Toshiba & Concepteers Augment Living Rooms

Meanwhile, in Germany.

Metaio and Junaio partner Concepteers GmbH has released yet another very cool project. This time, they worked with Toshiba Germany to place Toshiba products directly into the mobile user’s living room using augmented reality. Or office, or car, or basically anywhere you could use a phone!

The Toshiba Digital Living Room app works together with Toshiba’s Product Catalog to allow mobile users in the DACH region to visualize reduced-scale products like  L4, M6, L7, M8 and M9 Televisons or the Qosmio X870, Satellite P870 and Satellite U920t notebooks.

Michael Mathieu, Managing Director of Concepteers, says: “We went with Metaio as the AR provider since it is widespread and offers an advanced AR feature set that allows us to develop the best possible AR experience for our customers.”

Concepteers is a valued partner of Metaio, and continues to deliver amazing augmented reality projects with our technology. Check them out on Facebook or visit their website to learn more about the company and the projects they release.

The app is available today for both Google Play and iOS devices. You can visit Toshiba’s website to learn more about the augmented reality app at http://toshiba.de/ar or just scan this convenient QR code with your device (hopefully using Junaio!) to be directed automatically to the experience.

Metaio adds 3-D object tracking to Augmented City Platform

 

 

Since we announced the release a few weeks ago, we’ve been ranting and raving about how amazing it is from the magical fountains of Barcelona at Mobile World Congress to the foggy and hilly streets of San Francisco at the Game Developers Conference (turns out SF and Barcelona are sister cities. Who knew?!).

Less than six months ago we set out with the mission of becoming the leading Augmented Reality platform for mobile developers, and this latest release marks the continuation of providing the most advanced, most convenient and most cost-effective solutions for mobile developers to create rich, robust mobile AR applications.

This is not your average, everyday 2-D image and surface recognition. We’ve been doing that for years. And thanks to a kick-ass R&D team and our patented Gravity Aligned Feature Descriptors (GAFD), we now do it better than almost anyone else. In addition, we now offer complete 3-D object tracking and recognition. That’s right- the ability to overlay entire complex real-world objects with digital and 3-D information.  Other AR softwares may promise “3-D Object Tracking”, but 2-D image recognition and tracking on a single surface of a 3-D object (like a box) is still just 2-D. Trust me. We know what we’re talking about.

We called our first foray into this kind of technology the “Augmented City”; we’ve since expanded that idea into an entire platform that will empower and enable the next-generation of user interfaces. The best part? It comes at essentially no charge. Develop and deploy unlimited Android and iOS apps without the hassle of server encryption; import your own content management system; recognize and track ID Markers, images, 2-D surfaces and real-world 3-D objects; take advantage of our existing, powerful 3-D rendering engine and- oh, did I mention we’re compatible with Unity? Yep. You can now develop games that allow your users to interact in real-time with the real world. Pretty cool, right?

Apps developed with our software get deployed with a brief metaio splash screen during startup and an almost imperceptible “powered by metaio” watermark in the camera view. Does this cause you to lose sleep at night? Then grab a Custom Branding Option and go crazy. And if you want to be part of a growing industry in dire need of more creatively-driven content and full of business opportunities, contact us to enroll in our Certified Developer program. Fans of metaio will recall that we have a very similar (and very successful) program for junaio Developers; all you have to do is demonstrate your prowess and competence with the technology and we’ll add you to our network of trusted partners where we’ll provide support and (most importantly) business opportunities. We just welcomed our first Mobile SDK Certified Developer yesterday, and look what they’ve already accomplished with our software.

For 10 years, we’ve been devoted exclusively to computer-vision technology- whether it was mobile, web, offline, or customized industrial installations.

This is metaio, The Augmented Reality Company. And we’re making the digital a more natural experience every day.

Onvert and Onward: Introducing Harmony, the first Mobile SDK Certified Developer

Ever since we released the no-charge version of the metaio Mobile SDK in December, we’ve been searching for tech-savvy and creatively driven individuals and organizations that would get as excited as we do about vision-based mobile technology. Turns out no one actually gets as excited about computer-vision as we do, but there are certainly those who come close. Enter Harmony, a UK-based marketing agency who we are proud to announce is our first mobile software Certified Developer.

Founded in 1995, Harmony is an agency known for in-house design and development and expert web and app integration of marketing campaigns for a wide range of clients:

Harmony are a well-established creative agency based north of London, UK and develop clever web based solutions for a wide range of national and international clients. We have a diverse set of in-house skills from 3D and concept design work to database and Java programming which allow us to innovate and produce effective, novel and inspiring campaigns. The agency core has always been based on strong marketing principles and the blending of commercial requirements with technological developments.

Harmony has since put their development skills to the test (and to the proof) in using metaio’s mobile software to develop Onvert, a free mobile application for iOS and Android that combines the speed of QR code reading with the visual awe of Augmented Reality experiences.

2 years ago, we experimented with Augmented Reality concepts as part of our exploration of technologies but it was only when we looked at the combination of AR, QR Codes and parallax 3D that we came up with the model of Onvert.  As designers ourselves, we wanted to make AR as accessible, powerful and inspiring as possible so that it is an extension of creativity rather than a boundary. Onvert is a combination of a custom web portal and a freely distributed app and allows designers to overlay virtual content (with or without sound) on any trigger image of choice. The QR codes can be read by any standard QR reader and, conversely, the Onvert viewer can interpret standard QR codes to guide users to the clients website. The Onvert app, however, can project the designers 3D content.

We assessed several options to achieve the high level of functionality required of the system but it became obvious that the Metaio Mobile SDK was the only real solution for us. With the assistance of the excellent technical department we were able to co-ordinate the development of the app to fit the new release in January 2012 to some amazingly positive feedback. We are now working on the next full release which will include enhanced content and increased object recognition making the most of the latest metaio Mobile SDK to expand the user experience even further.

We’re thrilled that Harmony has taken our SDK out for a spin and come back with such a great app. This is a great example of how developers, organizations, and even existing enterprises can utilize the stellar tools metaio has provided to create entire business models. Check out the links above and learn more about how Harmony has taken some of the most advanced computer-vision software and built a great application on top of it.

Are you interested in developing the next-generation of mobile Augmented Reality applications? Contact us and try out for our Certified Developer program- and who knows….maybe you’re next!

Free At Last: the metaio Mobile SDK

We are pretty darn excited.

Back in September, CEO Dr. Thomas Alt announced that we’d be releasing a free version of the metaio Mobile Software Development Kit (SDK) in an effort to both ensure and encourage the massive development and adoption of mobile augmented reality by 2014.

In that time, we researched and developed like crazy to make sure that our software would be the most advanced mobile solution available. We implemented Gravity Aware Feature Descriptors, a patented technology that makes image recognition and tracking faster and more robust. We benchmarked our technology by winning the 2011 ISMAR Tracking Competition. We integrated Unity3D for hardcore game developers and designers. And most importantly, we embarked on collaborative research partnerships with chipset providers like ARM, ST-Ericcson, and Texas Instruments. It’s been a busy fall.

As a result, we have for the entire mobile development community a powerful, advanced and industry-proven SDK, free of cost right from the start, with unlimited app-deployments for iOS and Android. A built-in advanced 3D rendering engine means you can start developing immediately. And it’s not a watered-down piece of shareware- this 3D rendering engine has been used in over 70 professional mobile apps, including our Augmented City demo.

This is the same software that has driven over 10 million downloads and enables millions of magazines delivered every month with mobile AR content.

We’re either completely crazy- or very, very passionate about what we do. Maybe it’s a little bit of both.

Read the press release.

Download the SDK.

Get excited.

Japanese digital pop-star now dancing on tables in AR

  Hatsune Miky is an adorable, completely digital Japanese celebrity created by Crypton Future Media in 2007 using YAMAHA’s “Vocaloid” Software. The (evidently) 16-year-old, 5’2” songstress’s voice has been samples in thousands and thousands of user-generated videos, audio tracks, animations etc. Her albums have even topped the Japanese charts- not bad for a girl that doesn’t exist!

Hatsune Miku may be a digital construct, but the great thing about Augmented Reality is that we can take digital and 3-D content and breathe life into it by placing it in the physical world. A virtual entity could assume all three dimensions and interact with the real world- and that’s exactly what we did for the beautiful Hatsune Miku in this most recent development for Toyota.

Toyota has been enamored with Hatsune Miku for quite some time now- they’ve produced numerous (and clever) video spots featuring the star interacting with people as though she were a real person, as well as print ads, billboards (they’re everywhere here in San Francisco) and an integrated social media campaign. We were happy to be able to (literally) bring a new dimension to Hatsune Miku’s recent introduction to the states.

iOS users can immediately access the experience by downloading the free Toyota Shopping Tool App in the iTunes App store. An Android update is coming soon, but until then users with Android devices can download metaio’s free mobile AR browser, junaio, and search for the “Hatsune Miku” channel to get the same cool performance. Once the app is launched, just point the camera at the image below (called a “ToyoTag“) to see Hatsune Miku singing “Big Dream” and dancing alongside her favorite vehicle, the 2011 Toyota Corolla.

metaio used the junaio Plugin to develop this app for a Toyota, a feature that combines the technology, audience (1.7 Million Downloads) and accessibility of junaio, the most advanced mobile Augmented Reality browser, with the added value of a custom branded white-label application. We were able to use the same superior image recognition technology and tracking algorithm as we use in junaio to integrate this experience directly into Toyota’s mobile app as if it were a white-label application. Even better, the modular structure of the Plugin allows content to be easily and efficiently modified and changed, making the junaio Plugin a great development and branding solution.

Read the full press release here, and be sure to stay posted on all of Hatsune Miku’s exploits in America with Toyota. And make sure to check out this great video of the experience below: