Tag: AR

Augmented reality is fun but -- let's face it -- kinda gimmicky. Kids, though, they love gimmicky. The 'Helicopter Taxi' iPhone app lets children fly a virtual 3-D helicopter around the real world, picking up and dropping off virtual passengers along the way. It should be said that 'Helicopter Taxi' is not a game, as there are no points to earn or goals to achieve. This is a $1.99 digital ...

Esquire has crowned fashion model Brooklyn Decker as the sexiest woman alive. In an effort to promote the magazine (which, like the rest of the print world, is aching to compete with the increasingly digital media world), Esquire is taking Decker on a whirlwind tour of Barnes & Noble stores across the country -- over 700 in total. How is the model going to cover so much ground before the next ...

The famous Macy's in Manhattan's Herald Square will debut a so-called Magic Fitting Room next month, which will allow shoppers to virtually try on clothes. A 72-inch mirror display will digitally swathe you with the latest styles from Marc Ecko, Alfani or whatever it is they sell there. (We don't like to go, because the staff literally corrals shoppers into one-way, single-file lines during the ...

Japanese gamers, specifically male ones, are downright obsessed with 'Love Plus.' In case you've never heard of it, 'Love Plus' is a dating simulator in which players get a virtual pet girl to chat up and (hopefully) kiss. The DS title is getting the sequel treatment, 'Love Plus +,' and, to promote the new installment, Konami created an augmented reality iPhone app. The app allows users to ...

We were very impressed (and only slightly disturbed) by architecture grad and filmmaker Keiichi Matsuda's 'AR Kitchen' video earlier this year. Matsuda has been exploring a possible future of augmented reality interfaces with his videos, imaging a world when AR is less a gimmick than an integrated part of daily life. Matsuda has said, "The architecture of the contemporary city is no longer simply ...

There's a load of great tech news happening out there every day, and, unfortunately, we just can't cover it all. Here are a few of the other noteworthy things we saw today on our never-ending journey through the wild, wild Web. A pixelated orca (statue) recently appeared outside Vancouver's convention center. [From: Engadget] YouTube ups the video ante with new support for 4K video (yes, ...

We're suckers here for 'Rock'Em Sock'Em Robots,' and, really, who isn't? Before we were plunking down hundreds of quarters on 'Street Fighter II' or 'Mortal Kombat,' we were making little plastic bots launch haymakers at each other, trying to literally knock their blocks off. But kids these days aren't content to play with plastic figures and board games anymore, so 'Rock'Em Sock'Em' must update ...

So there's this cheeky new app concept that's been floating around the Internet lately, and it's raised the question of how trademarks are protected in the virtual space. "The Leak in Your Hometown," an augmented reality app for the iPhone that hasn't yet been approved by Apple, captures any BP logo that the phone's camera detects, and superimposes an animated pipe, billowing some kind of miasma. ...

Augmented reality interfaces are currently one of the hottest trends in tech, but they may be on their way to pasture, for the moment. Gesture interfaces are slowly but surely supplanting AR in tech headlines, because all the nerds want to be like Tom Cruise in 'Minority Report.' Hey, we can't argue with that. But the additional layer of interactivity that AR provides looks kind of facile compared ...

Augmented reality technology is really fantastic. Really! But, like anything else, it has potential for abuse, misuse, and simple wrongheadedness. In both Amsterdam and Rotterdam, the Dutch government has installed AR billboards intended to combat an apparently pervasive problem; public workers, in the course of their regular duties, are routinely faced with violence and aggression from ...

London-based streetwear design label Cassette Playa recently presented its Autumn/Winter 2010 collection, incorporating augmented reality software and projections into the show. The label claimed that the idea of video game avatars figured heavily into this season's concept; as the consumer dons an outfit, she essentially becomes a new character. For the show, each of the analog looks contained ...

Augmented reality has primarily been used to locate nearby restaurants, insert 3-D baddies into video games, and offer glorified advertisements. General Motors, however, is trying to put the technology to good use, and integrate it into the windshields of future automobiles. Under the generic title "enhanced vision system," the prototype uses sensors, GPS, and video cameras to overlay useful ...

When the Wii, with its decidedly last-gen graphics technology, hit the market and trounced the competition, we knew it would only be a matter of time before Sony and Microsoft tried to copy Nintendo's motion sensing technology. While details are still scarce about the Xbox 360's Project Natal, the PlayStation Move has been officially announced and is expected to hit the market this fall. The ...

Recall with us, if you will, 'Back To the Future Part II,' in which Marty McFly leaves 1985 (25 years ago!), and shoots through time and space to arrive in 2015. It's sort of unnerving when you realize that's only five years from now. And just think about how many of the movie's predictions have already come true: from TV glasses to video conferencing to an MLB team in Miami. We have to give ...

Augmented reality took off like a rocket last year -- with everything from sneakers to music videos making use of the technology. And, with the new year starting, it doesn't look like the trend will slow down, either. According to TechCrunch, the Ohio company behind the Muscle Milk protein drink has funneled that potent elixir into a special-edition Shaquille O'Neal bottle, which -- when paired ...