Xenium‘s latest AR app Close up with Stars was delivered in quick time for Dharma production’s movie “Yeh Jawani Hai Diwani” in association with Mindshare , OMD and Hindustan Unilever. Closeup, India’s Market leader in gel toothpaste segment for over three decades, is collaborating as the partner of Dharma Production’s upcoming Bollywood movie Yeh Jawaani Hai Deewani. Closeup has launched a limited edition of a toothpaste pack. Each pack includes a Closeup friendship band autographed by Ranbir Kapoor & Deepika Padukone. Due to our Indian Metaio-colleague, Sudhanshu Kapoor, they are both “currently the biggest heart-throbs in India”!
Sudhanshu Kapoor, Business Development Manager OEMs at metaio, with Naina in the perfect CloseUp moment!
The occasion witnessed the launch of a Yeh Jawaani Hai Deewani – centric Closeup TV commercial introducing the special Closeup packs with autographed friendship bands. In addition, with a live demo, the lead pair of the movie – Ranbir Kapoor and Deepika Padukone also announced the launch of a unique ‘closeup with stars’ augmented reality application, now available on Google play store and soon for iOS. The stars also publicized an online event on May 28, wherein they would host an exclusive webchat on http://www.facebook.com/closeupindia
Get up close with Badtameez Bunny and Nerdy Naina in a whole new way! Customers could watch the stars of Yeh Jawaani Hai Deewani (YJHD) rock to Badtameez Dil on the special new CloseUp pack. All people have to do is download the CloseUp With Stars app on your phone and scan the crazy duo’s pic on the pack. And voilá, the pic comes alive on the phone. What’s more is that you can enjoy exclusive access to music and videos from the movie and even get a pic clicked with Ranbir and Deepika!
Xenium provides comprehensive solutions for Mobile AR app. For this special case, the programming team used the most advanced AR software tools from Metaioand the design team optimized the video and animation content create this very special AR experience. N. Md. Parveez, CEO of Xenium, says: “After overcoming all challenges and successfully launching the Close up with Stars-App, new doors of opportunities are opened for Video AR technology on mobile devices.”
Zoo Monster: An Augmented Reality Project with Junaio, by Certified Developers AVK Terwey [video]
metaio | junaio
Vote for the Metaio SDK, the Mitsubishi Enterprise MeView, The IKEA Catalog and the AREngine in the 2013 Augmented World Expo Auggies Competition! [Vote]
Developers: Sign up for this week’s webinar, Augmented Reality Content Creation [sign up]
Even more stuff for developers: Submit your intent to compete in the first-ever Metaio International Developers Contest, with grand prizes including software licenses and a trip to Munich to present at the 2013 InsideAR [contests]
Intelligent Computing meets Augmented Reality: Brutus guides you through Ohio State University [article]
there are things that are happening
7 Standout Google Glass apps you can download right now [Mashable]
Forget Google Glass: Recon debuts Android-friendly glasses at I/O [CNET]
Epson tries its hand at high-tech glasses [USA Today]
Meta 1 augmented reality headset launches on Kickstarter [Slashgear]
How two Valve Engineers walked away with the company’s augmented reality glasses [The Verge]
It’s that time of year again, as the Augmented World Expo has renewed and expanded the annual award for the best of the best in the augmented reality industry, the “Auggies”. Previously consisting of only a single award, the competition now has 6 categories, and Metaio and its partners are competing in 4 of them!
For the next two weeks, awards will be open to public voting in order to narrow down the entries for each category to just 5 finalists. We’re competing against some of the best and most creative apps in the world- we’d love your support. Please take a moment to vote for our entries- individual links are listed below, or just click on one of the category buttons below to go straight to the entry.
As promised last week on our junaio Blog, we decided to provide you with more information on the incredible application ‘Find Brutus’ created by Bradley A. Henry, Software Developer/Engineer at Ohio State University. The app helps students to explore the Ohio State Campus through their mobile Android devices. Named after the school’s mascot, Brutus Buckeye, the augmented reality application cleverly uses voice recognition, geolocation, artificial intelligence as well as intelligent tutoring systems to provide the service to the campus community.
In an interview given exclusively for metaio, Bradley A. Henry is speaking about the idea behind, the technical facts and the ongoing working processes.
What actually is ‘Find Brutus’?
In technical terms: Find Brutus is an Intelligent Mixed Reality (IMR) application using a Virtual Tour Agent (VTA – patent pending) framework. An Intelligent Mixed Reality (IMR) application is the inclusion of Augmented Reality (AR), voice-recognition (VR), geolocation, Artificial Intelligence (AI) and intelligent tutoring systems (ITS) into a mobile accessible user experience.
In broader terms: Find Brutus is a Mobile Virtual Tour Guide designed for incoming students and visitors to the Ohio State University designed specifically as a graduate research project. A user will explore campus through pre-defined target locations on campus. As the user approaches the location 3D Brutus will appear in mobile view as the indicator that they are approaching the first target. When the user identifies the location, as seen through their mobile device, the user will prompted with a few questions, including hints, about the target to answer. As the user answers each question they will then move to the next target. Version 2 is where VTA gets really exciting, see below.
Is it already a working application and in which context did you create it?
Yes, the beta version is complete. We used the free version of the Metaio SDK for Android. We are going to begin working on the iOS application over the summer as well as for Google Glass. Because the most exciting news is that this project is also part of the Google Glass Explorer pilot. We will be using Google Glass with the application to study student interactions and cognitive processing. The design of this version is study the affect of an incoming student to the university. The goal is to increase the students knowledge of the university campus and resources while acclimating them to their surroundings. If successful this should increase the students experience their first year attending The Ohio State University.
How many people were involved in the development on the application?
‘Find Brutus’ is the framework for my PhD thesis. But nevertheless a lot of players are involved: It is truly a community of engineers working on this application. I have counted over 80 people that have touched this project to some degree, currently over 8 of the Colleges and 6 departments at the university. To me this is what it looks like when organizations and people work together.
Included was also the College of Engineering Capstone project, which just won the CETI best in class project. This was a pretty extraordinary surprise, considering the level of competition. I have been blessed to work with some of the most amazing individuals. I was overwhelmed that the project was selected.
Virtual Tour Guiding has been a dream of metaio for a long time now and we are sure to bring the concept of the ‘Augmented City’ into real life. In which fields do you feel a real value for VTG?
Long-term objectives for it is to use the framework as a mechanism for navigation of locations, and buildings and as an educational device that will include simulations that work within real-world environments. Example, educate professionals or students, such as nurses or doctors in their work environment. How this would work, using an emergency room, fully equipped, a learner would wearing a pair of Google Glasses and would be required to resolve simulated problem-based scenarios that interact with the environment. A doctor would interact with a virtual nurse using to perform surgical procedures.
Could you think about other examples of using AR and Virtual-Tour-Guiding in educational environment?
Another example could be the Thompson Library Foundation Stones Tour (Submitted idea in the OSU AR Hackathon): A student would view the foundation stones through their mobile device. The stones would provide information, such as origin, ethnicity, world regions, and text and voice translation capability. The student could tour the stones, seek information on specific origins, request information such as publications, videos, research that is available through the OSU library or tour the library. An additional concept idea submitted by the University Archives includes a historical view of the campus through time. Using AR a user can explore the campus in any given decade using Glass. Example, you can be on the oval wearing Glass and prompt the VTA to view the campus in 1850. As your line of site moves images, and information, of the campus in 1850 would appear in the glasses.
What future projects are already in the line?
We are also putting on a one day display at the Columbus Museum of Art, fellow students, the Ohio Film Commission and Columbus Fashion Week will are also participating. We are currently discussing a fall project. In addition, we are also discussing a live DJ event with augmented reality later in the year. I work with a very creative group of people.
Version 1 capabilities:
• Mobile accessible
• Augmented reality
• Geo-location notifications
• Includes the first approved 3D Brutus Buckeye through OSU licensing. Version 2
• Voice activation (Siri type functions)
• AI/Intelligent computer interactions (Collaboration with the University of Memphis FedEx Institute of Technology)
• Geo-location direction service (ask for specific outdoor directions from your current location)
• First scanned 3D Human Agent
• Web Accessible Agents (Collaboration with the University of Memphis FedEx Institute of Technology)
We always like to highlight incredible work built on our software, which is why we’re thrilled to tell you about this awesome project from Winnipeg-based Zenfri, “Clandestine Anomaly”. This will be the first mobile game that utilizes vision-based augmented reality, GPS, and actual real-world elements. Check out their video on Kickstarter and help support the launch of this amazing augmented reality game!
metaio | junaio
Seeing things differently: are brands missing the boat with Augmented Reality? [The Drum]
Developer Sander Veenhof merges 3-D printing with Augmented Reality in the Ultimarker [blog]
Ever play Jenga? Ever play Jenga….on Augmented Reality? [JengAR video]
Cronovizor: The AR Time Viewing Machine (powered by Junaio) [video]
Nimlok utilizes Metaio software to visualize custom exhibits in 3-D [whitepaper]
Registration is open for the Augmented World Expo, June 4-5 (formerly ARE). Use code AWE3META to get a special discount, courtesy of Metaio. Come see Metaio deliver unmatched insight on the industry along with the latest and greatest of AR demos, including the brand-new AREngine! [registration]
Meet Metaio at the Augmented Reality Summit, June 20th in London [event site]
Interested in speaking, sponsoring or attending InsideAR, the most exciting event in the augmented reality industry? Contact us! [event site]
pick of the week: Oculus VR used to simulate death by guillotine
Naomi Kawase has a pretty cool job: as NGRAIN’s UX (User Experience) Designer, she’s focused on industrial augmented reality interaction design and production management. We recently picked her brain about industry challenges, upcoming trends, and the ins-and-outs of the job. Read on to find out what a day in the life of an AR UX designer is like and why she thinks collaboration is so important in this emerging market:
Great to see companies like NGRAIN utilizing the Metaio SDK for complex industrial augmented reality experiences. Like Metaio, NGRAIN will be showcasing their projects at this year's Augmented World Expo. If you plan on attending, use code AWE3META at registration to receive a 200.00 discount courtesy of Metaio.
If you'd like to learn more about industrial augmented reality solutions from Metaio, please visit http://metaio.com/products/engineer
From 6th till 8th of May the re:publica – Europe’s biggest conference on digital and social media – took place in Berlin. More than 5.000 attendees discussed three days about internet policy, network neutrality and the future of social media campaigns. The most controversial topic at the moment in Germany are the plans of the Deutsche Telekom, which announced already in the beginning of May, that they will choke the speed of the internet in the nearest future. The hosts of the re:publica, Markus Beckedahl, Johnny (@spreeblick) and Tanja Häusler (@elektrotanja) as well as Andreas Gebhard, called up the participants to appeal to their government to anticipate these plans: “Avoid that the Telekom introduces a 2nd class internet!” Tanja Häusler said: “If we can now afford limitations for the sake of commercial interests, if there are no more protests against these limitations, we have to realize, in fact, that the digital society is growing continously, but still, has no power to public opinion. “
IN/SIDE/OUT – The link between online and offline
The motto of this year reminds of the difficulty to connect people from the online and the offline world: “With this in mind, the motto IN/SIDE/OUT can be read as an upending of the digital society: Facebook is reaching one billion users, established newspapers are folding to the net-based competition, and Twitter, which was once the tool for alternative civilian war correspondence, is being utilised by militaries to communicate their combat targets. While we were always sure that at some point everyone would use the mechanisms offered by Web2.0, the question remains: Who profits in the end? Will citizens embrace obligations of governments and businesses to become more transparent, while at the same time tolerate the non-transparency of those companies which form the structures of the internet? Or will we soon pull the plug and return to a place where privacy is tangible again? Will we replace the INternet with an OUTernet?”
Sascha Lobo: Who’s afraid of Augmented Reality?
Lobo is one of Germany’s most established digital avantgardists, working as an author, columnist and speaker on digitial issues and net politics. He held his keynote on Monday not without mentioning an amazing technology such as augmented reality is. He is fascinated in AR, but honestly understands the fear of people, who don’t know what to expect about it: “It’s like the radioactivity of Internet. There has to come up a lot of awareness training on augmented reality in the future. At the moment it provokes fear on this invisible, unknown power. There is still an anxiety for the merge of the digital and real life.” He himself is enthusiatic about Ingress, an augmented reality game produced by NinanticLabs, which he played passionately in the last weeks: “It’s the most ‘nerdy’ game one can imagine.” Unfortunately, Ingress “guzzles” a lot of energy, but is lot of fun, he said.
Francesco Lapenta: A Critical look on Augmented Reality
Yesterday I’ve visited Francesco Lapenta‘s presentation with the amazing title “Mediated Life after Virtualization. A Critical Look at the Scenarios Forecast by New Wearable Augmented Reality Visualization Technologies.” He agreed so far with Lobo, that there is still a huge insecurity according to new wearable devices which are visualizing information. People usually have six senses and he imagines that all these senses should be combined in one mobile (augmenting) device such as for example Google Glass and giving real added value to people: “Our Augmented Reality device could interact with these machines, and there could be competetional power of different senses which could interact with your vision and offers you help to learn more.” But what does it really mean for us? He asked: “What will follow the inevitable technological peak and demise of old communication technologies such as the mobile and the screen? If the mobile embodied the newly acquired freedom from the constrained spaces of earlier mediated communications? New “seamless” and “immersive” technological evolutions will acquire social, cultural and market dominance while cannibalizing previous technological milestones very much like television did with photography, radio and cinema, and the computer did with them all. what are the consequences of a technology that does not pretend anymore to “simulate” reality or its visualization but now “naturally” creates the way we see the world and experience it?”
If you want to see the whole presentation, please watch the video:
I still feel overwhelmed by all these very great sessions at the re:publica and would like to recommend the #rp14 to you taking place on the May 5 – 7, 2014 in Berlin.
There was not enough time for me to attend in all events and if you are interested as well, we can also follow the re:publica YouTube channel with all presentations and keynotes.
Posted by anglmaslov 
