Comments on: “Augmented Reality” is cool, but is it practical?

By: Ciara B.

Ciara B. — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 20:22:04 +0000

I have to agree with you that it is unrealistic that people will be walking around with their phones out trying to find the nearest Starbucks or clothing store. But I can see this being a cool gadget which could be implemented in GPS systems or some sort of other technology. It will be intersting to see how it all develops.

By: Jared

Jared — Thu, 01 Oct 2009 01:54:41 +0000

I have seen the this technology in practical use already. Lego has created a kiosk that shows the completed model as you hold the box up. Animated, assembly, and all.
Expo: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SiSoGQ2KtaQ
Deployed: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8UxWkZtUKaI

By: Dave

Dave — Mon, 21 Sep 2009 15:14:48 +0000

I’ve been playing around with Layar for Android off and on and see it as a neat little toy to display Wikipedia or nearby tweets. I actually think the “don’t display the camera, but just use the radar view” is more useful, just not as pretty. But I forget to use it when I’m out and about so I would tend to agree with you.

By: Erik

Erik — Mon, 21 Sep 2009 14:54:10 +0000

In my opinion there’s actually a lot of utility for the average user and there is a huge need for mobile information (look at the success of a simple mobile web site like Google – people want to prove their friends wrong instantly

So the Augmented Reality apps that allow the user to be more informed at their own discretion will probably be more successful than you think (imagine a world where you could simply point your camera at an installment in a sculpture garden and know everything about it instantly).

The windows mobile Google Maps app has already been updated (oddly enough ahead of their android app…) to show Wikipedia entries near your location. Having this information layered over a normal map as a filter doesn’t impact the user in a negative way but makes them a more powerful resource when they’re on the go.

http://googlemobile.blogspot.com/2009/07/layers-of-fun-in-google-maps-for-mobile.html

As for camera usage on a mobile phone, 75-80% of people with a higher quality camera in their device (i.e. Apple, RIM, Palm, HTC, etc…) use their camera to take a picture at least once a month. I would hypothesize users would have no problem opening the camera app up if it provided them with just a little more utility than capturing a low-res memory.

Just my opinion (and a rather biased one from an employee of a telco)

By: Danny Schreiber

Danny Schreiber — Mon, 21 Sep 2009 05:26:28 +0000

This made me laugh because I’ve been excited about this technology but never really took the realist perspective. When you think about, it seems a bit excessive.

If I could get it though, I’d love it for a GPS system. Laying directions and points of interests on top of the actual image of the road would be very cool.