Tag: augmented reality

Categories
Augmented Reality Connected Objects Displays Kids/Babies

Egger augmented reality projector is prep school for Pokemon Go

editors-choiceThe prevalence of smartphones and tablets is something that needs to be carefully managed around children lest they become too attached. It’s been proven that too much screen time can have an adverse on young, developing minds, something that prompted the team behind Egger to do something about it.

Their solution is a friendly, egg-shaped augmented reality projector designed with children in mind. The Egger can be used as an educational aid as much as it can be used as an entertainment device, with both subject to inputs from children and adults alike using the packed remoter control reminiscent of a Wiimote. It can play movies, TV shows, and music, with a sketchpad to really let the imagination loose, as well.

Continue reading “Egger augmented reality projector is prep school for Pokemon Go”
Categories
Connected Objects Imaging

Tiny1 compact camera specializes in shooting stars

There are a lot of digital cameras on the market, but not many of them have been designed for one specific use, like taking photos of stars in the sky, for example.

patent-claimedTiny1 is a compact camera with patent-pending noise reduction technology that has been designed for astronomy. It helps users plan, capture and share stars from the palms of their hands. Tiny1’s interactive star map is a unique interface using augmented reality to help users easily locate and shoot celestial objects. It shows users the stars and constellations in real time and there is a search function built in to guide them.

Tiny1 works in conjunction with an Android app. The camera can be paired with a smartphone to easily share pictures via Wi-Fi. Tiny1 can also be controlled using Wi-Fi to reduce camera shake. Any lens available can be attached to the Tiny1 easily, including interchangeable camera lenses and telescope lenses, according to its makers Tiny1 ships in December at about $700. But early bird Indiegogo backers have been able to get one for a pledge starting at $349. Its makers are out to raise $100,000 by July 7.

Continue reading “Tiny1 compact camera specializes in shooting stars”
Categories
Augmented Reality

Telepathy Walker eyewear lets you follow walking directions, possibly dreams

Navigation on smartphones provides enormous convenience to consumers. But the navigation on those devices -– just like on standalone GPS devices — tends to be designed specifically for driving rather than getting somewhere on foot. The screens on those devices can also be very hard to see while walking when it’s sunny out.

patent-claimedTelepathy Walker is small, Google Glass-like eyewear that’s been specifically designed to provide walking directions. It features a bright screen with patented display technology that enables it to be seen even in bright sunlight. It’s also been designed, unlike other smartglasses, so that the user can see both the screen and the world around them clearly at the same time.

Continue reading “Telepathy Walker eyewear lets you follow walking directions, possibly dreams”
Categories
Cell Phone Accessories Virtual Reality

2VR foldable VR glasses lets you keep whole worlds in your pocket

The recently priced HTC Vive will join the Oculus Rift this year in rolling out the red carpet to the world of virtual reality, or VR. Until then, consumers have the choice of grabbing something like Samsung’s Gear VR or go cheap and grab themselves some Cardboard. The one problem with these options is their absolute lack of portability, limiting where these types of immersive experiences can take place.

The 2VR is out to change perceptions of the VR world with a pair of fold-up glasses with small arms that can hold a smartphone with a screen size between 4.7″ and 6″.It boasts biconvex lenses for both virtual and augmented reality content and the cleverly created ear grips that make sure the 2VR don’t become loose or fall off while being worn. Each pair is going for $25 and is expected to ship June 2016. The 2VR’s Kickstarter campaign is looking for $30,000 by March 25th, 2016.

Continue reading “2VR foldable VR glasses lets you keep whole worlds in your pocket”
Categories
Augmented Reality Wearables

You’d go mad thinking MAD Glass was Google’s

When Google Glass was first announced, it was an extremely cool idea. As time passed, though, the ethical concerns with the platforms use and the general societal discomfort associated with someone having a digital device plastered to their face during all aspects of the day soon became too much to overcome, leaving the idea to wither away to relative obscurity.

With its Mad Glass, Dragon Creative is reviving the idea of a glasses-styled interface to which a user can offload smartphone features. The company’s goal mirrors Google’s in that they’d like the use of augmented reality to keep important notifications and application in front of users so they can stay present in the world rather than keeping their eyes down to a screen. And in theory, offering features like video recording, GPS navigation, web browsing and even real-time translation should do the trick.

If history is any indication, though, it will most likely meet a similar fate as Google’s version of Glass. It’s certainly useful and will continue to be so with a proprietary app store so that users , but the general image of this interface has been set in the public consciousness — and it’s not a positive one. Still, those who truly believe in the idea of Glass can grab these for $652 with an expected ship date of September 2015. Mad Glass is looking for $72,500 by January 26th, 2015.

Categories
Augmented Reality Displays Music

ORA-X raises the Glass bar for a twist on augmented reality

Augmented reality is one of the hottest emerging technologies right now. But it remains to be seen if the category will attract mass consumer appeal because AR devices tend to be bulky headsets that are specifically designed to exploit the technology.

patent-claimedORA-X, on the other hand, are over-the-ear audio headphones equipped with a Google Glass-like retractable, see-through projection display. Virtual video content is overlaid on the display, but doesn’t block out the outside world like AR devices such as the Oculus Rift or SEER.

Continue reading “ORA-X raises the Glass bar for a twist on augmented reality”
Categories
Input Virtual Reality

Impression Pi virtual reality headset tries to make an impression, gets a meh instead

Everyone is searching for the holy grail of virtual reality. In the meantime, companies from all over the world are busy throwing everything at the wall in an effort to see what sticks. Currently, Oculus Rift is the obvious leader, but with upstarts from companies like HTC and Valve,  Samsung, Microsoft, and all the other little guys vying for attention through crowdfunding platforms, the landscape is bursting at the seams.

Impression Pi is another combination virtual reality, augmented reality mobile headset that works with iOS and Android smartphones, provided they have 5 inch displays or larger. By combining accurate head tracking capabilities, gesture control, and both VR and AR environmental overlays, users can transform their real world surroundings into virtual environments capable of being traversed with the Impression Pi’s ability to track positioning. The Impression Pi’s interface also allows for social media engagement, not to mention movie viewing and gaming as well. Even better, all of this is possible with just a flick of the finger and the wave of a hand. $279 gets backers the smartphone version while $359 will get backers the Master edition which can be used sans smartphone. If the $78,000 goal sees success by May 5, 2015, backers can expect their own Impression Pi in December 2015.

Impression Pi treads on familiar ground. The ShareVR is another mobile VR solution, although it has to be tethered to a PC — ultimately limiting the “mobile” aspect of the design. Another gesture-enabled VR product is the Pinć VR, a headset which can be folded into a smartphone case. The Impression Pi may be powerful enough to create environments, but it isn’t as portable as the Pinć VR. The latter proves its usefulness in more real-world situations, while the Impression Pi is stuck at home. With no compelling use cases in the pipeline, the Impression Pi will likely have a tough time garnering support.

Categories
Imaging Input Virtual Reality

Ovrvision Oculus Rift attachment lets users create their own virtual reality

Since the Oculus Rift was introduced to the world, the dream of a fully immersive virtual reality experience has been closer than ever before. Some people, however, are not content with waiting for what the Oculus team has planned and have taken to personally shaping the type of virtual reality experience they desire. Ovrvision is one such example.

Ovrvision works by augmenting the current Oculus Rift experience. It accomplishes this by introducing a more immersive augmented reality experience through a dual 5MP camera system. This, in turn, allows users to do things like manipulate objects in 3D space through a combination of hand tracking, high viewing angles, and a smooth 60FPS frame rate. Additionally, the product is extremely scalable, having been demonstrated working on small robotics, for example. Ovrvision is also extremely developer friendly, supporting multiple programming languages and popular gaming engines. An Ovrvision device will set you back $284 and is slated to be shipped in November 2015.

Interested tinkerers and developers will undoubtedly love the chance to play around with something like Ovrvision. The use cases are endless and can potentially cover applications as far ranging as gaming and medicine. While Microsoft’s recently announced Holo Lens certainly presents a sizable challenge to Ovrvision, this product may still have some legs for those who have long dreamt of a virtual reality filled future.

Categories
Cell Phone Accessories Virtual Reality

Master your reality with the SEER augmented reality helmet

The future is truly now, and a procession of various augmented and virtual reality products signify that with their promises of revolutionary experiences. The problem with many of them is their relatively small fields of view that can lessen the illusion of reality.

SEER by Caputer Labs uses a smartphone to fully immerse viewers into an alternative reality with a headset capable of displaying an impressive field of view of 100°. With so much screen space, experiences once limited by the un-augmented world creeping in on the sides are able to become so much more. The campaign touts augmented reality experiences that are already available on the iOS and Android platforms but reinvigorated through the immersion SEER offers.

Star maps and gaming take a leap forward in terms of usability, all controlled with a wide-range of inputs like joysticks, gaming controllers, keyboards, or gestures when nothing else is around. Open source hardware and software ensure new applications will be developed, given enough interest. The increased field of view makes SEER incredibly bulky when compared to other, more standard headsets like the Viewbox. (But luckily, it doesn’t look as inane as the AirVR.) SEER is impressively priced at just $119, and its $100,000 goal has a deadline of March 3. Its developers see the product shipping in September of this year.

Categories
Aquatics Augmented Reality Connected Objects

Scubus S offers augmented reality under the sea

Scuba divers are lucky; they get to explore parts of the world that most people never get to even see. Unfortunately, they’re limited to using complicated gestures to communicate with each other. The Scuba S is upping the underwater technology game as an augmented reality scuba mask.

The Scuba S is special in that almost anyone but children can wear it, giving it lots of versatility. When worn, the onboard dual core CPU along with the 1GB of RAM work together to provide users with a HUD water temperature, depth and access to a group chat with pre-programmed messages that travel with acoustic waves. The HUD is maneuverable with a small, wrist-worn remote, and can also control a LED flashlight and an HD camera capable of 1080p video. Anti-fog glass is the cherry on top and prevents the Scuba S from being unusable. The early bird price for the product is $499, shooting up to $699 after the end of the $200,000 campaign. Backers can expect their own Scuba S in June of 2015.

The Scuba S offers a lot of functionality in a familiar package, but it’s worrisome to see tech creeping underwater alongside us. Is the vast splendor of the ocean not enough to maintain a diver’s attention span? Won’t there be more missed if we’re busying toggling group chats and cameras?