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'Layar' Shows Augmented Reality Possibilities on iPhone 3G S

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A new augmented reality app called Layar is making the rounds on the web as an example of what can be done with Augmented Reality. Layer (via 9to5Mac) is described as the world's first mobile augmented reailty browser.
Layar shows you what is around you by displaying realtime digital information on top of reality through the camera of the mobile phone. Just flip through the directory of layers and find ATM's, bars, houses for sale, hotels and other cool stuff around you.
Click to expand...
The app accomplishes this through the use of the Compass, camera and GPS embedded within the phone. The developer's video shows it running:

Article Link: 'Layar' Shows Augmented Reality Possibilities on iPhone 3G S

The app is first available for the Android devices but they are working hard on porting it to other platforms "with a prime focus on the iPhone 3G S.". The iPhone 3G S is the first Apple iPhone to contain a digital compass which is required for such applications.
 
Article Link
https://www.macrumors.com/2009/06/16/layar-shows-augmented-reality-possibilities-on-iphone-3g-s/
Wiliam Gibson strikes again: He talked about just this sort of thing in his most recent novel, Spook Country, although in the book his characters wear VR helmets that are GPS-enabled to know where the wearer is and what they are looking at. (He also covered this territory back in 1993, in Virtual Light. There it was VR sunglasses that contain geospatially-tagged information.)
 
What's the point?

Alright, it's a cool demonstration of what technology can do, but who in their right minds would use something like this? :confused:

So you lift up your phone, and look at the world through your camera lens, so it can tell you what each building is, even though there are signs that say it anyway? :confused:

Maybe I'm missing something, but this seems, pointless.
 
Where are all the folks who were saying "whoop tee doo, a compass"?

This looks very cool. Things like information about hotel vacancy, room rates, real estate, restaurant menus, bus schedules. Great for larger cities.
 
This will come some day soon hopefully.
Maybe it will be the selling point for the next iPhone next year :D Built right into Google Maps!
 
Lol, getting laid with Layar. This was all very close to Amsterdam's Red Light District. Next feature : find me a blond haired hooker that offers full service for a max price of €50.
 
sbrhwkp3 said:
Alright, it's a cool demonstration of what technology can do, but who in their right minds would use something like this? :confused:

So you lift up your phone, and look at the world through your camera lens, so it can tell you what each building is, even though there are signs that say it anyway? :confused:

Maybe I'm missing something, but this seems, pointless.
Click to expand...

It's just a nice gimmick. It's just one layer more of information. You could point onto a building and it tells you when it was built or what's in there and so on.

Or for the army: you point on a building and it tells you if it's in a special zone or what the targets might be there. I think it could make life easier.

Why google maps on your phone when you could just as easily take a map with you?
 
sbrhwkp3 said:
Alright, it's a cool demonstration of what technology can do, but who in their right minds would use something like this? :confused:

So you lift up your phone, and look at the world through your camera lens, so it can tell you what each building is, even though there are signs that say it anyway? :confused:

Maybe I'm missing something, but this seems, pointless.
Click to expand...

Someone looking for a new apartment, maybe? Who in their right minds would use all of the fart apps?
 
Fluffy Bunny said:
Where are all the folks who were saying "whoop tee doo, a compass"?

This looks very cool. Things like information about hotel vacancy, room rates, real estate, restaurant menus, bus schedules. Great for larger cities.
Click to expand...

A lot of people were judging the value of the compass by the compass app, not that other apps could leverage it. Why can no one ever see the big picture, particularly whoever my boss is at the time.
 
I have wikitude on my Htc magic which does same thing, great its coming for iphone too, shame though now I need something else to show off with
 
For those who are pooh-poohing this sort of thing, there are lots of good examples of how it could be used in a very cool way. Here's one example:

Imagine walking around museum. You see the paintings on the walls, and they have basic info like who the artist was and the title of the work. But then point your iPhone at the painting and click the "Get Info" button in your geospatially-aware browser. The browser checks your coordinates, determines that you're in the Louvre, figures out what painting you're looking at, and then displays detailed information, including (possibly) voice narration delivered through your headphones.
 
clayj said:
Wiliam Gibson strikes again: He talked about just this sort of thing in his most recent novel, Spook Country, although in the book his characters wear VR helmets that are GPS-enabled to know where the wearer is and what they are looking at. (He also covered this territory back in 1993, in Virtual Light. There it was VR sunglasses that contain geospatially-tagged information.)
Click to expand...

Helmets are way out of fashion: shall we skip them and apply this technology directly to common glasses? Charles Stross not so exciting "Halting State" brings Gibson take on VR to the extreme - and as Gibson does in his latest novels - ties it to existing technologies. A revolution upon the way we look at things. Hope Apple will ride that!
 
On Apple's 3G S demo video, they show the compass with an accuracy range. I think it varies, but it looked like maybe at least 15°-20° IIRC. Wouldn't you need better accuracy than that if you're going to be overlaying data on things as you spin around?
 
sbrhwkp3 said:
Alright, it's a cool demonstration of what technology can do, but who in their right minds would use something like this? :confused:

So you lift up your phone, and look at the world through your camera lens, so it can tell you what each building is, even though there are signs that say it anyway? :confused:

Maybe I'm missing something, but this seems, pointless.
Click to expand...

I'd definitely use it. How about an architectural walking tour of a city? It knows where you are and plays the appropriate sound file as an intro. You point it at a building and it tells you information about it. Same could be done by pointing your phone at the skies -- "What is that constellation and what stars is it made up of?"
 
Not until it's beamed into my occipital lobe.

Eden of the East style acceptable for now and for safety reasons.

Fry: So you're telling me they broadcast commercials into people's dreams?
Leela: Of course.
Fry: But, how is that possible?
Prof. Farnsworth: It's very simple. The ad gets into your brain just like this liquid gets into this egg.
(He holds up an egg and injects it with liquid. The egg explodes, covering him and Leela in yolk.)
Prof. Farnsworth: Although, in reality, it's not liquid, but gamma radiation.
Click to expand...
 

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Oh oh and man how cool is it that you could point it at a building and know who is in it? Dodgeball Foursquare Brightkite etc... You could track your friends real time with the new digital compass. I'm looking forward to it. No longer texting to say 'I'm here, where are you? Umm I don't see you?'
 
I want something along the lines of 10 seconds ago instead (link is to pro version, can't find regular one in US store). Delay the audio and do something funky with the video, that'd be great! :)
 
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