Filed under: Analysis / Opinion, Software, Video, Developer, iPhone, App Store
Nearest Tube's augmented reality on the iPhone 3GS
Oh, and the whole augmented reality thing -- get ready to hear that term a lot. On the TUAW team list, we were just chatting about microprojectors as well (rumored to be coming to iPhones and iPod touches), and as all of these technologies (video, projectors, compasses and location information) all start to get combined and hooked up to some serious computing power, your phone will be able to tell you more and more about what it sees in the world around you, from Tube or road directions like this app, to restaurants and stores, stars in the sky, and even other iPhones and their users. Hold on to your hats, because more and more, developers won't need to simulate the world around you when they can just show you an augmented version of it through your iPhone's screen.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
derekknighttx said 11:07AM on 7-07-2009
OK. That's cool.
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lanejasper69 said 11:38AM on 7-07-2009
Cool, but serious, the audio ...arrgghhh... step away from the mic!!
Thanks for the warning TUAW! It was loud after I turned down volume, glad I did!!
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Beanie said 11:46AM on 7-07-2009
I remember having an Augmented Reality game on my Treo 650 a few years ago. You used the camera and shot at these alien ships that would fly around in the real world, it was pretty awesome, can't wait to see how this has advanced with more computing power.
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delay said 12:15PM on 7-07-2009
I don't think this app is coming anytime soon unfortunately. They are using custom camera views to display the stuff on top of the video display. So you probably won't see this unless apple changes their SDK or loosens up their rules. This is the same reason you haven't seen any third party camera apps updated in the last several months to work with iPhone 3.0 OS.
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Peteo said 1:11PM on 7-07-2009
There is already a ARG in the App store called the hidden park that uses the iPhone camera and GPS. Looks really cool. I have not tried it yet, Maybe TUAW can do a review?
http://www.thehiddenpark.com/
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freakscene said 1:40PM on 7-07-2009
Not only is delay right about this app using undocumented APIs, but the demo is entirely faked. It's vaporware. Look at the last few seconds as the iPhone-holder pivots around. The perspective on the iPhone doesn't change. I can't believe this is still being passed around.
But it does make salient a larger point, which is that no apps like this will get approved into the iPhone store because you can't use custom camera views. I just don't understand why Apple would restrict that.
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BenJo said 3:01PM on 7-07-2009
@freakscene: what are you talking about? The perspective on the iPhone matches the surroundings in its entirety, and CNet.co.uk seem to have received and tested a review copy, see http://crave.cnet.co.uk/mobiles/0,39029453,49302880,00.htm
If there's an API violation that's one thing, but this clearly isn't fake and I can't figure out what you mean about the video.
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Greg Perkins said 4:22PM on 7-07-2009
Damn! Wasn't this thing a pair of glasses in Mona Lisa Overdrive?
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Mike said 7:35PM on 7-07-2009
now wouldn't that be cool? couldn't you hook in a pair of those video glasses, hook this onto something stationary like your belt buckle, and see the world with a whole new, "augmented" set of eyes?
wow...
Andy said 4:58AM on 7-08-2009
It was to solve exactly this kind of problem that maps were invented :-/ !
Think about it - using this app, to find your nearest station you have to scan a full 360º, looking like a pillock and a prime street robbery target. With a map (eg. Maps app on the iPhone) you just pull it out, hit the locate button and search for 'tube'. Easy.
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BenJo said 5:32AM on 7-08-2009
Map's probably more convenient, but I think that bit at the start where pointing the phone down shows arrows is meant to allow you to figure out where the stations are without doing a 360. Difficult to tell with the video resolution though.
samuel said 7:26PM on 7-10-2009
This woman annoys me.
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loerchner said 10:23PM on 7-11-2009
I have started a facebook group petitioning Apple to open the API for video augmentation. This will allow agmented reality apps in the store! Please join and pass it on:
http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=105162007611
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