"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?

[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?

[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?

[wgoodman]

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

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: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.

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

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)