Augmented reality

I Wore the Navy’s Oculus Rift, and It Showed Me the Future of Warfare

When we think of the future of the military, we think of bigger and better weapons. Laser canons and the like. But what about the people operating those lasers? How can a behemoth like the Navy ready its future sailors for the high-tech combat of tomorrow? Believe it or not, with an Oculus Rift. At…

Forget Augmented Reality. What About Diminished Reality?

Technology Review ran an article this past week about a new app called PlaceAvoider that is being developed by computer scientists working at Indiana University. In a nutshell, PlaceAvoider allows the user of a first-person lifelogging device to essentially blacklist locations from visual storage and sharing by matching the visual signature of a location against…

Hands On Epson’s Moverio BT-200: Augmented Reality Lite

A couple years ago we saw Epson’s Moverio make its debut. It was kind of like a double-eyed Google Glass, but it had a lot of issues. It was bulky, it was dim, it didn’t have any sensors. Basically, it didn’t do much. Today, the BT-200 is here, and it’s undeniably much, much better. The…

California Woman Gets Charged for Wearing Google Glass While Driving

Well, it was bound to happen. A Google Glass-wearer was ticketed in San Diego last night for “driving with a monitor visible” — the same law that prevents people from watching TV in their cars. But there are exceptions for GPS and satellite radio devices, so we can’t help but wonder if the cop did…

It’s Going to Be a Whole Lot Easier to Get Google Glass Soon

You might get a chance to get your hands on Google Glass sooner than you expected. The Financial Times is reporting that Google is making “tens of thousands” more pairs in the next few months. Now, that doesn’t mean you’ll be able to run over to the Glass store and buy your own unit anytime…

Every GPS App Should Make You Follow an Adorable Pack of Penguins

For a while, novelty celebrity voiceovers were all the rage when it came to GPS navigation units. But the Sunshine Aquarium in Tokyo has come up with a far more adorable way to get to your destination: by following a muster of virtual waddling penguins. Penguin NAVI allows tourists to find their way from anywhere…

Pioneer’s New HUD Brings Augmented Reality to Cars for Less Than $1,000

Just a couple of years ago, the idea of a device projecting information driving directions onto a car’s windshield seemed super futuristic. Now they’re becoming a reality, with the European release of Pioneer’s NavGate head-up display the latest. And believe it or not, this one’s actually pretty affordable. The new but long-awaited augmented reality NavGate…

In Memories with Maya, human sexuality gets an upgrade

What happens when you mix virtual reality, haptic interfaces, augmented reality, and artificial intelligence? That’s what Clyde deSouza explores in his highly entertaining near-future science-fiction novel, Memories with Maya. DeSouza introduces the “Wizer,” an augmented-reality, see-through visor driven by AGI (artificial general intelligence) — Google Glass on steroids. It’s coupled with 3D scans of real…

Google Glass for Police Brings Us Closer to a RoboCop Reality

Ok Glass, you can hear the cop now. Take a picture of that license plate. Try: Ok Glass. Record a video of this five alarm fire. Or even: Ok Glass. Search: gunshot wound treatment. It doesn’t take much imagination to realize that Google Glass could be a valuable tool for first responders. And now, the…

Against Your Better Judgment, Mercedes Is Integrating Google Glass

People have said that Google Glass would be distracting since day one, not just for people looking at the Glassholes but also for the Glassholes themselves who have that tiny screen always blinking in front of their faces. We certainly don’t want to put them behind the wheel. Right?! Mercedes Benz begs to differ. https://gizmodo.com/google-glass-and-the-golden-age-of-creepshots-5990787…

New game creates a hive mind out of Google Glass users

By encouraging Glass users to behave and work like virtual ants, a new game called Swarm! is showing the tremendous potential for augmented reality to bring crowdsourcing to the next level — if not to humanity itself. Swarm! is currently under development by Daniel Estrada of the University of Illinois in Urbana-Champaign and Jonathan Lawhead…

IKEA’s new 2014 catalog app lets you arrange virtual furniture in your home using augmented reality. You still have to put it together yourself eventually, though.

Ikea’s New App Transports Furniture Right Into Your Living Room

Ikea’s messed around with augmented reality before, but this year they’ve really outdone themselves. With just a phone and a copy of the catalog, you can now call up a digital version of any piece of furniture and put it anywhere in your home. All you have to do is throw the catalog on the…

Ping Pong Only Gets Better When You Add Crazy AR Visuals

The problem with ping pong—as cool as it is—is its complete and utter lack of insane, borderline seizure-inducing visuals. We can all agree on that, right? Well you don’t have to worry anymore; the Pingtime augmented reality table has got that covered. The setup was developed by Sergiu Doroftei, Bogdan Susma, Ion Cotenescu, and Silviu…

Experience Rome’s Coliseum Like It Just Opened Through This AR App

Even experiencing the ruins of a once great piece of architecture can be an amazing experience. But a company called AR-Media—the folks behind this instant mechanic app—have come up with another brilliant use for augmented reality that gives tourists a glimpse of a structure in all its original glory https://gizmodo.com/anyone-can-be-a-mechanic-with-this-brilliant-augmented-509999571 Thankfully, since everyone’s foolishly using…

This contact lens could eventually make Google Glass obsolete

Google Glass is great, but it’s also big, clunky, and exceedingly obvious. What would be more practical is something that could be fitted directly onto the eye, like a contact lens. Korean researchers have taken a major step towards achieving that goal. A group led by Jang-Ung Park recently embedded an inorganic light-emitting diode directly…

Google Glass is only “Stage One” in a three-stage evolution

Human beings are headed to a Matrix-like future, according to one neuroscientist-turned-entrepreneur named Meron Gribetz. And Google Glass is just “Stage One.” Apparently, he’s already invented the final stage. Gribetz runs a startup called Meta-View, which is basically like Google Glass except the Matrix will have already happened. Or something like that. Gribetz participated in…

Anyone Can Be a Mechanic With This Brilliant Augmented Reality App

Have you ever had a problem with your car, but were left completely and utterly bewildered when you popped the hood in hopes of fixing it yourself? If this clever augmented reality app from Inglobe Technologies ever hits the market, even the most clueless driver will be able to easily maintain their vehicle, and maybe…

Google Glass Rival Hires ‘Cyborg’ Steve Mann as Chief Scientist

Wearables pioneer Steve Mann has joined forces with Meta, an ambitious startup that’s currently working on the world’s first entry-level augmented reality glasses. Meta, which has been under development for the past two years, is the brainchild of Columbia University computer and neurological science student Meron Gribetz. His team has developed a prototype that goes…

Ex-Valve Engineers’ Crazy AR Glasses Put Tiny Projectors On Your Face

Want some more tech to put on your face? Neither full-on goggles like the Oculus Rift nor slender no-AR-yet specs like Google’s Glass, CastAR takes a whole different approach to modified-reality tech by slapping tiny projectors on your face, and The Verge got to take a peek. https://gizmodo.com/this-90-year-old-grandma-freaking-out-over-the-oculus-r-5994639 Ex-Valve employees Jeri Ellsworth and Rick Johnson…