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Comments: 245 +- Hardware: "Terminator Vision" Is Here For the iPhone on Tuesday August 11, @10:27AM
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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."
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Overlay source code? (Score:5, Funny)
Does the Terminator vision for the iPhone also overlay Apple II assembly code [pagetable.com]?
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can someone photoshop up an apple logo crossed with a terminator head (like terminator 4 did with the city) so we can use that for apple stories since we use the borg for MS stories.
that way you can choose your cyborgic death.
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I am disappointed that nobody referenced to "Eden of the East"
Should've asked Juiz for an EotE first post!
Hud? (Score:4, Interesting)
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.
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Bill
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More of a head mounted display. For years (decades?) there have been a stream of funky helmets and various types of modified eyeglass and goggle type gadgets. They always seem to be "coming out next year", but then, the company folds.
Is there really no demand for these? Other than me...
Re:Hud? (Score:5, Informative)
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
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The Apache system actually only projects into one eye, but can be switched to either side. In addition, the information they present is not generally coorelated with the out
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Amusingly appropriate to display a plane HUD on an internal propeller :-)
Re:Hud? (Score:5, Insightful)
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.
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Re:Hud? (Score:5, Interesting)
I can't currently find a better link than wikipedia, but there is a class of HUDs that are called "Visual retinal displays [wikipedia.org]" 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)
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It's a new video game system based on Augmented Reality. You wear these special goggles that show you the world around you, but it's altered in real time. That cardboard tube in your hand becomes a sword, other players appear dressed in armored suits. Creatures float around the actual landscape around you. You play IN THE REAL WORLD with and against projected objects, people, a
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Not to rain on your parade, but I had this idea about ten years ago, which leads me to think:
1. About a million other people have also already had this idea.
2. At least a few of those million are programmers currently working on it.
Another idea would be to integrate a HUD with the internet so businesses could overlay meta-information about their store as you're walking down the street (restaurant menus, hours of operation, upcoming performers, etc).
Again, probably a million others have already thought of th
Re:Hud? (Score:5, Funny)
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Re:Hud? (Score:5, Funny)
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...
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Re:Hud? (Score:5, Interesting)
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Classic Cyberpunk (Score:2)
What was the name of the story where the guy stumbled upon a pair of sunglasses that showed the plans for some Asian conglomerate to rebuild a city? (L.A. I think?) I don't know if it was a novel or part of a collection. I'm leaning towards collection - and included was a story about a guy being chased by some killing machine thing that moved slowly but never stopped so he always had to stay on the move. Others were typical cyberpunk stuff - I'm googling away but can't track it down.
Re:Classic Cyberpunk (Score:5, Informative)
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I believe the short story that you're refering too is part of Accelerando [wikipedia.org]. The part that always stood out best in my mind was the motorized combat boots the one guy had, and the sentient lobsters that acted as computers or something...
I remember it being in a collection entitled something like "Best Sci-Fi of 2004" (or something to that effect, forget the year too) Good story though :)
im back! (Score:2)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0lfmlKYZ-vU [youtube.com]
i cant wait till they have Governator in the iPhone ads!
Supplementary Brain? (Score:3, Insightful)
I think it would have the opposite effect, and make a generation of cell phone users even dumber.
Re:Supplementary Brain? (Score:5, Insightful)
I think that using tools makes people smarter, not dumber.
Unpopular opinion on slashdot, I know, but I just don't know why.
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Re:Supplementary Brain? (Score:5, Insightful)
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.
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Re:Supplementary Brain? (Score:4, Insightful)
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GUI for a map. (Score:5, Insightful)
That is not an insult, it is a compliment. The best ideas are usually simple at heart.
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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.
Exactly. The sad part is it would work just as well without the real-time video overlay. There's no practical need for this tech it's just looks cool.
Youtube Link / mirror (Score:4, Informative)
Launched or not? (Score:4, Informative)
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.
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I wonder if the delay is caused by the fact this will only work properly on a 3GS, since other iPhones don't include a compass. I'm not aware of any apps that require a specific model of iPhone (or even iPod Touch) at the moment despite the hardware differences.
Camera? (Score:5, Informative)
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? (Score:5, Interesting)
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.
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Would be cool for SatNav (Score:2)
I want to see a SatNav application for the iPhone that makes use of AR.
I imagine mounting my iPhone on my dashboard with the camera pointing forwards and having the driving directions, road names/numbers, driving statistics etc superimposed over the top of the live images.
This is probably unrealistic at the moment due to hardware limitations (sampling rate for the built in GPS, compass etc) but I'm sure we'll get there one day. It's probably more realistic that TomTom or similar will come out with a SatNav
Kind of wish this was in the videos but... (Score:2)
can the iphone get any stupider? (Score:2)
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Only if used to view your post on /.
Heh. (Score:3, Insightful)
Best use of "Terminator Vision": Picking the right reply.
"Say, buddy, ya got a dead cat in there?"
(Decision List...)
"Fuck you, asshole."
Halting State (Score:2)
Plenty of cool applications to think off; the race is on to build the first Netscape of Augmented Reality, and then we can all quickly build a whole new World Wide Web.
When visiting a new town just Google for a suitable set of layers.
Tube stations, Tourist information (with guided tours), traffic, dating (heh! I'm available).... i'm sure that is just the beginning.
Coincidently I Just finished reading Halting State (Charles Cross) [amazon.com] -- set in Edinburgh 2017 AR was already standard -- in fact the protagonist ha
I like how this is it arriving. (Score:5, Insightful)
MOD PARENT UP (Score:3, Insightful)
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Darn it, that was supposed to be a link [computerworld.com]
Terrible demo (Score:3, Informative)
Impressive? The demo suggests that Oxford Circus and Great Portland Street are the nearest tube stations to Piccadilly Circus. It doesn't even mention .... Piccadilly Circus.
Google Earth plug-in for air travel? (Score:3, Interesting)
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I ahve said for years that airplanes should ahve a camera pointing down that the passengers and look through. Add AR to that and it's golden.
Camera pointed up to, so you can AR varies astronomical sights.
Tie in a display of aircraft near by just for interest.
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Alex Trebek! [wikipedia.org] You bloody wanker, it's not offtopic and I'll kick your limie ahss next time...
Re:That's great, but I can't use it on my Linux bo (Score:5, Funny)
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
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P.S. "retarded" is offensive to call someone who really isn't a retard. Making fun of retards is pretty puerile. How dare you sir!
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