The Galaxy Tab was unveiled this Thursday and the fellas over at PC World already have a nice comparison chart for iPad vs. GT. The tablet runs Google’s Android operating system, version 2.2.

Here’s to hoping that the AR features will make Apple push extra hard to unveil the augmented reality software that I’m sure they’ve been working on for at least 3 years.

Automatic recommendations:

1. Layar’s Augmented Reality Web for mobiles: finally layered information
2. Augmented reality games, but what’s reality doing there?

If you still haven’t already succumbed to skipping my ramblings—go watch the demo of levelHead by Julian Oliver! (embedded video below.)

levelHead Video

levelHead v1.0, 3 cube speed-run (spoiler!) from Julian Oliver on Vimeo.

Main points of fascination

• Physical object interaction; virtual worlds are dependent- and intertwined with physical objects (the cubes) in the environment. (Opposed to displaying virtual objects that have no connection to reality, which in my opinion is removing the “reality” out of “augmented“.)
• The cube, simple as it is, gives the impression of a gateway into an entirely different world.
• Simplicity. With the environment shaded and lit, the flat white character is simple and adds a mysterious touch to the experience.
• The cube is the controller as well as viewer; an intuitive solution for containing the game experience entirely within a simple paper cube.
• The game is easy to replicate if desired; all you need is the right program and a paper cube with printouts.
• Considering the Future: Remember Myst? I can easily envision an entire game in that style: purely contained within a paper cube, or even interchangeable shapes such as orbs or other simple ones for different environments (perhaps even a few in-game tools).

LevelHead information excerpt

Using tilt motions, the player moves a character through rooms that appear inside one of several cubes on a table. Each room is logically connected by a series of doors, though some doors lead nowhere (they are traps).

The player has 2 minutes to find the exit of each cube, leading the character into the entrance of the next.

Work is also being done to use invisible markers such that the cube itself appears entirely white to the naked eye.

Visit the project page of Julian Oliver’s levelHead

Thanks for an inspirational game concept, Julian!

Automatic recommendations:

1. Augmented reality games, but what’s reality doing there?
2. Useful augmented reality tool shipped by US Postal Service

LittleDog video – 2010

The size of the bot compared to a human hand is shown near the end of the video. Sign me up for a robotic-pet version. The summarized specs of LittleDog as described on Boston Dynamics’ site:

LittleDog has four legs, each powered by three electric motors. The legs have a large range of motion. The robot is strong enough for climbing and dynamic locomotion gaits. The onboard PC-level computer does sensing, actuator control and communications. LittleDog’s sensors measure joint angles, motor currents, body orientation and foot/ground contact. Control programs access the robot through the Boston Dynamics Robot API. Onboard lithium polymer batteries allow for 30 minutes of continuous operation without recharging. Wireless communications and data logging support remote operation and data analysis. LittleDog development is funded by the DARPA Information Processing Technology Office.

For detailed specifications check out CLMC’s paper on LittleDog research (PDF), published at the 2010 IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation (one of four Best Paper Award finalists).

It’s worth mentioning that USC was the only team to outperform the government program’s guidelines on 5 out of 6 tests, achieving an average speed of 8.7 cm per second. (Congratulations to the team—Mrinal Kalakrishnan, Peter Pastor, Michael Mistry and Jonas Buchli).

Cry ‘havoc’ and let slip the dogs of war

The research is funded by DARPA and carried out in collaboration with MIT, Stanford, Carnegie Mellon, USC, Univ. of Pennsylvania and IHMC.

While the scientists working at Boston Dynamics and collaborating institutes envision the ‘bots being used for various purposes, DARPA’s point of view is to use them to haul equipment and luggage wherever needed on a battlefield. The first versions for fieldwork are called Legged Squad Support Systems (LS3); a type of completely autonomous robots, very similar to BigDog, that will be able to follow a human leader through rough terrain using computer vision and GPS systems. The LS3 program is jointly funded by the US Marine Corps.

The first “walk out” for LS3s is scheduled for 2012.

Automatic recommendations:

1. Boston Dynamics Unveil BigDog Progress
2. Modular Snake Robots From CMU’s Biorobotics Lab [Video]

Prediction & results

Predicted on August 28th, 2009: “In January, 2010 the first major store announces mobile AR support; possibly an app that indicates product locations in shelves, or one that shows information about products. There are rumors of at least 3 other stores preparing a launch.”

• Actual turn of events (written Feb 9th, 2010): Came true. To quote SFGate.com’s article on AR smart phone apps:
  
  

  “Companies including Best Buy Inc., Jack in the Box and Puma are already advertising on Loopt, serving up coupons or banners when people near their stores.“[sic]

  
  

Prediction was originally published August 28th, 2009 in the post More predictions and a page to list them

Have any material related to this prediction/event? Post it in a comment below!

Automatic recommendations:

1. Correctly predicted: Augmented reality support in iPhone OS 3.1
2. More predictions and a new page to list them

The image recognition tech sounds exciting—image search and recognition in real time! I wouldn’t be surprised to see Google and Apple go heads on in a bloodsport match as they race towards the AR advertising market (incidentally bringing with them a wave of exciting apps and even AR goggle interfaces. Real ones.).

But, it’s best to let the video do the talking (read: I’m lazy). Here’s Google Goggles.

Automatic recommendations:

1. Wikitude AR – Augmented reality on Google Android
2. Layar’s Augmented Reality Web for mobiles: finally layered information

Correct prediction

Undetermined

Wrong prediction

Today we’re launching a special page to store past and present predictions regarding future technology developments. At the moment all are in the area of augmented reality. Below is a list of new predictions; the complete list can be found on the new Predictions page. The page can also be accessed through its link in Think Artificial’s header-menu.

What do you predict? =)

Year 2009

Initial iPhone development and app popularity

• Prediction on August 28th, 2009: In October 2009 many developers are reported working on augmented reality apps for iPhone. This is partially due to the success of 5 wildly popular apps in the iPhone App Store.

Year 2010

Rise of serious augmented reality apps

• Prediction on August 28th, 2009: In January, 2010 interest in fluff (useless, silly) applications is declining. Much more powerful, serious AR apps are on the rise.

Major stores adopt augmented reality

• Prediction on August 28th, 2009: In January, 2010 the first major store announces mobile AR support; possibly an app that indicates product locations in shelves, or one that shows information about products. There are rumors of at least 3 other stores preparing a launch.

EDIT: The following two first appeared with dates, but were changed within an hour to mid/early/late -month notation (I’m not psychic! =)

Open-source augmented reality platform

• Prediction on August 28th, 2009: Mid April, 2010 an important open source AR platform standard is introduced.

Augmented reality eyewear & head mounted displays

• Prediction on August 28th, 2009: Early May, 2010 the first specs specifically designed for mainstream, mobile AR are announced. Use of eyewear-screens (head-mounted displays, AR glasses) increasingly popular among young and young adults.

Automatic recommendations:

1. Correctly predicted: Augmented reality support in iPhone OS 3.1
2. Augmented reality on iPhone delayed, but hardly prevented

Before September 15th 2009 one of the following two events will occur:

1. Apple releases initial support to iPhone augmented reality applications.
2. Apple announces an extension to the the iPhone SDK, specifically intended for augmented reality app development.

[Posted on Jul 13, 2009]

Only eleven days after the prediction news began rushing in; among many others reporting, MacRumors said on July 24th 2009:

The L.A. Times reports that Apple will begin allowing developers access to the tools they need to produce augmented reality applications starting with upcoming iPhone OS 3.1. [So far, AR applications] have used unpublished APIs which prevent them from being allowed on the App Store. Apple, however, told one developer that the tools necessary would become available with iPhone 3.1. [MacRumors]

In short, Apple is releasing their initial support to augmented reality applications. The Los Angeles Times posted the article that broke news that Apple told developers of the Nearest Tube AR train finder (Acrossair) that augmented reality apps will be allowed in the iPhone App Store in September, as predicted… let’s see if it turns out to be September 15th

Stay tuned for more predictions.

Automatic recommendations:

1. Augmented reality on iPhone delayed, but hardly prevented
2. Augmented reality app running on iPhone

[NOTE: Above is a snapshot for July '08 to July '09;
See current 12 month trend]

Officially, Apple’s iPhone SDK does not offer access to any APIs for manipulating live video, forcing developers to use the available but unsupported ones instead. That’s a shame because as you can see, there are a lot of unique concepts out there for implementing Augmented Reality on the iPhone. [...] However, there’s still hope. According to some hearsay out there, Apple is interested in enabling these types of apps. [ReadWriteWeb]

There’s no question that Apple realizes the potential of AR and their position to dominate the market. The iPhone’s media attention and hardware power can make for a Walt Disney of augmented reality.

Having correctly predicted the type- and date of debut of the first mainstream AR application, the oracle speaks again—let’s see if I get this one right:

EDIT (August 13th 2009): This prediction was correct. Only 11 days after I posted this prediction it was announced that Apple’s iPhone OS 3.1 will support augmented reality applications—expected release is in September (as predicted). See further details in Correctly predicted: Augmented reality support in iPhone OS 3.1

Will augmented reality on the iPhone accelerate development of wearable displays?

The iPhone did the impossible and brought back head-mounted displays (HMDs)—often known as virtual reality goggles. Many modern HMDs are now relatively cheap—the pricetag is no longer long enough to use as a belt—and, on occasion, the design is sleek. (They still suck, but keep improving.)

Using phones’ screens for augmented reality applications is literally like peeking through a keyhole. Demand for alternate interfaces increases as a result of mainstream AR, and the greatest of these are wearable displays; AR specs (see-through displays, shaped like glasses). These have been around for decades (image shows MIRAGE – undergrad student project from 2002) but are still expensive as hell. Will the iPhone do for AR specs what it did for HMDs?

Importance of AR+wearable display interplay

The combination of wearable displays and augmented reality has countless uses. It’s important, in fact, with potential to revolutionize machine interfaces and manufacturing practices. Picture the following, for example: Desktop computer output (screen) can be overlaid onto reality like any other AR graphic, displayed in 3D as if they are sitting on a desktop.

Instead of buying two screens for a dual-screen setup at home, a student on a tight budget could buy AR specs. Through these he can display as many virtual computer screens as needed. If quality were to improve and price decrease, AR specs could serve as flexible, space saving, easy to transport and cheap alternative to any modern hardware display.

Augmented reality is not a type- or collection of applications. It’s a type of medium. In today’s economy, requiring cost reductions and preservation of resources, a future where a single gadget can replace several seems ever more likely. The boom of augmented reality is more probable than ever.

Automatic recommendations:

1. Augmented reality app running on iPhone
2. Augmented reality games, but what’s reality doing there?

Visual comparison of Layar & Wikitude

Comparing the first mainstream AR application to the second, Wikitude to Layar, there’s a noticeable improvement in user interface. The radar looks cool, but is it just a compass?

And FINALLY someone implemented layers. It’s what it sounds like; visual data is organized on layers that can be made invisible/visible. Like Photoshop. And the infinite number of layer’s are for sale to companies with good ideas (—that’s their business model).

Layar’s video shows examples for a real estate guide service (good choice for an early layer—encapsulates the idea, potential). They’re currently requesting layer ideas from companies, but I’m sure they’re working on making people able to create and share their own layers. That’s what I would do.

The videos embedded below show Layar in June ‘09 and Wikitude in October ‘08 (pre-release).

Layar promotional video (released June ‘09)

Wikitude demo video (released October ‘08)

Layar’s not the world’s first browser—it’s the first augmented reality web

The world’s first augmented reality browser for mobiles. So goes Layar’s tagline. But, uUnless I’m mistaken, they don’t actually mean it’s the first augmented reality browser for the Web (as in the World Wide Web). It’s the first browser for the web they developed, an augmented reality web! So the browser is a first, but only because the web it browses is a first. So the tagline isn’t technically wrong, it’s a marketing mistake perhaps, but not wrong. The Augmented Reality Web aspect is the cool part and should be scream of the brand. Including the term “browser” in there just confuses things. But nevertheless, they’re getting full media coverage.

Layar is high on my list of “AR companies that get it”—understand one of the unique opportunities in mainstream augmented reality. Respect where it’s due. They’re developing a well designed product with potential, deserving of success.

Hat tip to the SPRXMobile team; Raimo van der Klein, Claire Boonstra, Maarten Lens-FitzGerald. Well done.

Links & refs

• What people are saying right now about Layar (Twitter)
• Official Web presence: Website, Twitter user, Android Market entry

Automatic recommendations:

1. Wikitude AR – Augmented reality on Google Android
2. Augmented reality games, but what’s reality doing there?

The US Postal Service has begun using a pretty neat online augmented reality (AR) tool. Developed by AKQA/DC, the Virtual Box Simulator is a marker-based AR applet that enables you to use a webcam to find a box size and shape that fits a shipment item.

Print out a marker on paper and point your webcam at it: a 3D virtual box appears. Their video example (click ‘See how it works‘ on the right-hand menu) shows the size of the box and transparency being altered so that when you place your shipment on top of the paper its easy to see which one best fits.

Compared to similar applications, even though it only shaves a minute or two off your time at the post office counter, its still the most useful I’ve seen.

[via Adrants]

Automatic recommendations:

1. Augmented reality games, but what’s reality doing there?
2. Sony moves to augment reality with EyePet

Or, perhaps a more credible scenario; of those that get one out of need, how many will be content with human dexterity when super is an option?

The Scotsman reports the i-Limb, an artificial arm that the creators say is “better than the actual thing”.

The researchers say their new arm is capable of repeatedly lifting a weight of 10kg up above head height and could do so all day, compared with the average human being who would tire within minutes. The wrists could rotate 360° and anyone using it could perform hundreds of push-ups.

However, the sheer power of the limb means its creators are faced with the problem of deciding which patients could be trusted to use it safely, as it has the potential to be used as a weapon.

A weapon. How about marketing it in the U.S.? Dangerous cyber-enhancements could be taken up under the wing of the Second Amendment. A second-and-a-half amendment emerges proclaiming the people’s right to bare super “arms”.

[John German with an i-Limb]

Imagine a support call to a support line in the near future: “I’m sorry sir, we can’t replace your broken arm … it says right here on page 5 in the manual that any tampering voids the warranty. And we’re going to have to remove your current one. Could you come in around six thirty?”

What about the legalities? Would a tuned up arm void the warranty? Could a handicapped individual be denied a limb because he longed to be better, stronger?

The i-LIMB Hand offers a unique, highly intuitive control system that uses a traditional myoelectric signal input to open and close the hand’s life-like fingers. Myoelectric controls utilize the electrical signal generated by muscles in the remaining portion of a patient’s limb. This signal is picked up by electrodes that sit on the surface of the skin. Users of existing, basic myoelectric prosthetic hands are able to quickly adapt to the system and can master the device’s new functionality within minutes.

[via medGadget]

Close to bionic superiority

All jokes aside, the potential of a better-than-biological limbs is becoming increasingly likely. A recent and real example was Oscar Pistorius and the Olympics; a runner athlete with two bionic leg prostheses who was almost barred from trying out. The lack of meat was temporarily considered an unfair advantage because, for example: (a) they are longer and allow a greater stride, and (b) bionic prostheses don’t require oxygen/aren’t subject to lactic acid build-up. Below is a video of Pistorius competing in a 400 meter race in 2007; well worth the watch.

A quick search will get you several good online articles on the Pistorius story. He was allowed to try out in the end, and didn’t make the cut. His prostheses are Icelandic, created by the company Ossur. They’re embedded with AI that learns how the wearer moves.

A surreal future, or real possibilites

If we imagine stronger, faster, limber bionic legs and arms emerging in the near future; is it unreal to imagine that people who have suffered the trauma of losing a limb would want to make up for it by tuning up their prostheses?

Moreover, if it were illegal to bare super- strong, limber or dextrous bionic limbs, there would inevitably be individuals who’d find black market paths around it. It would be surreal to imagine anything else.

Links & References

• i-Limb found on Futurismic
• Scotsman on the i-Limb
• Pictures are copyright ©Touch EMAS Limited.

No related posts.

According to the BBC article on the launch, the Skynet 5C satellite adds data transmission potential. At least judging by the comments of an officer in the military who says “So, computers can talk directly to computers, as well giving us pictures and real-time video images.” [sic]

The MQ-9 Reaper is the successor of the MQ-1 Predator system, a UAV (and aerial support system) that has reportedly been used in Iraq for reconnaissance and killing with its onboard missiles.

The crew for the MQ-9 is a pilot and a sensor operator, who operate the aircraft from a remotely located GCS. To meet combatant commanders’ requirements, the MQ-9 delivers tailored capabilities using mission kits that may contain various weapons and sensor payload combinations.

The MQ-9 baseline system has a robust sensor suite for targeting. Imagery is provided by an infrared sensor, a color/monochrome daylight TV and an image-intensified TV. The video from each of the imaging sensors can be viewed as separate video streams or fused with the IR sensor video. The laser rangefinder/designator provides the capability to precisely designate targets for laser-guided munitions. Synthetic aperture radar will enable Joint Direct Attack Munitions targeting. The aircraft is also equipped with a color nose camera, generally used by the pilot for flight control.

Each MQ-9 aircraft can be disassembled into main components and loaded into a container for air deployment worldwide in Air Force airlift assets such as the C-130. The MQ-9 air vehicle operates from standard U.S. airfields. [Af.mil]

The Skynet project is the most expensive space project in the history of the UK according to BBC News, carrying the cost of £3.6b. This goes to further exemplify how we are moving into an automated, information|communication age of warfare. Perhaps an even more potent example of that is the brewing idea that the US should command and control Af.mil botnets.

You can read more and view a short introductory video of the MQ-9 system operation and use in the BBC news article. The video also shows a recording of a missile attack on someone on a motorcycle and reports that the Reaper is frequently used in assaults on enemy targets.

No related posts.

In an Australian first, Dr Bradlow’s life-sized, real-time hologram walked, talked and interacted with business executives at an Adelaide conference while he stood in front of cameras in Telstra’s Melbourne office.

[...]

The technology created by British company Musion Eyeliner has already enabled former US vice president Al Gore to speak to the Live Earth concert’s London audience from Tokyo and retailer Target to host a model-less virtual fashion show in New York last year. [via news.com.au]

It’s not Rimmer quite yet, but we’re getting there. The images projected with the Eyeliner system are projected as two-dimensional images into their stage set; a transparent screen that can be up over 100m in length. A stereoscopic 3D effect is accomplished with this transparent screen and a single projector.

No related posts.

Clarke served in the Royal Air Force as a radar instructor from 1941-1946. It was there where he invented & proposed the idea of communications satellites in 1945 — an idea that materialized quickly and we now know, use and depend on to sustain our societies. His proposal won him the Franklin Institute Gold Medal and in 1994 he was nominated for a Nobel Prize. Consequently he became the chairman of the British Interplanetary Society.

He collaborated with Stanley Kubrick to create, in my and many others’ opinion, one of the greatest films of all time — and concurrently developed what later became a novel of the same name: 2001: A Space Odyssey shook the world and continues to inspire and provoke thought.

Moved to Sri Lanka in 1956. Knighted in 1998.

A Hero Passed Away on March 19th, 2008.
Arthur Charles Clarke will be missed.

No related posts.

The results of the survey were presented by Dietram Scheufele, professors of life sciences and communication, at the annual meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science on February 15th, 2008. Scheufele conducted the survey in liaison with his colleague Elizabeth Corley of Arizona State University (ASU).

According to Scheufele the participants of the survey were well informed about the benefits and nature of nanotechnology. This would include the potential to prolong our lives, cure diseases (nanotech is already improving our medicine), the immense impact on technology et cetera. Yet, oppose it they did.

Only 29.5% of 1,015 adult Americans considered nanotech morally acceptable

In a sample of 1,015 adult Americans, only 29.5 percent of respondents agreed that nanotechnology was morally acceptable.

In European surveys that posed identical questions about nanotechnology to people in the United Kingdom and continental Europe, significantly higher percentages of people accepted the moral validity of the technology. In the United Kingdom, 54.1 percent found nanotechnology to be morally acceptable. In Germany, 62.7 percent had no moral qualms about nanotechnology, and in France 72.1 percent of survey respondents saw no problems with the technology. [via ScienceDaily with ScienceDaily]

I imagine the percentage of people who find it acceptable would be even higher in Iceland, given the results of a 2005 survey of acceptance of the Theory of Evolution (Icelanders rank number one, see National Geographic’s chart).

Why the difference between Europeans and Americans?

The answer, Scheufele believes, is religion: “The United States is a country where religion plays an important role in peoples’ lives. The importance of religion in these different countries that shows up in data set after data set parallels exactly the differences we’re seeing in terms of moral views. European countries have a much more secular perspective.”

The catch for Americans with strong religious convictions, Scheufele believes, is that nanotechnology, biotechnology and stem cell research are lumped together as means to enhance human qualities. In short, researchers are viewed as “playing God” when they create materials that do not occur in nature, especially where nanotechnology and biotechnology intertwine, says Scheufele.

There are two things we must note. The first is that this is Sceufele’s educated guess. The second is that convergence of nano- and biotechnology can in some cases involve animal testing — which might play a part in people’s answers.

But given that the participants of the study were aware of how nanotechnology could catapult mankind’s well-being, and I dare say all the animal kingdom, Sceufele’s assumption sounds reasonable. Unfortunately.

Links & References

• Discovered via the Black Sun Journal’s “Religious Delusion Hampers Nanotechnology”

No related posts.