InsideAR 2013 – Google Glasses pimped by metaio
Hi everybody! It’s Oktoberfest time in Munich! AR people start to pavlovesk connect this date also with metaio’s annual fair insideAR. This year the fair happens a bit later, so be sure to visit the 180th Oktoberfest before!
Afterwards it’s time to look at the latest inventions by metaio on October, 10th & 11th:
This year they are presenting their work on a bigger scale in the “Kleine Olympiahalle” at the former Olympic Site in Munich. The Who-is-Who in AR and the Industry will join to hold guest talks and metaio will present their latest ideas. augmented.org will be reporting on-site of course!
What can we expect? Well, I’m sure they have a few aces up their sleeves to pull out only during the fair. But let’s take a look at some latest announcements!
Obviously, metaio has their hands on the Google Glass device as well, although this implementation does not really offer a full AR experience as I would define it. Nevertheless, it’s a good starting point to extrapolate upcoming hardware development and to have connectivity ready for when more shows up. metaio just blogged about their latest concept work, that will be presented at the insideAR: they labelled it “the development of the first-ever hands-free, marker-less augmented automotive manual using Google Glass”.
They have connected Google Glass to their system and can make use of the device’s camera to feed their tracking system. A long-awaited dream for service and repair HUD system is getting closer to reality with a less bulky design and less setup time. The idea is simple: to have additional information and service steps for a repair or during construction superimposed as you go along a workflow. The shown screenshot shows a different application for the driver = user of the system to get real-time information from the system and the car status. Right now, this overlay will be limited to mostly textual information displayed in the corner of your view area. A matching 3D overlay is not yet possible…
… but once Glass (or other HMD developer’s products like Vuzix) is there, metaio is ready to make use of their full power to overlay 3D data as well.
Their new stable tracking itself can already be seen in their latest demo on youtube (and live on site): the CAD-data based tracking does not need ugly markers or a long set-up calibration beforehand anymore. Take a look:
No markers, GPS, point clouds or other prep needed as they claim. To me, it looks pretty stable regarding minor changes in texture – helping against dirt on the surface, etc., and to the change in lighting conditions, which will definitely be needed, when you are using the glasses outdoors or in changing environments – not within a clean studio setup. I like their video demo a lot and I hope the snapping of CAD data as tracking references will work as flawless as shown in other scenarios as well.
We sure can see, where this is leading to in combination with the AugmentedCity concept! An everyday-capable 3D-overlay for the average Joe Sixpack walking down the street, seeing additional information or fun activities.
Let’s see what they have in stock in two weeks! See you there!