Anyway, for the first post of the year i thought I'd clump together a load of interseting examples from the AR bandwagon. Definitely not going away and it's really starting to look like it something actually useful
First a look at AR vs VR from Techcrunch
Remember when virtual reality 
was all the rage? It had a good run, especially during the 1990s, and perhaps culminating with Second Life in the decade which just closed. But virtual reality is old in the tooth. People are a lot more interested these days in “augmented reality,”surpassed “virtual reality” as a search term sometime last summer (see chart). or at least they are on Google where it
Maybe people are searching for it more just because they are not sure what it means, but it definitely is entering the collective consciousness. If virtual reality is a complete immersion in a digital world, augmented reality (AR) is more a digital overlay onto the real world. It enhances the real world with digital data, and therefore it is much more interesting than a completely fabricated environment. There is an element of magic to AR apps because they juxtapose data and graphics where they have no business showing up.
The advent of touchscreen mobile phones with GPS and cameras such as the iPhone and Android phones is giving rise to an array of AR apps from Sekai Camera, Layar, and more. Generally, these apps show the world around you as seen through your phone’s camera, but in addition to functioning as a viewfinder, your screen also functions as a regular computer screen. With help from the GPS and on-board compass, it can place information or graphics on top of buildings or objects seen through the viewfinder.
But that is just the start. Universityresearch labs are springing up to explore augmented realty as a new computing interface. The latest AR app is the Parrot AR.Drone, and combines a flying remote controlled toy with an iPhone app. The app turns the iPhone into a remote control (a concept we’ve seen applied to video games), but there is also a camera on the drone, which let’s you see from its point of view and play virtual shoot ‘em up games with other drones. The shooting happens on the screen, while the toys fly through the air in real life. There is also a solo mode where you can shoot enemy jets on the screen juxtaposed into your living room or wherever you happen to be flying the drone. (Watch the video below to see what I mean).
You can take your virtual reality and get lost on Second Life. I’ll take augmented reality any day. It’s just more real.
Secondly, a list of the seven things you need to know about AR from the Guardian (thanks Simon)
Seven things you need to know about augmented reality
Smartphones are bringing the once-SF concept of augmented reality into the everyday world
Augmented reality: the Nearest Tube iPhone app
Augmented reality is a lively creative mess. Now that smartphones have relieved us from unstylish fantasies of goggles, the technology is finally getting real. In 2010, the world is becoming subtitled, and your future will be augmented.
Augmented reality applications enable users to see additional layers of data when they view normal objects through smartphones or webcams.
Since programming an augmented reality application is easy, every computer student can develop augmented software for a smartphone. Very many of them are. These days, applications mushroom everywhere a bit of augmentable content is to be found.
As in the early days on the internet it is a wild augmented west, and so you need a guide. In part one of our review, we highlight the seven most important things the informed user of today needs to know about augmented reality.
Part two will focus on journalism and augmented reality.
1. Layar
Layar is paving the way. As the witty Japanese introduction illustrates, Layar makes use of the smartphone camera and compass. As you look on your screen information is overlayed on top of the world surrounding you.
A lot of augmented reality applications allow that, but what makes Layar so appealing is that it allows external developers to submit, well, layers, a decision that helped it to become the most flourishing augmented reality application even though it is only available for the Android phones and not ready for the iPhone.
Popular examples are Wikitude, which presents data about nearby points of interest, or Yelp which is providing reviews of nearby restaurants, shopping and nightlife possibilities. Since it can be used for any form of data there is even an application showing where hundreds of billions of US dollars of US recovery funding got spent.
2. Pathfinder
Lost? Among the most popular applications at the moment are travel applications, perfect for augmented reality. Nearest Tube, London Tube and London Bus help you handy to find your way through London, but of course there is an application for nearly every large city by now.
Several astronomical applications transform you into an 21st century explorer, such as the Heads Up Navigator, the sympathetic old school Theodolite and Sun Seeker or Accrossair. And there will be more to come, as a world full of subtitles makes perfect sense for lost travellers.
3. WordSnug, the essential sympathetic nerd tool
If you find yourself holding tight to your laptop on the street seeking somewhere with free Wi-Fi, download WorkSnug. It's a navigation app on the same principle as the nearest-tube-applications, but also provides you with information about Wi-Fi spots' power supply and coffee quality, and makes it easy to get in touch with other lonesome nerds.
At the moment WorkSnug is only available for the iPhone and in London, but it's coming to Madrid, Barcelona, Berlin and Paris in February before hitting San Francisco and New York in March.
4. Let me entertain you
The addition of an 3D object is another important augmented reality feature. Several games already make use of this: Mosquitos, Wanted Dead or Alive, and Firefighter 360 place targets in the world surrounding you while the multiplayer game Gunman simply uses the T-shirt colour of your friends.
If you are not a bloodthirsty teenager but a knackered parent you should get The Hidden Park, a game that combines technology and outdoor experience; this neatly designed iPhone game keeps your child busy in London's Kensington Gardens or South Bank, New York's Central Park or Munich's Englische Garten.
So after the interactive media artists Blast Theory have already tested what's possible in urban gaming, and augmented reality will boost this further. Yet to be invented is the augmented reality movie, but you can watch an early version of what might be to come in the video above.
5. Everyday use
One thing that's striking about augmented reality is that it is so everyday. In 2009, applications were developed for a lot of different day-to-day situations. They help you find your car, test the size of the parcel you packed before you go to the post office, arrange and test new furniture, or present information about the food you're buying like the one Giuseppe Costanza developed at London's Central Saint Martin's for the communication design course.
6. Why not the other way around? Augmented virtuality
Interact with your computer using the physical world: SixthSense uses natural hand gestures to interact with the computer. It projects the screen on your hand or any other surface using a tiny small wearable gestural interface. Developed by the Fluid Interfaces Group of the MIT Media Lab, this application is yet to be mass-marketed but pretty impressive.
7. If you want to stay on top of things, have a look at the following blogs
2010 will be the year where augmented reality will reach the mass market, because finally smartphones are widely available, the applications are easy to use and pretty useful. To stay on top of developments, follow the London based Augmented Planet blog run by Lester Madden, The Augmented Times, or Games Alfresco, which is a bit more dedicated to the reinvention of interactive entertainment.
If you really wanna dig deep, get down with augmented reality guru Bruce Sterling, who recently gave a keynote about the dawn of the augmented reality industry.
Watch out for part two of our special on augmented reality and journalism.And finally, from Springwise, a cool Layar app making AR useful in a tough environment... the madness of a music festival... assuming that anyone is sober enough to operate their phone that is.
Just a month or so after augmented reality browser Layar won EUR 75,000 in Vodafone's Mobile Clicks contest, the technology was already being put to work in a custom-designed application for Louisiana's Voodoo Experience music festival.
Layar is a free mobile browser for Android devices and the iPhone that overlays computer-generated information on top of real-time, on-screen images from the handset's built-in camera. The Voodoo app was designed by New Orleans ad firm Zehnder Communications using Layar 2.0 to let festival-goers with enabled phones get information on performances, attractions and services simply by pointing their phone cameras toward key parts of the festival grounds. When viewing concert stages, for instance, one custom AR layer provided information on lineups, schedules and current artists performing, including artist profiles and Web links. Pointing a phone camera at a vendor would show menus and pricing, while other points of interest highlighted by the app included vendor locations, artist displays, restrooms, ATMs, entrances and exits, medical sites and other services. Zehnder was one the first 50 firms worldwide named as developers of the Layar platform. A demo of the Voodoo app is available on Vimeo.
In addition to a whole new world of entertainment and useful information for mobile consumers, augmented reality also opens up a wealth of new OFF=ON opportunities for advertisers. Time to explore the possibilities for *your* tech-savvy brand...?
Website: www.z-comm.com
Contact: jzehnder@z-comm.com
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