Comments on: ARG: Augmented Reality Google http://blog.mypod.me/?p=77 iPhone hackery and networkery with chewy BSD goodness! Wed, 19 May 2010 02:52:51 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.0.1 By: Wilmer Mensi http://blog.mypod.me/?p=77&cpage=1#comment-274 Wilmer Mensi Wed, 19 May 2010 02:52:51 +0000 http://blog.mypod.me/?p=77#comment-274 Every solution breeds new problems. :) Every solution breeds new problems. :)

]]> By: Viveka http://blog.mypod.me/?p=77&cpage=1#comment-78 Viveka Thu, 08 Oct 2009 10:36:29 +0000 http://blog.mypod.me/?p=77#comment-78 Yes, I'd say an audio tour of an art gallery in much the same way as a keyboard with a SHIFT key is a multitouch user interface (c/f Bill Buxton). Yes, I’d say an audio tour of an art gallery in much the same way as a keyboard with a SHIFT key is a multitouch user interface (c/f Bill Buxton).

]]> By: Shane http://blog.mypod.me/?p=77&cpage=1#comment-77 Shane Thu, 08 Oct 2009 01:58:12 +0000 http://blog.mypod.me/?p=77#comment-77 Interesting stuff, Mark. Some technical things to consider: - my Sydney-based workplace operates from behind a firewall based in Canberra, judging by the results of "Feen" (Pialligo is a long way from Darling Harbour :D ). This shows the limitations at present when the only means of identification of location is an IP address - ARG works as expected on the iPhone but if I go to Feen, all it does is serve up the feen.png image. I'm not sure how that works. Directory structure something to do with it maybe? When my studies are finished for the year, I'll have to spend a bit of time looking at the code and see if this mere mortal brain can make heads or tails of it. FWIW, I'm with you on the concept that AR is more about the additional information rather than how it is visualised. Although by the same token, would a recorded tour of an art gallery exhibit also be a form of AR? eg you rent the audio player or download a podcast that means you can hear the history of the various items as you wander around. Actually, a better option might be RFID enabled devices that can measure your proximity to various items and present options as to what you would like to listen to. Sounds tailor made for a 3-4" touchscreen with bluetooth capabilities now that I think about it ... Interesting stuff, Mark.

Some technical things to consider:
- my Sydney-based workplace operates from behind a firewall based in Canberra, judging by the results of “Feen” (Pialligo is a long way from Darling Harbour :D ). This shows the limitations at present when the only means of identification of location is an IP address

- ARG works as expected on the iPhone but if I go to Feen, all it does is serve up the feen.png image. I’m not sure how that works. Directory structure something to do with it maybe?

When my studies are finished for the year, I’ll have to spend a bit of time looking at the code and see if this mere mortal brain can make heads or tails of it.

FWIW, I’m with you on the concept that AR is more about the additional information rather than how it is visualised. Although by the same token, would a recorded tour of an art gallery exhibit also be a form of AR? eg you rent the audio player or download a podcast that means you can hear the history of the various items as you wander around.

Actually, a better option might be RFID enabled devices that can measure your proximity to various items and present options as to what you would like to listen to. Sounds tailor made for a 3-4″ touchscreen with bluetooth capabilities now that I think about it …

]]> By: Sylmobile http://blog.mypod.me/?p=77&cpage=1#comment-76 Sylmobile Wed, 07 Oct 2009 23:01:15 +0000 http://blog.mypod.me/?p=77#comment-76 Spot on Mark. I nod my head in full agreement to your point about how the augmenting reality is not all about creating overlays. I was only checking out another iPhone app, GraffitiGeo, which draws on the idea of writing some graffiti on virtual walls near objects of interest. I like the promise of this kind of approach where we completely dispense with the yellow pages kind of 'owned' list of data collection to one that is user generated, recent, geo tagged and dynamic. Spot on Mark. I nod my head in full agreement to your point about how the augmenting reality is not all about creating overlays.

I was only checking out another iPhone app, GraffitiGeo, which draws on the idea of writing some graffiti on virtual walls near objects of interest. I like the promise of this kind of approach where we completely dispense with the yellow pages kind of ‘owned’ list of data collection to one that is user generated, recent, geo tagged and dynamic.

]]> By: Mark Pesce http://blog.mypod.me/?p=77&cpage=1#comment-75 Mark Pesce Wed, 07 Oct 2009 22:28:18 +0000 http://blog.mypod.me/?p=77#comment-75 Gavin - It isn't fundamentally different from AroundMe or BrightKite or even Google Maps, except that it considers the problem in reverse: it tries to describe the world around you by proximity, rather than showing you placed into a map of the world. I am not claiming some breakthrough new invention, rather an technique which I'm freely sharing with everyone so that we can all begin to think about getting the real world into cyberspace as rapidly as possible. As for the location of your MBP, Google has set up some sort of operation with ISPs so that it can do relatively accurate geolocation. Not all ISPs play the game, but it does seem to be accurate to within a few ks. Not bad, really. Gavin -

It isn’t fundamentally different from AroundMe or BrightKite or even Google Maps, except that it considers the problem in reverse: it tries to describe the world around you by proximity, rather than showing you placed into a map of the world.

I am not claiming some breakthrough new invention, rather an technique which I’m freely sharing with everyone so that we can all begin to think about getting the real world into cyberspace as rapidly as possible.

As for the location of your MBP, Google has set up some sort of operation with ISPs so that it can do relatively accurate geolocation. Not all ISPs play the game, but it does seem to be accurate to within a few ks. Not bad, really.

]]> By: franksting http://blog.mypod.me/?p=77&cpage=1#comment-74 franksting Wed, 07 Oct 2009 13:29:12 +0000 http://blog.mypod.me/?p=77#comment-74 Mark, Interesting. How does this differ from apps like Around Me which already exist on the iPod - or even BrightKite for that Matter? And How the hell does it know where I am when I'm using a MBP, which as far as I know has NO LOCATIOn enabling at all - unless it is getting it from the ADSL connection or the Wifi ROuter...or both? Cheers...and don't be worried about @linensuave Gavin Mark, Interesting. How does this differ from apps like Around Me which already exist on the iPod – or even BrightKite for that Matter? And How the hell does it know where I am when I’m using a MBP, which as far as I know has NO LOCATIOn enabling at all – unless it is getting it from the ADSL connection or the Wifi ROuter…or both?
Cheers…and don’t be worried about @linensuave
Gavin

]]> By: Viveka http://blog.mypod.me/?p=77&cpage=1#comment-73 Viveka Wed, 07 Oct 2009 11:15:40 +0000 http://blog.mypod.me/?p=77#comment-73 Indeed it must be fixed, but it won't be fixed by Truelocal or Sensis or any of the legacy local search databases. Too much cruft left over from their origins in the data-scarce C20th. It'll be fixed when you make this a read-write app, Mark ;) And yes, this is AR if we want to say it is. I'm doing my doctorate in this shit (which is to say, I've been thinking really really hard about it, more than mortal humans ought to, and I can bore you silly talking about the distinction between space, place, location, locus, context, site and situation; real, virtual, mixed and augmented realities; spatial and informational dimensions; visualization and conceptualisation until you just give in and cry 'alright, only please stop talking'), and I say it is, so there. Indeed it must be fixed, but it won’t be fixed by Truelocal or Sensis or any of the legacy local search databases. Too much cruft left over from their origins in the data-scarce C20th.

It’ll be fixed when you make this a read-write app, Mark ;)

And yes, this is AR if we want to say it is. I’m doing my doctorate in this shit (which is to say, I’ve been thinking really really hard about it, more than mortal humans ought to, and I can bore you silly talking about the distinction between space, place, location, locus, context, site and situation; real, virtual, mixed and augmented realities; spatial and informational dimensions; visualization and conceptualisation until you just give in and cry ‘alright, only please stop talking’), and I say it is, so there.

]]> By: Mark Pesce http://blog.mypod.me/?p=77&cpage=1#comment-72 Mark Pesce Wed, 07 Oct 2009 05:33:59 +0000 http://blog.mypod.me/?p=77#comment-72 AR is not a visualization technique. It is a way of marrying cyberspace to the real world. (I reckon my own expertise in virtual reality gives me the right to stake out a position.) Were the data density high enough, you'd be hard pressed to tell ARG from any other AR application, save that my visualization is textual. But the data density is about 100x too low, right now, for this to be obvious. That must be fixed. AR is not a visualization technique. It is a way of marrying cyberspace to the real world. (I reckon my own expertise in virtual reality gives me the right to stake out a position.) Were the data density high enough, you’d be hard pressed to tell ARG from any other AR application, save that my visualization is textual. But the data density is about 100x too low, right now, for this to be obvious.

That must be fixed.

]]> By: Kimble http://blog.mypod.me/?p=77&cpage=1#comment-70 Kimble Wed, 07 Oct 2009 02:59:13 +0000 http://blog.mypod.me/?p=77#comment-70 I could ride you for this not actually being an AR application at all. You probably need to look more closely at the definition of AR. Instead I'll offer some advice. The 5th series Nokias also have a GPS location API in JS. I'm not sure if it runs on web pages or just within the Web Run Time (WRT) environment but you might want to try adding support for that. http://wiki.forum.nokia.com/index.php/Using_built-in_GPS_and_JavaScript_to_display_your_current_position_on_Google_Maps In fact that makes me wonder whether anyone has built a generic js library to abstract all the various geo location API calls. I could ride you for this not actually being an AR application at all. You probably need to look more closely at the definition of AR.

Instead I’ll offer some advice. The 5th series Nokias also have a GPS location API in JS. I’m not sure if it runs on web pages or just within the Web Run Time (WRT) environment but you might want to try adding support for that.

http://wiki.forum.nokia.com/index.php/Using_built-in_GPS_and_JavaScript_to_display_your_current_position_on_Google_Maps

In fact that makes me wonder whether anyone has built a generic js library to abstract all the various geo location API calls.

]]>