It will soon become a trend for automakers to deliver their cars with companion AR apps to help drivers troubleshoot …
Developer Metaio knows a thing or two about augmented reality, and building on the magic of its Audi eKurzinfo app, it's created some prototype software for Google Glass that straps a car's instruction manual to your face. Instead of relying on markers, GPS or point-cloud processing, the Glass app uses reference CAD models to identify what you're looking at and overlay directions on a 3D plane. As useful as it may be for walking you through a washer fluid refill (video after the jump), Metaio has created the app to showcase its updated AR platform that's intended to work with wearables like Epson's Moverio and the Vuzix M100, as well as Mountain View's monocle. The firm's Glass app may never progress beyond proof of concept, but those attending Metaio's annual InsideAR conference in Munich this October can look forward to a live demo.
Filed under: Peripherals, Transportation, Wearables, Mobile
Source: Metaio
Ever read your car's instruction manual? We didn't think so, and apparently, neither did the folks at Audi. Not too long ago, the firm introduced a unique twist on vehicle documentation, offering A1 owners an augmented reality app that could tell them about the car's basic functions at a glance. The eKurzinfo app's initial release only recognized 65 elements of the vehicle -- but has since been improved and is now available for the A3 sedan. Say you notice the car's new-fangled temperature gauge, but don't quite understand how it works. Point your phone at the instrument cluster, load up the app and it will explain that when the LEDs reach the top part of the display, the engine temperature is too high. Simple. The app will even show you where to find the coolant refill tank under the hood.
The app's developer, Metaio, says the upgraded eKurzinfo can recognize over 300 individual aspects of Audi's A3 -- from the smallest details like insignias on the car's windshield wipers to individual engine components. This should be more than enough data for drivers who are opposed to the traditional approach of RTFM (reading the freaking manual).
Filed under: Transportation, Mobile
While many might reckon the days of paper-based catalogs passed with the advent of the web, Ikea's clinging onto its tome for yet another year, but will dust its latest issue with augmented reality. It looks like its 2013 catalog app will arrive with some new camera-centric features on both phones and tablets -- the brief preview video shows a pair of devices that look decidedly iPhone and iPad-esque. The app uses image recognition software from Metaio (avoiding the jarring monotones of QR codes) to identify specific pages and throw in some lightweight extra content, from cutaway views of furniture to "inspirational" video shorts. The agency behind the app has much loftier ideas for the future, including streaming live cooking shows or concerts into Ikea's imaginary rooms. Take a preview tour after the break, but sorry, no meatballs (or hotdogs) at the end.
Filed under: Cellphones, Tablet PCs, Software
Ikea beefs up 2013 catalog with companion AR app, doesn't translate Swedish furniture names (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 20 Jul 2012 10:24:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Remember Metaio? Back in February we reported on the company's rather neat brand of markerless augmented reality, and now it has some fresh news: a major revamp to its Junaio AR browser for iOS and Android, which incorporates the markerless algorithms and a lot more besides. The browser is an open platform for a myriad of smaller AR apps coded by independent developers, and the new version includes both a new UI and API to give those devs additional tools in HTML5 and JavaScript.
Right now, the app is worth a peek for the various curiosities demo'd after the break -- such as the ability to see other people's Instagram photos overlaid on the view from your rear camera, showing the direction and distance to the point where they were snapped. In time, though, we're really hoping that developers will latch on to platforms like this and take AR to where it needs to be: something that let's us recognize and augment people and objects naturally and instantaneously, without pre-conceived markers. In fact, Junaio really needs to have coffee with Project Glass.
Update: looks like the Android version has jammed in a pipe somewhere and won't hit Google Play til June 25th.
Augmented reality browser Junaio offers less 'clunky' apps, new API for developers (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 20 Jun 2012 15:00:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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