Virtual & Augmented Reality and 3D News - Page 134

Not so long ago, augmented reality (AR) was an experimental technology that rarely left the lab and required a high level of technical expertise and knowledge to create new applications. Now, thanks to advances in smartphone hardware, AR technology is much more available and easily accessible for users and developers alike.

A new state-of-the-art TechWatch report looking at Augmented Reality for Smartphones is now available for comment:
Augmented Reality for Smartphones (PDF).

The report was commissioned by JISC Observatory and written by Ben Butchart from EDINA, based at the University of Edinburgh.

It is primarily aimed at developers and content publishers who want to take advantage of the latest developments in smartphone and augmented reality (AR) technology to create novel and exciting new learning experiences. With several innovative young companies offering out the box AR "browsers" and tools for creating, publishing and hosting virtual content, it is even possible to create augmented reality experiences without any programming knowledge at all. Many new applications and frameworks have been launched, each with its own set of capabilities and requiring different levels of technical knowledge to publish content and customize the interface. This new report will help readers navigate the emerging landscape and pick out the best tools and platforms for their needs.

This report has already been peer reviewed by experts in this field. However the review process for this report also includes time for user-review of the document prior to formal publication and so we would welcome any additional comments readers have. Please post any comments you have in response to this post and they will be considered before the final version is released.

Comments will be open till Friday 6th May 2011. After that the final version of the report will be released.

GoldRun allows for a new form of communication where our digital and physical lives meet. We've already evolved beyond check-ins, making them visually-driven and image-based. With the integration of location and context, along with photo taking and sharing, we've set ourselves apart by creating a new virtual goods economy mapped onto the real world.

NEW YORK NY April 11- GoldRun, a leading mobile augmented reality platform, has raised $1.1 million in angel funding. Participants in the round include Ed Mathias (The Carlyle Group), financier Jon Ledecky, Jeremy Zimmer (Founding Partner of United Talent Agency), Jim Hauslein (Former Chairman and CEO of Sunglass Hut), and Mark Ein (CEO of Venturehouse Group).

New York-based GoldRun will use the funding to develop a series of new user and client side feature sets that will greatly expand the range of programming and AR interactions on their platform. The funds will also support increased sales activities and accelerate the deployment of services across the U.S. and international markets. 2011 will see the introduction of GoldRun-hosted gaming, v-commerce and user generated content.

Comprised of a mobile app coupled with a dynamic content delivery system, GoldRun uses augmented reality to bring the visually-driven, content rich experiences of the web into the offline world. By GPS-linking 2D and 3D virtual goods to physical locations such as retail stores, airports and events, GoldRun enables users to locate, interact with and take pictures alongside virtual objects, and earn immediate, relevant real world rewards for every one of these interactions.

GoldRun launched November 1st, 2010 and has since worked with H&M, Airwalk, Young & Rubicam, Esquire, Barnes & Noble, Marc Ecko, Universal Pictures, A&E Network, Sorel, Interscope Records and Oklahoma University among others.

"GoldRun allows for a new form of communication where our digital and physical lives meet," says founder/CEO Vivian Rosenthal. "We've already evolved beyond check-ins, making them visually-driven and image-based. With the integration of location and context, along with photo taking and sharing, we've set ourselves apart by creating a new virtual goods economy mapped onto the real world."

As part of the financing, Ed Mathias and Jeremy Zimmer will join GoldRun's board of directors; Greg Golkin and Evan Morgan will serve as board observers.

Our company has provided AR software for over 8 years and Vuzix is the first company to deliver a complete line of AR-enabled Video Eyewear, which includes both digital and optical see-through glasses that are high resolution and easy to wear. These are essential features for our customers. We believe that with Vuzix, we will finally be able to satisfy the needs of our many customers and partners for a hands-free solution.

ROCHESTER, NEW YORK-- (April 12, 2011) - Vuzix Corporation (TSX-V:VZX, OTC:BB:VUZI FWB: V7X) ("Vuzix" or, the "Company"), today announced that it has formed a marketing and development partnership with metaio, the leader in the field of professional Augmented Reality (AR) software systems, to deliver head mounted display (HMD) solutions for their customers. The two companies will work together to identify and deliver customer solutions that require both metaio's AR software capability and Vuzix's line of AR enabled Video Eyewear.

Paul Travers, President of Vuzix, commented, "Both metaio and Vuzix are leaders in and at the forefront of AR markets with highly complementary offerings. With Vuzix providing its award winning Video Eyewear products and engineering services and metaio providing its leading software platforms and software engineering capability, we believe that together we can better address this rapidly emerging market need."

metaio and Vuzix have identified a number of common customers that require integrated hands-free HMD solutions for applications such as marketing and advertising, assembly, maintenance, on-site and on the factory floor problem solving, training and education and entertainment. On a non-exclusive basis, the two companies will work with each other to assist customers in developing and delivering such solutions.

Added Roman Hasenbeck, Director Business Development, metaio Inc., "Our company has provided AR software for over 8 years and Vuzix is the first company to deliver a complete line of AR-enabled Video Eyewear, which includes both digital and optical see-through glasses that are high resolution and easy to wear. These are essential features for our customers. We believe that with Vuzix, we will finally be able to satisfy the needs of our many customers and partners for a hands-free solution."

As part of the new relationship each will become members of the respective company's Premier Developer Partner network. metaio's Unifeye® software suite is compatible with Vuzix's most recent software development kit (SDK) and being a part of each other's partnernetwork will entitle each company to previews and advance release product to ensure seamless integration on future releases. Vuzix will also attend metaio's InsideAR 2011 Fair to be held September 26 to 27, 2011 in Munich, Germany.

About Vuzix Corporation

Vuzix is a leading supplier of Video Eyewear products in the defense, consumer and media & entertainment markets. The Company's products, personal display devices that offer users a portable high quality viewing experience, provide solutions for mobility, thermal sighting systems, tactical wearable displays and Virtual and Augmented Reality. With its origins in defense research and development for next generation display solutions, Vuzix holds over 51 patents in the Video Eyewear field. The Company has won 9 Consumer Electronics Show Innovations Awards, the Retail Vision Best New Product and several wireless technology innovation awards, among others. Founded in 1997, Vuzi is a public company (TSX-V: VZX - News, OTC: BB: VUZI, FWB: V7X) with offices in Rochester, NY, Oxford, UK and Tokyo, Japan. For more information visit: www.vuzix.com
About metaio

As the world-wide leader in Augmented Reality technology, metaio develops software products for visual interactive solutions between the real and the virtual world. Based on the software platform Unifeye, 3D-animations can be integrated seamlessly into live-video streams respectively into pictures of the user's real environment. Founded in February 2003, metaio currently employs 70+ people at three different locations. The company is headquartered in Munich with the subsidiaries metaio Inc. located in San Francisco USA and metaio Asia in Seoul. metaio has been working with more than 450 renowned customers from different industries and geographical locations. Among them: BMW, Daimler, Siemens, Toyota, Peugeot, EADS, Bertelsmann, KUKA, LEGO, MINI, Popular Science, Focus Features and Volkswagen.

Our goal has been to explore how the concept phase of the modeling methodology can be enriched using (Spatial Augmented Reality) SAR technologies to allow designers to visualize their concepts with higher detail and provide a more flexible modeling environment.

LARGO, Fla. and SAN FRANCISCO, March 29, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- Valpak Direct Marketing Systems / Cox Target Media and junaio today announced that Valpak coupons will now be available on the junaio app, allowing consumers to save money at nearby businesses with geo-targeted coupons that pop up on their smartphones.

With the Valpak coupons on the junaio app, consumers don't wait to receive coupons, the geo-location coupons are available whenever they want them. The app launches the smartphone's camera and GPS to overlay a set of 3D icons in real-time, showing the available Valpak coupons in the vicinity as the user scans the surroundings, with a radius varying from 5 feet to 20 miles away. The coupons and offers literally "pop up" on the screen.

The Valpak coupon channel puts the consumer at the center focus, delivering content based on the consumer's location, or geo-location. The app uses the innovative technology of augmented reality, which combines real and virtual, making the experience interactive and 3D.

Users can view local coupons, savings and deal offers from the convenience of smartphones anywhere and anytime, and find deals from thousands of local and national brands using the app. Consumers can view and redeem Valpak mobile coupon offers for their favorite businesses in the area by showing the local merchant the Valpak coupon(s) displayed on their smartphone.

The Valpak coupon channel on the junaio app is the world's largest augmented reality mobile coupon application. To experience this feature, users can download the free junaio application, created by metaio, the leader in AR technology, from either the iTunes Store or Android Market and select the "Local Coupons by Valpak" channel.

"Providing Valpak content on the junaio platform extends the reach our advertisers achieve when they purchase Valpak advertising," according to Nancy Cook, Vice President of New Media Business Development for Valpak/Cox Target Media. "Our content distribution strategy is to be everywhere consumers look for savings. Valpak content appears on many different apps and platforms. That's good for consumers and good for our advertisers."

"Partnering with junaio gives us access to a new audience and gives them a fun, interactive way to see which local businesses are offering savings, and then connect to the offer," said Cook. "Now consumers can find discounts on their favorite nearby businesses as they are walking by them or discover new favorites in the neighborhood."

In addition to this augmented reality app, the familiar Blue Envelope and Valpak.com, Valpak offers available via apps for the five major mobile platforms, recently launched Valpak Deals daily deals site, and offers SMS texting for advertisers.

About Valpak®

Valpak, one of the leading direct marketing companies in North America, is owned and operated by Cox Target Media, a subsidiary of Atlanta-based Cox Media Group. With nearly 180 franchises throughout the United States and Canada, The Blue Envelope® delivers savings and value to nearly 40 million households each month. Annually, Valpak will distribute some 20 billion offers inserted in more than 500 million envelopes. Valpak also offers digital solutions with www.Valpak.com®, an online site for local savings, which has nearly 40 million offer views each month, as well as mobile phones, including apps for iPhone™, iPod touch®, Android™, Palm® Pre™, BlackBerry®, and Microsoft Windows® Phone 7 platforms. For more information, please contact 1-800-676-6878.

About junaio

junaio is the world's most advanced mobile Augmented Reality browser and growing daily with interesting content relevant to a viewer's location or triggered through images and objects the camera is pointing at. The unmatched ease of use, great choice of content and superior features make junaio everybody's daily companion, an instant source of information about places, events, bargains or objects in the world around us. Features are: location based services using onboard GPS and compass, highly accurate positioning, even inside buildings or exhibition sites, object recognition and natural feature tracking useful for scaling and integrating graphic overlays or 3D models into the real world. Two-way interaction between the user and the displayed AR overlays allow gaming and other virtual experiences. And of course the full range of multimedia displays, including text, image, sound, video. junaio was created by metaio GmbH, the worldwide leader in Augmented Reality.

Well, guess I'll be buying a new phone.