Aurasma: Augmented Reality on Your iPad, iPhone or Android
At this week’s New York Tech Meetup event, (after surprise opening comments by Mayor Bloomberg), I got to see demos from several interesting new companies that exemplify the use of technology to change how we work, live and play—always something very exciting to see. One of demonstrations that jumped out was one of Aurasma, by Autonomy.
Aurasma bills itself as “the world’s first visual browser.” As most browsers are already visual, I am not sure what this means; however, what jumped out at me was that Aurasma is a great expression of the idea that tablets (and now even some smartphones) are not just keyboard-less computers, but instead a mass-market platform for augmented reality.
Aurasma combines the portable application processing power, camera, touch screen and Internet connection of an Apple or Android smart device with backend image recognition and multimedia content management software to let you literally bring images you see “to life.” Here’s how it works:
- Point the camera at an image (billboard, magazine advert, box covert, etc.)
- Aurasma detects the image and replaces it with interactive web pages and multimedia adding sharing information and enabling online transactions regarding what you are viewing
- This interaction is “stateful” – once you start the process you can walk away from the picture, product or billboard and continue to explore the interactive information
You can take a look at this video to shows how Aurasma works in action on the iPad. This interaction opens the door to many interesting applications:
- Turning a static billboard or print advertisement into a commercial or move trailer
- Viewing real-time product information and reviews on a product displayed in a store
- Immediately purchasing (online) something you see anywhere: in an advert, store window—or even a friend’s house
- Reviewing a bio and statistics for an athlete or actor you are watching on TV
- Overlaying a landmark or museum display with maps and historical information
Follow Technorati