Lost in London? There's an augmented reality app for that

by Dan Leahul, revolutionmagazine.com 06-Jul-09, 14:45

LONDON - The video camera in Apple's iPhone 3GS means that augmented reality apps such as Acrossair's 'Nearest Tube' will smash expectations of what smartphones are capable of.

The Nearest Tube app, certain to drive those tattered A to Zs into early retirement, takes advantage of the iPhone's slick video features to tell Londoners where the nearest tube station is by overlaying active labels on the iPhone's touchscreen.

Tthe app uses the iPhone's GPS and internal compass to direct users to the nearest tube with a series of coloured arrows, giving the approximate distance and relative Underground line.

The app really shines when the handset is held up in front of the user, as it uses augemented reality to layer the lines on-top of the image being shown through the camera, acting as an interactive window.

The app was created by digital agency Acrossair but is still pending Apple's approval before being listed in the App Store.

The YouTube video of the app in action has been viewed nearly 30,000 times, with some commentators questioning whether the app violates Apple's terms of agreement in regards to use of its public APIs.

Some users have also protested at the thought of wandering around central London with arms outstretched, holding a £600 mobile phone in their hands.

Regardless, Apple's newest iPhone has been continually praised for its high quality video capabilities and easy to use editing programme, some saying the phone is capable of disrupting the whole mobile video industry.

With the iPhone, videos can be uploaded to YouTube with the touch of a button. The company said it has seen a huge influx of videos being uploaded from the new iPhone ever since the handset launched on June 5.

Recently, a small production company in the US managed to shoot a professional looking music video for the band BJSR called 'Play', using only the iPhone and a handmade jerry-rig system.

Today is was revealed that Apple is planning on including video cameras for the newest versions of its iPods, including the Touch and Nano, or even the diminutive Shuffle.

The move would potentially put mobile video cameras in the hands of the 200m iPod owners around the world.

Comments

editor mobiThinking - 07/07/2009

It's surprising/pleasing to see AR innovation on the iPhone. To date much of the applications innovation has been on Android. I understood from this \(recommended) brief on AR from The Hyperfactory that this stems from the fact Apple doesn't release a full SDK for the iPhone. Hyperfactory run AR campaigns for big brands like Nike and Coca-Cola/Fanta \(but not for the iPhone). So Apple isn't just shutting out start-ups. Is that what it wants? The AR brief from Hyperfactory: http://www.mobithinking.com/white-papers/bring-your-mobile-campaign-life-virtually-insider-s-guide-augmented-reality