"Terminator Vision" Is Here For the iPhone

musefrog writes "The BBC is reporting that so-called augmented reality has arrived — in the UK at least. From the article: 'Via the video function of a mobile phone's camera it is now possible to combine a regular pictorial view with added data from the internet just as the fictional Terminator was able to overlay its view of the world with vital information about its surroundings. For example, UK-firm Acrossair has launched an application for the iPhone which allows Londoners to find their nearest tube station using their iPhone.' The page features an impressive video demonstrating AR in action."

Comments

Supplementary Brain?

[neonprimetime]

Eventually, it seems possible that mobile phones might play the role of a kind of supplementary brain - Toshinao Sasaki

I think it would have the opposite effect, and make a generation of cell phone users even dumber.

Re:Supplementary Brain?

[MrMista_B]

I think that using tools makes people smarter, not dumber.

Unpopular opinion on slashdot, I know, but I just don't know why.

Re:Supplementary Brain?

[Zakabog]

I think that using tools makes people smarter, not dumber.

Smarter in that they know how to use the tools. Dumber in that they don't know how to get by without them.

Re:Supplementary Brain?

[timeOday]

The whole progression of mankind is based on increasing specialization - that is, increasing interdependence on each other, because no person alive actually understands all the steps of producing all the technology we use every single day. For better or worse, this trend is unlikely to reverse.

GUI for a map.

[gurps_npc]

That's all this really is - a fancy, visual Graphical User Interface, for a map.

That is not an insult, it is a compliment. The best ideas are usually simple at heart.

Re:Hud?

[nine-times]

It seems to me that the real hindrance is in getting a transparent display into a set of glasses. By this, I don't mean getting a bulky display mounted on the outside of a set of glasses, but in getting a transparent display built directly into the lenses, such that when the display is turned off, it's just a set of glasses.

I think we'll start to see real products once we can build both those sorts of lenses and a camera into a set of glasses, and not have them be too ridiculously heavy, bulky, and ugly. Also, it can't be too expensive.

People keep saying it's "almost ready" because there are practical and functional HUDs, but they all require this bulky machinery to be strapped to your head in a way that looks stupid. For geeks or specialized purposes (e.g. soldiers in combat, who are carrying heavy equipment anyway and care more about functionality than looks) that's all fine. But it won't be productized until people can walk down the street wearing them and still look cool.

I like how this is it arriving.

[lattyware]

There have been a number of apps that do this on the Android platform for some time now. Has to be an iPhone app to get coverage of course. The BBC really annoy me with their tech coverage, the only things that ever get covered are microsoft/apple stories, or the whole violent video games thing.