Thanks to the National Geographic many shoppers were able to exactly that, and more.

Related posts:

1. Total Immersion To Launch iPad AR App

Never one to follow the crowd, with the launch of Wikitude 7 and Wikitude’s new ARchitect Engine, developers are now able to create AR gaming experiences using industry standard development tools such as HTML, Javascript, and CSS for Android and iOS platforms. These new tools are designed to target both existing AR developers and the games developers community.

Developers have been quick off the mark to take advantage the new platform with several launch titles:

Bubble Tap which has been developed exclusively for Wikitude by Team Vienna Games, (MMO 7Million, Facebook Zombiees!) whose founders are previous staff members from Rockstar Games. Being one of the first games for the platform, Bubble Tap requires the user to tap a stream of bubbles floating around in virtual space. You’ll need plenty of space but its pretty addictive

Spice Attack is a play on the classic console title, Space Invaders. Instead of green invaders seeking to land and wreak havoc, Spice Attack features a series of seriously spicy chilis that would like to overheat terra firma. Aiming their mobile device to the skies, players must shoot down the invading Spice Attackers through a unique augmented reality interface.

Swat the Fly is a fast paced game that allows users to serve up a healthy bug crushing around them. Gamers can interact with their surroundings and must move and rotate to spot flies in the augmented reality view and quickly release a fly swatter to gain points.

All the games are surprisingly fun and available for free. Just install the Wiktiude browser from your respective store and you’ll find them on the home screen.

If you are a developer and you want to create your own games then point your browser at: www.wikitude.com/developer/sdk/download where you’ll find everything you need.

More about Wikitude games

Related posts:

1. Ball Invasion – AR Gaming Using SLAM Technology
2. AR Games You Need To Try
3. Create your own World in the Wikitude World Competition

Wikitude if you haven’t used it before is an augmented reality browser that displays a variety of content live in the camera window. Using Wikitude you can find anything from who is tweeting to the locations of the nearest pubs and bars around your current location. Unlike a map, Wiktude uses the camera to present the information so the locations are overlaid in augmented reality.

Now that the formalities are out of the way, the first thing that will strike you with the new version is the new featured screen which looks absolutely amazing. It reminds me of the Android Marketplace screen. Presenting featured content in such a graphical way simply begs the user to interact with the content and to explore.

While the new look and feel will get most of the attention, under the hood there is also a number of improvements. For example, 7.0 now supports location based triggers, audio and animation. Location triggers in particular are exciting because they enable actions to occur when a user visits a location. A developer could for example trigger an audio recording of a famous landmark when the user comes within range. Developers are also able to build their own user interface in CSS/HTML/Javascript so buttons can be placed on the screen to perform custom actions. This gives the developer more control over content and limits design only to the imagination.

The Wiktude browser has been voted AR browser of the year for 3 consecutive years so the formula is working, the new version is definitely staking an claim early to make that  a record breaking 4. If you haven’t looked at Wikitude for a while, or if you want to try out an augmented reality browser then the new Wikitude is well worth a look.

Wikitude is available for:

• Android
• iOS
• BackBerry
• WP7
• Symbian

Download links are here: www.wikitude.com/tour/wikitude-world-browser/download

Related posts:

1. Augmented Reality On Symbian – Wikitude Arrives
2. Wikitude World Browser Update – Quick Look
3. Wikitude Gaming SDK and Games

For $99 you can watch the entire event in the comfort of your own home or office and you wont miss any of the action. The event begins on Tuesday at 9am PST. For full details of the agenda visit the event website at: augmentedrealityevent.com

For more info on streaming go to: www.augmentedrealityevent.com/video

Related posts:

1. ARE2010 Event Agenda
2. Augmented Reality Event (ARE)
3. ARE2010 – 2 Free Tickets

With the Universal 100 application available free from the Apple App Store you can watch King Kong climb Nelsons Column, see a T-Rex at Buckingham Palace or the DeLorean from Back to the Future at Westminster Bridge.

For the best experience you should visit the actual locations and use your iOS device to view the landmarks  bringing the characters to life, or if London is not convenient, simply install the Universal 100 application and point your iOS device at the following pictures.

Also watch out for the special augmented reality DVD/Blu-ray DVD sleeves from Universal.

Currently some of you may know that I am in the process of writing my second augmented reality book that will focus on image recognition technologies for iOS. As such I get to play around with some fantastic technologies and have learned to look beyond the pretty graphics that they deliver.   The tracking technology used by Aurasma is awesome. If you want to learn more about Aursama take a look at their home page www.aurasma.com. I have to squeeze in a chapter  into the book somehow.

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2. Give your iPhone movies the FX treatment with AR
3. Farrago augmented reality experience creator

iOnRoad despite its iOS sounding name is a free Android application that uses augmented reality to inform you if you are driving too close to the car in front. It works by using the camera to detect objects in the camera view and determines how far away they are. By working out your cars speed from the GPS the application can calculate the stopping distance and give you an early visual warning if you are getting too close.

The videos below shows the application in action.

iOnRoad

I wouldn’t recommend you rely on any kind of application for stopping distances as many factors should be taken into account, weather, road surface etc, but if you test it I’d be interested in how you found it.

You can get iOnRoad from here.

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1. Augmented Reality Driving Applications
2. AR Drone Hits Android
3. Tupalo now with scanAR (Android)

The video shows how to reverse park an anti-gravity racer.   Not much room for the weekly shop but who cares I want a gravity racer now.

Just imagine pulling in to the car park in one of these. Sweet!

To launch the new Nokia Lumia smartphone in Australia, Nokia created the worlds first giant augmented reality game featuring those loveable characters from the hit Rovio game. The campaign involved a giant marker which enabled members of the public to interact with the characters by petting or kicking them. The results were shown on giant TV screen.

If Angry Birds wasn’t you thing then there was the opportunity to take part in a dance off with a virtual Timomatic who I am told is an Australian pop-star.

The campaign is pretty interesting whether or not you are a fan of the Angry Birds series.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cqaq69Lnsvc

Some people get to have all the fun. I would love the opportunity to kick an Angry Bird, in fact I think I am going to dig out that cuddly toy and give it a bit of attention.

Related posts:

1. Augmented Reality Demos To Install And Try
2. Augmented Reality for Kids
3. Adidas Augmented Reality Scotland

This week the mail man brought me the Sappi Guide to Design and Print known as The Standard. The guide is a very well designed book aimed at designers and how they can include special effects in their printed works. The company behind the guide, Sappi bill themselves as a fine print company who have embraced both technology and augmented reality world.

Before I get to the augmented reality stuff, I have to say the book from Sappi is amazing. Each page in the guide focuses on a different type of special effect you can achieve with various printing techniques. This includes holograms and textured paper that enable you to feel a picture. One example of textured paper is an image of a footprint in the sand. Touching the picture you can feel the grains of sand beneath your fingers which adds a new dimension to what you are seeing. You can download a copy of the guide from the Sappi website here, but nothing is a substitute for holding it in your hands.

Anyway enough of that, what makes the book interesting from our perspective is augmented reality.  Here Sappi have teamed up with metaio to create a junaio browser experience for mobile user and a desktop experience. Both campaigns focus on a super hero called Super Dude who appears in 3D when you present the page to either your webcam or your mobile devices camera. Once Super Dude has appeared your goal is to keep him clear of trains, dinosaurs and whatever else superheroes need to avoid.

Combining augmented reality and print gives readers a totally unique experience as we have seen before, but it’s good to see it being embraced by the print industry, especially when a campaign is aimed at both mobile and desktop users. For some reason a lot of designers think it’s one or the other.

You can try out the campaign by visiting www.sappi.com/na/superheroes and printing the marker. The same marker works both for mobile and the web experience.    You can also hear more about Sappi and the value augmented reality brings to the print industry in video below.

Super Dude

www.youtube.com/watch?v=dmG8npET9Bk

Related posts:

1. junaio and Augmented Reality Revolutionize Print Advertising
2. Print Is Dead Long Live Augmented Reality
3. The world’s first mobile Augmented Reality Special Magazine Edition

The article goes on to say that both Google and Apple are working on AR enabled glasses and they throw in a quote from 9to5Googleblog that claims the system is easy to use.  While Google haven’t confirmed or denied the rumours, I have no doubt that both Google and Apple are working on such devices. They are not alone; it’s a sexy technology with many companies investing significant amounts of funds into their R&D departments to develop and bring the technology market.

While these particular rumors that claim Google are about to release their devices to market have been circulating for several weeks now, I have to admit that I am sceptical that AR is about to become the essential must have gadget in time for Christmas. I’m not backtracking on my 15 – 20 years away statement as there is still a long way to go between being commercially available and indispensable, but I have downgraded what I think the first generation of devices will do.

Picture source: The Times newspaper (Murad Ahmed)

My initial expectations of AR glasses were they would offer the full richness of AR. E.g, location services, face recognition, image recognition etc, but I have come to expect they will be extensions to our mobile devices screen. Instead of highly advanced services, you’ll be able to check and reply to incoming emails, check your location and other simple services. Hopefully developers will be provided with an API to build to build their own services.

If (miraculously) AR glasses were released later this year, we’d all be in the queue. Once the novelty period is over, what do you actually want AR glasses to do? What is the killer app that will keep you using them?

Location based AR is obviously very interesting, but do you really want to be reminded where the nearest Starbucks is as you walk down the high street?  Do you want 3D content to spontaneously trigger and appear whenever a target is recognised?

What is your ultimate killer app?

Related posts:

1. Augmented Reality glasses are at least 20 years away
2. Ultimate Guide To iPhone Augmented Reality Part I
3. Ultimate Guide To iPhone Augmented Reality Part II

Sometimes writing a blog requires a lot of motivation. I open my inbox each morning hoping to find an email from the developer of the long fabled killer AR app. Instead my inbox is filled with announcements about yet another AR Browser. Not that I have anything against AR Browsers but I wonder why developers keep reinventing the wheel. It’s not as if I walk down my local high street and have to avoid flailing arms from people frantically waving their phones around discovering content.

Natural feature tracking hasn’t set the world alight and there are so many disappointing applications where developers do the absolute minimum. An example of this is the Mercedes C Class Sports app. Coming from a top brand like Mercedes who want consumers to experience their cars, they had a fantastic opportunity to build a showcase application. What did they build? A marker based app that allowed the user to add a spoiler and window trim to a car. Honestly, the changes were so superficial and difficult to spot that they really shouldn’t have bothered. If you go the effort of creating the 3D models, surely the budget would stretch to some features that were actually useful. Nothing fancy, changing the cars colour, wheels or other things potential consumers might actually want to see.  While I pick on Mercedes, games developers are also at fault with their liberal use of the AR tag. Playing space invaders on my iPhone, if the app happens to turn on the camera so the aliens are on a backdrop of my living room rather than a fancy space background, that’s not AR folks.

Its experiences like this where AR doesn’t deliver any value to the user experience that constantly damage the consumer’s view of AR.

Last year I had the opportunity to work with major network operator who wanted to publish some AR games to their Android store. I demoed some of the best marker based games available and wowed them with the technology. They were hook, until they demanded the games without the markers. And you know what they are right.

Marker based gaming is not intuitive for the average consumer. If you are reading this you are a tech savvy but we are not the ones that need convincing.  The average consumer wants a trouble free, sit on the couch without moving around gaming experience. AR games make fantastic demos but not necessarily a fantastic gaming experience.

Don’t get me wrong, there are some great applications available but these are exceptions rather than the norm. Next week I am speaking at a conference on how AR can be used. As I search for demos, bar a handful of new apps, I find myself returning to the same apps I have demoed for the last few years.

The savour of AR is long thought to be AR glasses. Almost on a weekly basis I see screenshots of futurist contact lenses and all encompassing portable glasses systems rumoured to be ready for release sometime soon. The technology isn’t even here yet and already its been hyped to a level where it will be impossible for it to live up to.  If next year you think you’ll be reaching for a pair of AR glasses for your journey to work, you’re in for disappointment.

AR glasses are not going to save AR, the killer app is going to save it.

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1. The scary world of augmented reality gaming

Real World ASCII is a simple app that uses your devices camera and in real-time converts the video feed into an ASCII view. Tapping the screen cycles through a several different views but the green is your very own matrix camera.

You can get Real World ASCII from here:  itunes.apple.com

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3. Augmented Reality – Traveller AR First Look

The latest posts from Augmented Planet
Last news from our Tumblr feed
News from all the top sources
AR related tweets.

It’s the ultimate way to say in touch with what’s happening with augmented reality.

The iOS app can be installed here: itunes.apple.com

Android owners, we are working on an update to our Android app. As soon as the tools we used for the iOS version become available we’ll be ready to publish. In the meantime, if you want the Augmented Planet app, you can use this version.

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2. Augmented Planet Event For AR Developers
3. Augmented Planet Event 2011 Countdown

If the Karate Kid had access to augmented reality he would have been the ultimate bad-ass and unstoppable.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=w77MiguDqYc

This morning I posted about the Absolute Engine for the iPhone which prompted a response from Simon who has been working on the DroidAR project. DroidAR is an OpenGL framework for Android developers who want to add location based or marker based augmented reality functionality to their mobile applications.

You can find out more about the project here: http://code.google.com/p/droidar/

The website contains a number of examples including a rather handy installing and getting started guide to help you get up to speed.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=MFbEvkWJOV0

Related posts:

1. DroidAR Engine For Android Developers
2. Space InvadAR for Android
3. mixare – A New Augmented Reality Engine For Android

Currently there are no shortages of augmented reality tools for developers, so my new book will cover all the latest platforms and how they can be used. Think of it as a ‘choosing the right augmented reality tool’ guide and how to developer augmented reality applications for the iPhone (Android version also in planning). Obviously there is a long way to go but the contract has been delivered so now it’s just a case of getting my head down and doing some research.

One of the latest tools to come to my attention is the Obvious Engine which was the engine used in the recent Chatterbucks iPhone application . The application if you missed it (more here) brings money to life. As you can see from the video below it looks pretty impressive.

Obvious Engine

www.youtube.com/watch?v=UNiyT7qwHGA

The home page for the Obvious Engine is: obviousengine.comThere are not a lot of details on the engine but it looks good nether the less and could be a worthy chapter to include in the book project.

For other AR developer tools, please take a look at our AR tools section.

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Over the years there have been many attempts at producing the next Elite clone, all of which have failed to live up to the original. Even when the original creators tried to recreate their success with the truly dreadful Elite 2 and Elite 3 they failed to be anywhere near as successful.

You may be wondering why I mention Traveller AR and Elite in the same breath. When you load the Traveller AR game its clear to see where the inspiration has come from. The game is very Elite like, you start with a basic ship, travel between the numerous space stations located in the galaxy while trading cargo in an attempt to build up your money and to equip your ship. Along the way you’ll meet with alien races and humans alike that want to relive you of your precious cargo forcing you to engage in combat.

Traveller AR picks up some of the best bits from Elite and the other wannabe clones. For example, when you dock you are able to access a message board where you can sign up for special missions that earn you money or equipment. Additionally, the game is a MMORPG that supports thousands of users so you have that social aspect of encountering real people as you play. You can send them messages too via the in game chat system.

It is difficult not to compare the game with Elite as there are so many similarities, but rather than dwell on those and as this is an AR blog we should focus on the augmented realityness of the game. The games use of AR in my limited playing time has been of the superficial kind, eg. It turns on your devices camera window so the action takes place around you rather than on a space backdrop. I’m never really a fan of this as playing with your living room as the backdrop provides no value to the gaming experience in my opinion. However, the games designers do claim that the AR feature utilizes your GPS position and providers you with bonuses based on your playing location. While I haven’t seen that in action yet, presumably it’s open to scenarios where visiting your local Starbucks earns you special rewards. They also say that you’ll be able to use the AR functionality to discover and interact with nearby players.

Traveller AR is currently billed as being a beta release which means it is still undergoing development and ironing out some of the bugs. As such the price is currently £0.69/$0.99, but that will increase once the game is out of beta.

Without doubt Traveller AR is an ambitious project and I am expecting great things, if you like space trading games, or want to remember those good old Elite days then this could be the game you are waiting for so get it now while is on special offer.

Traveller AR is currently available for iOS devices and can be Installed from here: itunes.apple.com/gb/app/traveller-ar/id463521846?mt=8

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To spice up your iPhone movies and to convince everyone that you’re a budding Spielberg, take a look at the new, free Action Movie FX application from Bad Robot Interactive. The application uses augmented reality to overlay computer-generated graphics such as explosions and crashes directly into your movie.

The application is extremely simple to use, just record the scene, add the effect and then share with friends via Facebook or email.  The application comes free with two effects, missile attack and car smash but other effects are available as in-app purchase. (£0.69 / $0.99).

You have probably seen similar applications that overlay AR generate graphics in the camera window but the production values in this app are of a whole new quality. Check out the video below.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=eiXwNqOWXj8

You can get it from here.

Related posts:

1. Experience The Movies With Aurasma And Universal
2. Augmented Reality – Welcome To The Matrix
3. Augmented London – The New iPhone App

Augmented Planet: Jack, firstly thank you for taking the time out to answer our questions. Before we get to Webcam Social Shopper, tell us a little about Zugara

Jack Benoff:  Sure thing. We’re a Los Angeles based augmented reality software development company focused on creating solutions that will change the way people shop online.

AP: We have written about Zagara a number of times and particularly about Webcam Social Shopper, but before we go too far,  can you tell us a little more about what is is for those that haven’t yet experienced it.

JB: The Webcam Social Shopper is a piece of software that integrates directly into an apparel retailer’s site. It uses an online shopper’s webcam, a motion capture interface, augmented reality, and social media integration to replicate that offline moment at the rack where a shopper holds a dress or blouse up to herself, turns to a friend (or the mirror) and asks “what do you think, is this me?”.  If you’re interested, you can demo it at www.webcamsocialshopper.com

AP: How did Zugara get involved with AR and retail?

JB: We saw a problem with online shopping. Namely, it’s a process not an experience. I mean, if you think about how you validate a purchase online, it hasn’t changed much since Amazon went live in 1995.  You look at thumbnails and you click on them to see a larger image.  We found it ridiculous that it’s still the same process. People are visual, social.  And for many, shopping is visual and social. So we decided to solve that problem, and make shopping an experience. In 2009 we built a prototype, filed for some patents, and we’ve been iterating & productizing ever since.

AP: AR in my opinion is still somewhere between gimmicky and useful. What value does AR bring to the shopping experience?

JB: A ton.  We’ve released some of the data on our corporate blog www.weareorganizedchaos.com, but two key metrics I’d point to are conversion rates and brand engagement. Once they add our software, retailers are seeing 50% more people adding items to their cart. And over 40% of their site visitors actually use our software. We know that experiences create brand loyalty offline and it’s not any different online.  So the ROI that retailers are seeing is not only immediate, but long lasting.

AP:  Is AR only for online shopping do you ever see it as being something that we’ll see in stores?

JB: There is absolutely a place for it in stores, and we definitely have a vision for what that will ultimately look like. I think the key is to make sure that the in store experience provides real value for the shopper.  It needs to be its own experience, not just a port of what we’ve already built.  If a dress is three feet away on a hanger, and a shopper can pick it up, and feel it… why would they stand in front of a digital representation of it?  Sure, maybe for some initial novelty, but will there be long term value for them?  I don’t think so.  No.  The in store solution must be much smarter, and must provide much more value.

AP: Webcam Social Shopper uses gesture recognition a lot, do you see it as being a core part of the overall experience?

JB: First, just to clarify, and I’m sorry if this comes off as nerdy but our technology is motion capture. Not gesture recognition. But to answer what you’re really asking:  yes, it’s a core part of the shopper’s experience. And at the end of the day, it’s really about creating a great experience for shoppers. If a woman is standing five feet away from her computer checking out dresses, she don’t want to be running back and forth to her mouse and keyboard.

AP: Is there a typical profile of a consumer who engages with an AR shopping experience? I.e. old, young, boy girl?

JB: We’re definitely seeing a trend where the retailers that are adopting our technology tend to target younger shoppers.  Gen Y and Z.  And this makes sense.  These shoppers grew up digitally and expect interactive experiences. They’re usually the early adopters.

AP: An aspect of the Webcam Social Shopper application is uploading photos of potential purchases to a social medial site for your friends to see. Does this impact the buyers purchasing decision?

JB: Absolutely. And it’s not just social media sites. Shoppers can send a picture via email too if they wish.  We’re seeing 50% more shoppers adding items to their cart once a retailer integrates the Webcam Social Shopper.  But friends and family impact on a purchase decision is no secret.  There’s a Nielsen report on ecommerce that’s pretty relevant to this question. When looking at variables that can affect purchase intent, they stat that “shoppers still trust the recommendations of friends & family most.”

continued on page 2 (link below)

Related posts:

1. The Future Of Home Shopping
2. Augmented reality and the shopping mall of the future
3. Tissot Augmented Reality Shopping Campaign

Thanks to Bruce who sent me this link for an AR stunt that took place at Munich airport. I’m not entirety sure what Fujitsu are advertising, presumably just brand awareness but it looks fun nether-the-less.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=daYTW-vzr5I

www.youtube.com/watch?v=4KQuNcxsqsc

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2. Air Guitar Augmented Reality Style
3. Adidas Augmented Reality Scotland

Before we get to the winners we would like to thank our awards sponsors NAVTEQ for their support and prizes.

The NAVTEQ Network for Developers™ (NN4D) empowers application developers with the knowledge and resources needed to create the hottest, most differentiated location-based products. You can access technical resources, support and business development services to build and market location-aware apps for Web, mobile, automotive, GIS and enterprise markets worldwide. Join NN4D for free at www.NN4D.com.

As NAVTEQ enable developers to build powerful location aware applications we invited them to select the very best augmented reality application built using their platform to receive a special award.

Best Augmented Reality Chosen by NAVTEQ
NAVTEQ have chosen Virtual Cable from MVS as the winner of the special award. Virtual Cable is an in-car navigation application that displays the route via a custom fitted HUD on the dashboard. Unlike traditional GPS devices which require the user to take their eye off the road to check the route, Virtual Cable users are able to see the route overlaid directly on the road. Augmented reality and navigation go together like hand and glove and this is an excellent example of a compelling production ready solution in action. We’ll do a follow up on the Virtual Cable solution in the New Year, but for now congratulations to MVS. For more information including videos take a look at their website. www.mvs.net

Best Augmented Reality Browser 2011
There are literally hundreds of AR browsers available for the iPhone and Android but this category was always going to be a three way fight between junaio, Layar and Wikitude as these three giants have a huge community of users.  Wikitude has been crowned best augmented reality browser for two years in succession, this year our readers have voted as followed:

• Winner Wikitude (41.1%)
• 2nd junaio (24.5%)
• 3rd Layar (11.9%)

Yet again our readers have voted Wikitude as the Best Augmented Reality Browser for the third consecutive year. Amazing stuff, Wikitude obviously have a excellent community of users behind them to continue to dominate this category. Wikitude is available for iOS, Android, Symbian and BlackBerry. Click here to install for your mobile device.

Interestingly, last year over 28% of voters had not used an augmented reality browser. This year that figure has fallen to just 14% showing a big increase in usage of mobile AR browsers.

Best Augmented Reality Game 2011
We asked you to vote for your favourite augmented reality gaming experience across mobile and the web. With so many excellent games to choose from voting was tight.

• Winner AR Pirates by Optricks (6.6%)
• 2nd Rise of the Undead by Samsung (5.8%)
• 3rd Drop Defender by National Guard (5.0%)

Congratulations to Optricks on their ground breaking natural feature tracking iOS game which uses coins to create the gaming surface. You can read our review of AR Pirates here, If you haven’t already downloaded the game it is available for free from iTunes (link).

54% of responders have yet to experience augmented reality gaming so there would appear to be a huge opportunity for the games developer.

Best Augmented Reality Marketing Campaign 2011
In 2011 the use of augmented reality in sales and marketing has continued to increase with some excellent examples of interactivity. This year we asked to you vote for your favourite campaign and you voted as followed:

• Winner Galileo interactive TV by junaio (19%)
• 2nd Red Bull Racing by circ.us (12.6%)
• 3rd Harry Potter (10.2%)

The Galleo interactive TV campaign created using junaio was amongst my favourite campaigns of 2011 and a worthy winner.  You can read more about how this campaign impressed us here, we have no doubt this is going to change the way we intact with TV in the future. The Red Bull Racing campaign was also among my favourites, congratulations to circ.us and if you haven’t done so already, grab a can of Red Bull and the Red Bull Racing app from the store and have some fun.

Best Augmented Reality Application 2011
This category was open to everything except augmented reality browsers as being so popular they have a tendency to skew the vote. In this category you voted:

• Winner Wikitude Drive (33.7%)
• 2nd Google Goggles (28.1%)
• 3rd Magic Mirror by Total Immersion (11%)

Congratulations to Wikitude who scoop their second award by beating the category favourites, Google.
Wikitude Drive is a revolution in mobile navigation with its unique display providing the driving route over a live view of the road. Available exclusively for Android devices with maps covering multiple countries you can learn more here.

With both Wikitude Drive and Virtual Cable scooping awards for in-car navigation,  I think these products are definitely changing the navigation game.  Using an old fashioned device will never be the same.

Best Augmented Reality Developer Tool or SDK 2011
Many of Augmented Planets readers are developers or content providers so this year we invited votes from this segment of the community to find out what tools developer are using to build their augmented reality experiences. There are a lot of excellent tools on the market and the landscape for developers is certainly changing with many of the tools now becoming free.

For this category we asked our readers to vote for their favourite AR developer tool or SDK. 78% of those that responded to the survey are developers/content providers and the votes were as followed:

• Winner Wikitude (25.3%)
• 2nd metaio Mobile SDK (19.2%)
• 3rd d’Fussion – Total Immersion (9%)

These results threw up some surprises as we were expecting the votes to be contested by String, metaio, Qualcomm and Total Immersion as these tools represent the most powerful options for building natural feature tracking application.

My opinion here is Wikitude is the clear favourite amongst the content provider community as it is one of the quickest and easiest ways to build location aware browser content while the metaio Mobile SDK is the favourite with the natural feature tracking developer community. Therefore with that in mind we’ll make a somewhat last minute but ever so slight revision to the award category:

Best Augmented Reality Developer Tool or SDK (Location Aware) 2011

• Wikitude

Best Augmented Reality Developer Tool or SDK (Natural Feature Tracking) 2011

• metaio Mobile SDK

Summary
So there you have it, the official list of the best augmented reality from 2011 as chosen by our readers. It’s been another great year for Wikitude who retained their status as best augmented reality browser for a third amazing year in succession and for metaio who also scoop two awards. It just remains for us to say thank you to everyone that took the time to vote and congratulations to all the winners and of course to Marie Geffroy who was the winner the Parrot AR Drone.

Related posts:

1. Readers Choice Awards 2010
2. Readers Choice Awards 2010 Winners
3. Augmented Planet Readers Choice Awards Nominations

Undoubtedly one of the industry leaders in the area of augmented reality tools is metaio who have been leading the way for over 10 years. metaio are responsible for many of the showcase applications that we talk about here at Augmented Planet and are the brains behind the junaio augmented reality browser.

Significant news today for developers interested in building powerful natural feature tracking applications is metaio have announced that they are making their latest augmented reality tools available for free. These tools are professional developer kits for iOS and Android that will enable you to build cutting edge mobile applications, including applications that use metaio’s award winning gravity-awareness technology.

You can get your hands on the tools from the metaio website: www.metaio.com/software/mobile-sdk

Watch the tools in action

www.youtube.com/watch?v=pDR3TcthdZw

The full press release from metaio is below which contains some insights into their collaborations with ARM, ST-Ericsson and Texas Instruments Incorporated (TI).

Press Release

metaio Releases Most Advanced Mobile Augmented Reality Software For Free

The world leader in advanced augmented reality solution releases its advanced mobile software to the entire mobile developer ecosystem

MUNICH AND SAN FRANCISCO, DECEMBER 8, 2011- The worldwide leader in advanced Augmented Reality solutions, metaio, will today release a free version of its advanced mobile development tools for iOS and Android to the entire application development ecosystem. This will be the newest version of the SDK that already powers the world’s most advanced AR browser and over 70 applications, driving more than 10 million downloads. The metaio Mobile SDK is the first mobile developer kit to enable gravity-aware AR experiences and the only AR developer kit that includes a 3D rendering engine, making it the first truly free AR SDK available.

Industry Proven With More Than 10 Years in Development

The metaio Mobile SDK  is developed by a software company with over 10 years of experience producing professional augmented reality, ensuring both the current caliber of the technology and the promise of continual advancements in research and developments. The metaio Mobile SDK has been implemented by brands, agencies and developers with an established professional track record of almost 70 mobile applications running on iOS and Android devices. The world’s most advanced AR browser, junaio, was built on the metaio Mobile SDK, and now empowers almost 10 million mobile-AR-enabled magazines delivered every month.

Most Advanced Augmented Reality Technology Available

The metaio Mobile SDK is as powerful as it is professional. Designed for natural AR experiences, the metaio Mobile SDK brings with it patented gravity-awareness and award-winning (tracking competition winner at ISMAR 2011) visual tracking technology for 2D and 3D objects, now three times more robust than the previous version. These features combined with metaio’s ongoing devotion to research and development will ensure AR experiences that are more natural, more intuitive, and more realistic. In addition, metaio has presented a clear roadmap towards both an Augmented World and AR on every smartphone by the year 2014, including working with chipset manufacturers to optimize metaio’s software for mobile devices.

Optimized AR-Pipeline for Major Mobile Chipsets

Though just weeks ago metaio proudly announced formal collaborations with ARM, ST-Ericsson and Texas Instruments Incorporated (TI), the broad developer community benefits today. While the available hardware is becoming more and more AR friendly, metaio has long been cultivating a network of contacts and technical exchanges with companies of the mobile processor industry, such as ARM, ST-Ericsson and TI. With these key industry partnerships metaio is ensuring that next generation mobile devices are fully AR capable.

“The powerful and flexible hardware of our partners enables us to deliver the software that will create the most innovative and compelling apps in AR,” said metaio CEO Dr. Thomas Alt. “We are happy to announce that we reached our first concrete short-term measure by porting our mobile SDK to the platforms of ARM, ST-Ericsson and Texas Instruments.”

From ARM: “ARM’s roadmap for ARM® Mali™ graphics and compute IP not only addresses the challenges in Augmented Reality today but also sets a benchmark for the next generation of mobile AR”, says Kevin Smith, VP Strategic Marketing, ARM Media Processing Division. “The combination of ARM processors and ARM Mali graphics processing units along with the strength of the Mali Ecosystem puts ARM in a unique position to provide enabling technologies to AR industry pioneers like metaio and we are working together to meet the future demands of mobile devices”.

From ST-Ericsson: “With our collaboration on a series of joint research projects, we are working to bring the latest AR capabilities to a broad developer community,” said Björn Ekelund, Head of Ecosystems and Research, CTO and Strategic Planning Office of ST-Ericsson. “Applications like AR are where the Nova™ and NovaThor™ product families excel since they deliver a combination of mobile processing performance, advanced graphics cores and powerful multimedia all at extreme power efficiency. We believe AR will become a basic demand in mobile devices in the future.”

From Texas Instruments: “Mobile augmented reality requires high processing performance with superior graphics and imaging capabilities that run on ultra-low power-features delivered by TI’s family of OMAP mobile processors. We work closely with metaio to ensure its AR SDK effectively leverages the OMAP platform’s end-to-end advancements. In turn, our mutual customers can focus on delivering compelling mobile devices that capture the promise and excitement of augmented reality-driven experiences,” said Fred Cohen, director, OMAP user experience team, TI.

Free of Worry and Cost

Compared to other augmented reality software kits, the metaio solution is the most complete and worry free available. The metaio Mobile SDK includes its own 3D rendering engine – now with advanced shader support – meaning there are no hidden development costs. At the same time it provides developers with a plugin to make use of Unity3D, one of the most established and powerful gaming engines currently on the market. Unlike other current augmented reality SDKs the metaio solution does not require the developer to upload and or encrypt any files before publishing a project, making the development process incredibly straightforward. For those who want to go further in customizing and development, metaio will also release a Pro version of the mobile SDK within the next months. The pro Version will include additional advanced features, greater customization potential and direct support by the metaio development team. Additionally, developers that prove their skills through the development of professional AR applications using the metaio Mobile SDK can register to become Certified Developers, giving them direct access to business offers and opportunities through the metaio network.

• Watch the metaio Mobile SDK release video on YouTube
• Download the free metaio Mobile SDK
• Visit the new metaio.com

about metaio

As the world-wide leader in Augmented Reality technology, metaio develops software products for visual interactive solutions between the real and the virtual world. Based on the advanced software suite, 3-D animations can be integrated seamlessly into live-video streams respectively into pictures of the user’s real environment. Founded in February 2003, metaio currently employs 75+ people at two different locations. The company is headquartered in Munich with the subsidiary metaio Inc. located in San Francisco USA. metaio has accumulated over 500 projects has been working with more than 450 renowned customers from different industries and geographical locations, such as: Macy’s, Toyota, Universal Pictures, Volkswagen, Adidas, BMW, LEGO, Audi, Bauer Media, USA Today, Bosch, Domino’s Pizza, The National Guard and Absolut Vodka. metaio is also the producer of the world’s most advanced mobile augmented reality browser, junaio, available for free download on Android and iOS. for more information, please visit metaio.com and junaio.com

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As part of BlackBerry® Dev Con Asia taking place in Singapore this year, Wikitude has announced additional support for smartphones running on the BlackBerry® 6 operating system (OS). With Wikitude being preinstalled on all new smartphones running the BlackBerry 7 OS, bringing Wikitude to smartphones running BlackBerry 6 will help answer considerable demand expressed by users who want to experience Wikitude’s extensive content offering including more than 2,000 content Worlds consisting of approx. 150 million places around the globe. Users of the popular BlackBerry® Bold™ 9700, 9780,9788 and BlackBerry® Torch™ 9800 smartphones can download Wikitude on BlackBerry® App World™ starting today.

Although smartphones running BlackBerry OS 6 do not support the Augmented Reality view, which requires specific hardware features available in BlackBerry 7 based smartphones, the Wikitude app does fully integrate with BBM™ enabling users to find their BBM friends on a map and to communicate with one another based on their location. Users opting to allow their whereabouts to be displayed can even make new friends.

After being crowned “The Most Addictive Social App Using the BBM Social Platform” at BlackBerry DevCon Americas in October, Wikitude most recently won the BlackBerry® EMEA Innovation Award for “Best BBM Connected App”, awarded in Alicante 1^st December. “Extending the Wikitude platform to millions of BlackBerry 6 smartphone users will make the BBM experience richer than ever before. We are extremely happy to finally bring this version of Wikitude to even more BlackBerry smartphone users,” says Martin Herdina, Wikitude’s CEO.

Alec Saunders, VP Developer Relations, Research In Motion, said: “We’re delighted that Wikitude has integrated BBM support within their app. Integration with BBM can allow much greater viral discovery for apps, as well as enrich and transform the user experience with important social elements.”

About Wikitude
Wikitude GmbH are the creators of the world’s first mobile augmented reality (AR) platform and the company behind the internationally renowned Wikitude World Browser for iOS, Android, Symbian, and BlackBerry devices. The browser has been voted “Best Augmented Reality Browser” by the readers of Augmented Planet for both 2009 and 2010. Wikitude is leading the international AR technology standardization as part of the Open Geospatial Consortium (OCG). More information on Wikitude here:www.wikitude.com

Wikitude is available on BlackBerry App World here: appworld.blackberry.com/webstore/content/50381

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The app enables you use your iPhones camera to watch the Eagle lander descend and land in your own  garden (or where ever you choose). These are not tiny little graphics that you can experience on your living room table, you’ll need a large outdoor space to view the action. Being an augmented reality application you are able to walk around the action and view it from different angles. You can toggle between real world action, ie the action takes place on your immediate surrounding, or you can enable the virtual moonscape mode which will give the action the authentic feel.

Unfortunately, for me the app requires an iPhone 4/4S or iPad 2 with 3G or this would be on my purchase list. Being a space buff, I’d be interested in hearing from anyone who gives this one a go. It looks like fun.

Get it here:

MoonWalking

www.youtube.com/watch?v=6OWnyFS81DQ

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Over the last few days I have had a few announcements from various source informing me about some of their latest campaigns. In one of those weird coincidences we rented the Smurfs movie a few days back and one of the campaigns was promoting the Smurfs so I decided to take a look.

The Smurfs GoldRun campaign gives you the opportunity to have a photo taken with your choice of Smurf. Once you select the Smurf campaign from the GoldRun app the Smurf is placed in the camera window giving you the opportunity to capture a photo. Unlike some of the other campaigns this one is not limited to any particular city so you can try it from anywhere.

The great thing about GoldRun is it really is a fun way for you to explore your city as some campaigns are specific to a particular location. For example, if you are in the LA area you can experience the Swarovski ‘Let It Sparkle’ campaign where you can have your photo taken with Swarovski merchandise. Once you have completed the campaign you win a free gift with a purchase from a Swarovski store.

If you are not in the LA area but fancy winning some jewellery you can also try Tweeting a holiday greeting with the hashtag #letitsparkle. Tweets will be shown on Rodeo Drive and fans around the world can watch the tweets via a livestream camera on the brands’ Facebook page. Every Friday there will be a prize draw for some sparking goodies. Here is a link to the Facebook page with all info: http://on.fb.me/uahwgj about the competition.

GoldRun is a unique combination of exploration, shopping and marketing, it’s free and covers content from various cities and countries so take a look and see what you can win.

Grab GoldRun for the iPhone here

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1. Shop till you drop with GoldRun
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