"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

Overlay source code?

[nacturation]

Does the Terminator vision for the iPhone also overlay Apple II assembly code?

Re:Overlay source code?

[musikit]

can someone photoshop up an apple logo crossed with a terminator head (like terminator 4 did with the city) so we can use that for apple stories since we use the borg for MS stories.

that way you can choose your cyborgic death.

Re:Overlay source code?

[Kushieda Minorin]

I am disappointed that nobody referenced to "Eden of the East"

Should've asked Juiz for an EotE first post!

Hud?

[Cpt_Kirks]

WHEN will we have a practical HUD or other type of head mounted display?

They always seem to be "almost ready". Frankly, I am ready to be a Gargoyle.

Re:Hud?

[Cpt_Kirks]

More of a head mounted display. For years (decades?) there have been a stream of funky helmets and various types of modified eyeglass and goggle type gadgets. They always seem to be "coming out next year", but then, the company folds.

Is there really no demand for these? Other than me...

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.

Re:Hud?

[ByOhTek]

And this, people, is why we don't put HUDs in cars.

Darkness404, you will be missed, after your untimely demise in a car accident. If only you hadn't been distracted by slashdot on your HUD, you might be here today with us...

Re:Hud?

[wjsteele]

There are three basic problems with HMD style displays.

1.) Single eye solutions confuse the brain after a short period of time. The brain tries to correlate both eyes input and can't, so it starts dropping information. That causes tremendous problems because the brain doesn't know which information is appropriate to drop. Using a two-eye HMD solves that problem.

2.) The other problem is that the brain is very perceptive of information that doesn't actually coorelate to the real world. Think about an artifical horizon that doesn't quite keep up to speed with the real horizon that the pilot sees. That slight delay error will cause problems for the pilot similar to the above, where the brain quits using and relying on that information.

3.) The last problem is the biggest. How do you get an image focused at infinity. The traditional way is to use fancy optics to lengthen the path from the emitter to the eye to make it appear that the image is beyond 6' or so. Getting that done is very tricky and bulky. Just putting an image on the lens isn't enough... it must be presented in such a way that they pilot has a reduced work load (on the eye muscles) so that it is not a tiring experience.

I see that VirtualHUD as quite an innovative solution for that problem because, 1.) it's aready presented to both eyes simultaneously and 2.) it's focused at infinity (or darn close to it) by default. Generally the propeller is already far enough away from the pilot.

Bill

Re:Hud?

[Lallander]

I think what you are looking for is an EyeTap. http://eyetap.org/ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eyetap

Re:Hud?

[just fiddling around]

I can't currently find a better link than wikipedia, but there is a class of HUDs that are called "Visual retinal displays" that project the HUD info on the retina of the wearer. I have read about a system that uses a very low power laser and a micro-mirror to paint on the retina; the system can be integrated in the glasses' branches. Of course, there is still a need for control hardware somewhere, but it can be remote (ex.: on the hip)

Re:Hud?

[shambalagoon]

I'm going to throw out my billion-dollar idea, in hopes that it gets made, because I don't have the connections to make it happen:

It's a new video game system based on Augmented Reality. You wear these special goggles that show you the world around you, but it's altered in real time. That cardboard tube in your hand becomes a sword, other players appear dressed in armored suits. Creatures float around the actual landscape around you. You play IN THE REAL WORLD with and against projected objects, people, and monsters. Course, it would make problems with Wiimotes look trivial in comparison. But play environments could be set up that could become futuristic areas, dungeons, other worlds, spaceships, bubbly worlds of goo, etc - much like a laser tag arena. The game machine would project whatever is needed onto the physical countours.

Even beyond games, the possibilities are endless. Imagine having someone you hate blacked out, or strange trippy visual effects on everything you see, or having whatever you're looking for lit up brightly, or flipping the picture until your sight adjusts (it will! and then when you take it off, everything will be upside down for a time). It could be used for training purposes or therapy or strange mental trips.

So there it is. Who will make it?

Re:Hud?

[wgoodman]

anyone else notice the BBC player's volume goes to 11?

Re:Hud?

[wjsteele]

Lot's of money. The HMD in the Joint Strike Fighter uses extremly high speed computers and displays the information in both eyes of the pilot. The helmet alone costs over $300,000 each and must be custom fitted to each pilot. Then you have to add the cost of everything else... which pushes the whole system to over $3,000,000 each!

The Apache system actually only projects into one eye, but can be switched to either side. In addition, the information they present is not generally coorelated with the outside view so they avoid some of the issues. However, even with that, they're still having problems with pilot fatigue with them.

As for other aircraft, generally, they use the classic style HUD, not an HMD. With a HUD, you use a combiner plate (glass plate in front of pilot) to achieve a forward field of view, however narrow it is. These types of units start at about $200,000 each.

Bill

Re:Hud?

[Civil_Disobedient]

Not to rain on your parade, but I had this idea about ten years ago, which leads me to think:

1. About a million other people have also already had this idea.

2. At least a few of those million are programmers currently working on it.

Another idea would be to integrate a HUD with the internet so businesses could overlay meta-information about their store as you're walking down the street (restaurant menus, hours of operation, upcoming performers, etc).

Again, probably a million others have already thought of this. Actually doing it has always been the hard part.

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.

Re:Supplementary Brain?

[Hal_Porter]

I've always wondered if intelligence might not ended up moving from individuals into society as a whole. Essentially the rules in society would be simple and we'd be like cellular automata dumbly following them.

The best example is lawsuits. Companies will go to great lengths to protect stupid customers because they are scared of getting sued. Rather than individuals protecting themselves from harm it's like the system 'knows' not to expose them to it. Still neither the customers, or the lawyers or even the engineers could or would do this if they were acting as individuals.

However the society as a whole has the collective intelligence to prevent it.

Re:Supplementary Brain?

[Manax]

So in your opinion, rote memorization is what intelligence is all about? Not problem solving, not creativity, not being able to come up with better generalizations, or whatever? Rote memorizing? Really?

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:GUI for a map.

[genner]

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.

Exactly. The sad part is it would work just as well without the real-time video overlay. There's no practical need for this tech it's just looks cool.

Re:GUI for a map.

[BlueKitties]

No, that's not true. This is an *application* of augmented reality. AR is the idea that computer interfaces can interlace with the environment. This isn't just a fancy way of managing a map, it's a method of interfacing with computational systems. This has the potential to change the way we use computers all together -- instead of phones, or PCs, people might have glasses which work as a personal assistant. This has the potential to be as important as the PC revolution.

Re:That's great, but I can't use it on my Linux bo

[ae1294]

Linux runs on blood... You must make a blood sacrifice... Slit your wrists and repeat after me...

All hail master Torvalds, I offer up my life blood to you O great and powerful Master. I, a humble troll, ask only that you find it in your dark heart to grant me the power! The power to scan one last fury fandom so as to complete my life's work.

Then wait 15 to 60 minutes for the source(tm) to recompile...

Important, do not call paramedic during this time or the compiler will fail and you will have to start over.

Don't worry if you die before the compiler finishes. Linux will simple restore you from the tarball file stored in /dev/null

Youtube Link / mirror

[timeOday]

The BBC video doesn't seem to work for me - I think this is the same.

Re:Classic Cyberpunk

[Anonymusing]

You thinking of Gibson's Virtual Light?

Launched or not?

[BenihanaX]

The article says it has launched.
The summary says it has launched.
The Acrossair page says they need beta testers.
The app page (on the Acrossair site) says it will launch when Apple approves it.

Does anyone know which is correct? I tend to believe it has already launched since the article and summary corroborate.

Perhaps someone on the other side of the water could try to pull it up in the iTunes store.

Camera?

[RalphSleigh]

Zoe Kleinman tries out Acrossair's software that uses a phone's camera to tell you where the nearest London Underground station is.

It's using the phones GPS, compass and accelerometers to decide what to draw on the screen, NOT the camera, if you watch the video the bloke even says as much. Mush more impressive would be applications that can use what the camera sees by reading text/barcodes or recognising objects and combining it with GPS and internet data to offer more infomation on the world around us.

Re:Camera?

[BobMcD]

Yes, this, exactly. You could turn the camera off and overlay the same data over a blank screen, and it would make no difference.

Its a fine app, but not nearly 'augmented reality', at least not by way of a camera or in the way depicted in the film.

Heh.

[Cpt_Kirks]

Best use of "Terminator Vision": Picking the right reply.

"Say, buddy, ya got a dead cat in there?"

(Decision List...)

"Fuck you, asshole."

Simultaneous Data+GPS+Camera = Battery Fail

[zbend]

I suspect you can "augment reality" for about 30 seconds, unless plugged in.

Re:can the iphone get any stupider?

[Fross]

Only if used to view your post on /.

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.

Re:I like how this is it arriving.

[GuerillaRadio]

Darn it, that was supposed to be a link

OS 3.1 API in Beta

[geomobile]

This is done with an API method that is only available in iPhone OS 3.1 which is still in Beta. Consequently the App cannot be officially published in the App Store.

There'll be a whole wave of Apps using this as soon as 3.1 is finally released.

Oh, of course we're working on something, too: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SGq69Nyi6p0. Not as fancy yet, but it has spaceships.

Re:I'll be first...

[ae1294]

Alex Trebek! You bloody wanker, it's not offtopic and I'll kick your limie ahss next time...

MOD PARENT UP

[carn1fex]

This is ridiculous, my friend showed this to me on his G1 along time ago.

Re:Intresting Hack Idea

[Mister Whirly]

I think the real question is - Are you so detached from humor that showing questionable material wouldn't be amusing to you?

P.S. "retarded" is offensive to call someone who really isn't a retard. Making fun of retards is pretty puerile. How dare you sir!

Finally, a reason to get an i-Phone

[joshuao3]

Ok, this is the first app compelling enough to get me to buy an iPhone. Now, if only I live in London and paid 1/5 the rate that we pay in the US.

Terrible demo

[benwiggy]

"The page features an impressive video demonstrating AR in action."

Impressive? The demo suggests that Oxford Circus and Great Portland Street are the nearest tube stations to Piccadilly Circus. It doesn't even mention .... Piccadilly Circus.

Re:Android

[K. S. Kyosuke]

Phew. Everybody who watched the movie knows that Terminator was an android, not an iPhone.

Google Earth plug-in for air travel?

[Frobisher]

How about an "augmented reality" Google Earth plug-in that would allow you to see EXACTLY what cities you're passing over from an airplane window? (Assuming you can be using your phone up there)

Re:Google Earth plug-in for air travel?

[geekoid]

I ahve said for years that airplanes should ahve a camera pointing down that the passengers and look through. Add AR to that and it's golden.

Camera pointed up to, so you can AR varies astronomical sights.
Tie in a display of aircraft near by just for interest.

Layar

[dsnbaka]

Check out Layar.com for a cool Android application that has the exact same vision. Their video on the site shows a demo with houses for sale in Amsterdam.