume is a lot less complex than recognising a book cover since there are less colours and shapes to contend with. Barcode shopping is another feature of Google Goggles and again there are various products available that provide the same functionality, ShopSavvy on the Android or RedLaser on the iPhone are just a few examples. I use RedLaser from time to time to see just how obscure the product range is. GoCat Tuna and Herring cat crunchies is the most obscure product I have managed to have recognised so far. To compete with Goggle’s logo recognition there’s GetFugu for the Android, iPhone and the Blackberry so again nothing new there. Goggles will search on wine bottle logos which as far I as know is unique as I don’t know any other application that does that today, but I’m sure it’s only a small leap from recognising a book cover to recognising a wine label.

You might think that I’m having a dig at Google but far from it, just becuase they are not first does not make the application any less cool. There are some really fantastic features in Google Goggles that make me drool. I’m no art buff but Goggles will enable me to become an art critic and give me relevant information about major pieces of art, all I need to do is sneak a crafty picture when the security guard isn’t looking and Goggles will tell me the name of the picture and the artist. Fantastic if you are walking around a museum but again it’s probably not a huge step in recognising the Mona Lisa or a paperback copy of C++ for dummies, ultimately it’s a blob of shapes and colours that are compared. Nether the less it is a fantastic use of image recognition.

My personal favourite and the piece de resistance of Google Goggles is a feature that must have the CEOs of the various augmented reality browser companies laying awake at night as Google are about to change the way location aware augmented reality browsers work.

The way augmented reality browsers work today is they use LBS to figure out your current location and the compass to see which way you are facing. With that information they can determine what points of interest you might be facing. Most of the time it works pretty well but I’m sure you know that GPS is not accurate, sometimes my tests have been accurate to 30 meters and sometimes it strays to up to a mile. If you are facing a landmark the visual indicator provided by the augmented reality browser may or may not be shown near by the object you are looking to locate. The second problem is there could be a building between you and the point of interest; the application has no way of actually knowing what is in front of you and what you are really looking at.

Google Goggles however uses image recognition on the landmark. If you are standing at Big Ben in London it sends a copy of the image to the database, performs an image match and then tells you precisely what you are looking at, not what might be around you and in that general direction. The accuracy is so good you can sit at home in California and look at your holiday snaps of Big Ben and it will still recognise the landmark. Fantastic when you get back from a trip and wonder just what all those photo’s are actually of.

Google’s strength is obviously search and the vast array of seemingly endless images that have that their disposal. Properly indexed there would seem to be no limit to what can recognise, particularly if they open up the API for developers to produce our own plug-ins. What breed of cat is that? Cat recognition plug-in tells me is a British Short hair and it’s favourite food is fish. That’s a nice car what is it? Car recognition plug-in tells me it’s an Aston Martin DB7, insurance group is a 31 and it has a top speed of 186mph, but I can’t afford it because my bank plug-in is warning me based on my current salary I would have to save for 30 years.

You can’t help think that terminator vision has just got a step closer. Some six or seven months ago we got our first augmented reality browser, now at the end of the year it seems like we are about to take a huge step forward in augmented reality with Google’s arrival. It will be interesting to see how the current crop of augmented reality browser providers respond to the Google play and what is up their sleeve for the future..

The video walk-through below well worth a look at some of the features of Google Goggles.

Excellent overview of Google Goggles.

Augmented Reality Christmas Cards

Posted by augmentedplanet under General

When I was about 12 years old, I gave my mother a blank card and wrote “Happy Christmas, Happy Birthday, valid until 2010”. That was probably the last greetings card I sent. It’s true to say I am not known as someone who sends cards, except of course the wife on Valentines Day, you don’t ignore that one twice.

Ingloble Technologies have released the first ever augmented reality greetings card service which is a dream come true to people like me. Now we can send a free greetings card that uses augmented reality and send a greetings card that will be remembered. It’s actually a really cool service and works really well, it’s bound to be sure fire hit this Christmas. Just visit www.arwishes.com to design your card, select the image and a music track, enter the recipients name and a message then hit send and you’re done.

Your recipient gets an email with clear instructions on how to view the card, eg print and hold in front of the webcam and they’ll love you forever.

If Christmas is not your thing they have cards for Birthdays and New Year.

AR Wishes Video

Google Enter The Augmented Reality World

Posted by augmentedplanet under General

Google have just announced their first augmented reality application for the Android device. Google Googles for the Android allows users to search by taking pictures of real world objects and having Google provide related information. However unlike existing augmented reality browsers that rely on a compass and location based services to provide search data, Goggles uses a visual recognition engine and location based services to provide results. In theory that would mean that if you take a picture of a well know landmark, eg Big Ben in London it would check the image against buildings in the local area to provide a better match.

Multi Search Topics

Aside from landmarks, Google Goggles supports other searches, if you are in a museum and see a famous picture and want to know the artist, just take a picture and it will search Google for the picture and artist name. In your local supermarket and see a bottle of wine and wonder is it a good year? Just take a picture of the label and Google Goggles will tell you.

A good year?

It looks pretty exciting. Google Goggles has been released as a Google Labs product so it’s very much in a beta phase. iPhone owners don’t panic. Google plans on releasing a version for the Apple iPhone once the application is out of beta.

Google Goggles offical video

Augmented Realty On Symbian – Wikitude Arrives

Posted by augmentedplanet under General

It’s funny sometimes how life works out. Only a few days ago a reader (Primaklima) posted a comment asking for more news on augmented reality applications for Symbian devices. My mission this morning was to have a dig around and see just what was available. I sat down with a coffee, turned on my pc, opened my browse and 2 seconds later my phone rings to alert me to the fact that Mobilizy have just released Wikitude for the Nokia N97.

Until today, Symbian users have had very little to shout about, the only augmented reality browser I can think of has been ARound by Sequence Point Software. All other augmented reality browsers have been targeted towards the iPhone and Android, but the good news is if you are a Nokia 97 owner you can now download Wikitude from OVI.

Augment your world with the WIKITUDE World Browser, the acclaimed Android and iPhone application is now available on Symbian! See the world through your phone’s camera view overlaid with Wikipedia content, Qype reviews and user-generated content from Wikitude.me (www.wikitude.me). The WIKITUDE World Browser presents the user with data about their surroundings, nearby landmarks, and other points of interest by overlaying information on the phone’s screen.

Welcome abord Nokian’s, you can download from here:

2009 Readers Choice Awards
The readers choice awards ended on Friday and the lucky winner of the Chumby is Freek Bodemeijer. Freek check your inbox as you should have an email from me.

The next question is what are the top applications as voted by you in 2009? We’ll have an announcement about that shortly.

Layar Now In 3D

Posted by augmentedplanet under General

Layar 3.0 was released yesterday to the Android Marketplace. I don’t have a Google Android device so my blog is based on the information I have pieced together rather than a physical test. The good news however is Augmented Planet is expanding and we’ll soon be joined by a former colleague of mine, Nitin Samani who is going to be our Android correspondent.

The big change with 3.0 is the 3D engine. Developers can now build rich 3D content to make your augmented reality viewing even better. Lets’ imagine you are on holiday in London and you are a Beatles fan. If you already use an augmented reality browser, chances are there is a tourist attraction database where you’d be able to find out find where The Beatles played. As you walk around London you could use your augmented reality browser to find Beatles related POI’s and you’ll get useful information like directions and a link to a website where you can read more, or using Layar 3.0 you could take The Beatles Tour.

The Beatles Tour developed by a London based company and fellow augmented reality blogger is one of the most exciting launch layers available. Start the tour, and you are guided to the first location where you have a unique picture opportunity with Ringo, Paul, John and George on the famous zebra crossing in Abbey Road. As soon as you’re done, the tour guide directs you to the next location and photo opportunity. All in all the tour has 42 locations for you to visit.

Tours sound like a great way to engage users, thinking out loud you could create a tour and generate revenue by having restaurants sign up to be part of the tour. If you were taking The Jack The Ripper Tour, after 28 stops you could be directed to stop off for a bite to eat. How much would a restaurant pay to be included?

At the moment there are 6 layer’s available (list here) but there are lots more planned.  I’m looking forward to the iPhone version so I can run a proper test.

Layar v3.0 can now be downloaded free of charge from the Android Market and is available for all Android 1.5 and 1.6 devices. Layar will release a compatible version for the Droid as soon as possible. Layar have almost finished testing for Android 2.0, and good news for iPhone owners, a version for the iPhone 3GS is to follow as soon as Apples approves

Twitter 360 Augmented Reality Application

Posted by augmentedplanet under General

Pesselite today announced their latest augmented reality application for the iPhone. If you are a Twitter fan and  wonder where all the people you follow are tweeting from, then Presselite latest application titled Twitter 360 will show you their location on a map.  The application also has 2 augmented realtiy modes, point the device down it switches to show you arrows that show the distance of the tweet, when you hold the device in front of you the applications switches to focus on the tweets by placing them in circles.

If you have used any previous Presselite product to help you find tube (metro/subway etc) stations then you’ll find this application looks very similar as it shares the same augmented realty engine. Personally I am not a huge Twitter user, I just don’t seem to have the time to keep up so I tend to read more than take part, but I know it will appeal to many Twitter addicts.

Since I had a rant about privacy the other day I should refer you to this post. Augmented reality and geotagging is fantastic combination when you are at an event and want to see who is around you and what they are saying. But remember to turn off the feature when you don’t want to be found, unless of course you want everyone to know where you live.

Watch it in action

iTunes Link: http://itunes.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewSoftware?id=330158239&mt=8

Pandemica Augmented Reality Game

Posted by augmentedplanet under General

Pandemica from XMG Studios is the latest augmented reality iPhone game that uses the camera and accelerometer to produce an entertaining arcade style shooter that you can experience with full 360 degrees of movement. Pandemica transforms your iPhone into a sub-field bio-scanner that can detect the invisible alien organisms that are around you, and like all alien organisms they are not friendly. Armed with your sub-field bio-scanner your mission is to eliminate the alien threat before they have the chance to get you and cover you in goo.

Like most arcade games, as you progress you’ll have the opportunity to unlock better weapons to help you fight off the alien hordes, weapons such as Missiles, Continuous Electron Beam and the Bosnoic Field Bomb produce the necessary firepower to survive some of the games harder levels. As with the other augmented reality games that fall in to this new genre, the game requires you to be active, it’s not the type of game you’ll be playing while sitting on the sofa or the train to work. As the game takes place in reality you’ll constantly be looking behind you for the next wave of alien attacks.

If your worried about what the neighbours will think of you running around screaming incoherently about aliens fear not, Pandemica also has two multi-player modes where you can team up with a friend and fight cooperatively against the threat, or you can compete for the highest score. Pandemica is the first multi-player game of this type and it adds a new twist on the game play. If you can get a few friends together I think there is endless fun to be had with these modes.

Pandemica costs $1.99 or £1.19 and is available from the app store.

MMORPG Augmented Reality Game

Posted by augmentedplanet under General

In my daily scan of the iPhone application store I noticed that Parallel Kingdom -- Age of Emergence has arrived. It’s has also hit the the Google Android.

Parallel Kingdom is a massively multi-player online role playing game that takes place around you. The game uses GPS to figure out your location and places the character directly in your neighbourhood where you can explore, declare war on other players or just fight the many creatures that live there. It’s interesting to see your surroundings plotted with monsters, trees, caves and other exotic items. I had never noticed that there was a castle at the end of my street before.

I have only just installed the game and it seems to be pretty complex and loaded with options so it is going to take a while for me to figure out what the hell I am doing, but like all MMORPG’s the object is to kill, collect gold and build up your level.

Given it’s complexity it’s hard to give a full review but I guess the question is, is it really an augmented reality application? Well that depends on your point of view.

If you are a traditionalist who believes that augmented reality is defined by using the camera and blending computer graphics in the camera feed then you probably won’t see Parallel Kingdom as a true augmented reality game. If however you take the wider view and believe that augmented reality is being aware of you surroundings and enhancing them then you’ll see Parallel Kingdom as the first true augmented reality MMORPG. Either way, Parallel Kingdom is free so worth an install and making up your own mind.

Game Trailer