All Things That Rise » AR

Weekly Wrap. 8/10/09: My New Augmented Reality

Giovanni Rodriguez — Sat, 15 Aug 2009 04:50:43 +0000

Pranav Mistry, MIT Media Lab

If my focus last week was on the limits of the body, the focus this week appears to have been the limits of the total human package — mind and body. I started the week by launching a Monday column called “My Life as an Amphibian.” It’s a multi-part chronicle of my lifelong struggle with ADD. On Tuesday I wrote a short piece posing the question, “can groups make smart decisions;” I was inspired by a recent PsyBlog post citing a 1985 study which found that groups really struggle in this area. On Wednesday, I did a bit of relinking — I linked to a blog post that linked to a terrific article in the Boston Globe that explored the reasons why people who preach high moral standards are so vulnerable to temptation (and scandal). Then on Thursday, the day I am setting aside for writing technology stories, I wrote about the emerging market for “augmented reality,” a market which I believe will have profound impact on the human body. Throughout the week, I posted daily links from the world of AI and robotics, gathering new evidence of the numerous ways we are deploying robots to do the work that humans do (this week — robots in the military, robots that harvest, robots that care for the autistic, robots designed to cheer you up as you go through your day trying to keep up with your social networks). But a couple of articles explored the darker side of robotics — the high cost of surgical robots, the impact of robots on the global workforce. And the news was not all about robots. A very good article this week in the Cleveland Plain Dealer looked at the increasing number of people who are taking performance and intelligence-enhancing drugs — the kind of drugs prescribe to me when I was first diagnosed with ADD — to gain an edge in their professional lives.

But the big discovery for me this week was the abundance of activity in the world of augmented reality (AR). My daily digest and Thursday beat were both designed to help me explore AI (artificial intelligence), IA (intelligence augmentation) and the place where social tech meets the two. Despite my issues with the AR label, I believe that the AR market, as we know it, is indeed the place where social tech meets AI and IA. For that reason, I am going to dedicate a good part of this blog exploring the frontiers of AR. My timing is good, I think. On Monday, one of the most innovative companies in the AR market — Netherlands-based SPRXmobile, the maker of Layar – will make news announcing a “global expansion” of their service. Have no idea what the announcement will bring, but I am betting it will be big.

AI Digest: 8/9/09: Investing in Augmented Reality

Giovanni Rodriguez — Sun, 09 Aug 2009 15:38:49 +0000

Wired (Bruce Sterling): “Medical Augmented Reality.” “This scene with the live exposure of the interior of an injured ankle also takes place in my new novel, THE CARYATIDS.”

Wired (Bruce Sterling): “The key take-aways for investors interested in the augmented reality field.” Says Robert Rice of Neogence Enterprises: “Don’t be misguided by the gimmicky marketing applications now. Look ahead, and pay attention to what the visionaries are talking about right now. Find the right idea, help build the team, fund them, and then sit back and watch the world change. Also, AR has long term implications for smart cities, green tech, education, entertainment, and global industry. This is serious business, but it has to be done right. I’m more than happy to talk to any venture capitalist, angel investor, or company executive that wants to get a handle on what is out there, what is coming, and what the potential is. Understanding these is the first step to leveraging them for a competitive edge and building a new industry. Lastly, AR is not the same as last decade’s VR.”

Science Daily: “Healthcare, The Road to Robotic Helpers.” “Robots are whirring away in factories all over the world, building cars, phones and cookers. Yet they can do so much more. Robotics for healthcare has been tipped as the next big wave, and Europe should be poised to ride it, according to a European road-mapping study.”

AIDigest: 8/8/09. Holograms You Can Touch.

Giovanni Rodriguez — Sat, 08 Aug 2009 17:53:46 +0000

PopSci: “Tokyo Scientists Create Touchable Hologram.” “Using ultrasonic waves to provide the resistance and tactile presence, the hologram simulates the sensation of rain drops or a small ball, all without interfering with the projected 3-D image. A couple of Wiimotes provide the tracking, and the programing provides the fun.”

ReadWriteWeb: “Prepare Yourselves: Augmented Reality Hype on the Rise.” “Augmented reality — or the addition of a layer to the world before your eyes (aka the “real world”) using technology — is the next big tech trend. Already making its debut in everything from mobile apps to kids toys, ‘AR’ will clearly soon be talked about by everyone the way they used to talk about “social media” and “Web 2.0″ before that. While augmented reality has its uses — although many of them just involve oohing and aahing at nifty apps — this trend is already in danger of being over-hyped, even though it has barely gotten off the ground.”

Switched: “Can Artificial-Intelligence ‘Ninjas’ Find the Best Price on the Web?” “Aroxo, a shopping site, will debut a program called ‘Negotiating Ninjas’ this Fall, BBC News reports. Designed by researchers at Southampton University, the ‘Ninjas,’ which will be fully operational by Christmas, function as artificial-intelligence ‘agents’ for shoppers and sellers, negotiating the best prices possible for both. In order to reach a middle ground, a shopper and seller answer a number of questions — from how much they’re willing to pay to how eager they are to sell a product. Then, an ‘agent’ uses heuristics — a set of rules used to find the best answer in situations where there’s no single ‘correct’ one — to make offers until the item is sold or someone leaves the negotiations.”

Wired: “New Use for Your iPhone: Controlling Drones.” “The iPhone bot controller is basically just an app, like any other. It relies on only the iPhone’s existing gear, and the phone can still be used for regular calls, web-browsing, texting, etc. HAL’s bot-wrangling app sends GPS coordinates to the robot, which navigates around using its own, built-in ’sense-and-avoid’ capabilities. Along the way, the bot can stream video or snapshots back to the iPhone.”