So, technology seems to be slowly catching up to futuristic movies of the past, or at least some of the tech can be seen on the horizon. Next time you are out on the highway and you take a look up at a digital billboard, stop and really think about it for a second; that is a staple of just about every futuristic set movie, except that EVERYTHING from billboard to standard posters and ads are digital.
(Editor's note: Don't be an idiot and actually stop in middle of the highway to stare at a damn billboard, I'm really not in the position to pay out millions or dollars and my insurance company would probably be none to happy with me).
Anyway, the latest step in getting sci fi movies a step closer to reality is the growing fad of "Augmented Reality", a technology which has grown over the past year or so in which you aim a camera (be it a web cam or a cell phone) at a pre-determined item or shape and it will superimpose items onto the screen that you can usually move around and look at with different angles. This has been used by manufacturer's like LEGO to look at what a built project will look like in 3D before you spend the big money on the item and it has been used on cereal boxes, etc. It's a relatively cheap but impressive technology and, though not in reality, almost gives you the appearance of a hologram (but better quality than the shifty breaking images seen in Star Wars). Check out the video demo below:
N Building from Alexander Reeder on Vimeo.
Always ahead of the curve, a building in Japan has become the first in the world to build augmented reality right into the design of the building. The N Building near Tachikawa station shopping district has a series of Tetris looking shapes (something which you have probably seen on several commercial product but didn't knoww hat they were) pasted over the windows. These blocks are known as "QR Code", and by aiming your cell phone camera at these shapes, you will be brought ot a site that includes up to date shopping information about the stores located in the building. It's a pretty cool concept in which each square is clickable (if the inhabitant chooses) and you will get pop ups and even the ability to make reservations and download "digital" coupons for specific stores.
I spoke with developer Qosmo, Inc's Alexander Reeder to answer some burning question over the whole Augmented Reality and it's place in tomorrow's world.
I'd be happy to answer your questions.
PETER OBERTH: Do you feel that this is truly the future and that architecture will incorporate this regularly?
ALEXANDER REEDER: Please think of it as more of a statement. In 20 years will all buildings look like the N Building with QR Codes on them? Obviously not. But imagine Tokyo, full of billboards, flashing signs and other general clutter. N Building is an attempt to clean up a little bit, but definitely not a final answer.
We do, however, believe we will see more AR+architecture combinations in the future, perhaps not with QR codes.
PO: Do you feel that this is a user-friendly device or only for those that are tech-savvy?
AR: In Japan, I think it is user-friendly. People are very familiar with QR Codes - they are on everything - and all phones have readers built-in by default. I think the iPhone version of the application is for the tech-savvy.
PO: What does the near and far future hold for augmented reality? What else are you planning to improve the technology?
AR: I think we are getting used to seeing AR, even on our mobile devices with applications like Sekai Camera, Layar and monocole (AR feature hidden in Yelp). I think the near future will be an exploration of how AR can actually be useful rather than just eye candy.
For example Sekai Camera is fun, but very difficult to attain useful info with its deluge of user data. I think we will see more small apps, like Yelp for example, incorporating AR in useful ways. If/when the Apple iPad comes to include video, that would open many doors.
As to the future, I think the holy grail of AR will be incorporating it into our vision, or glasses. That way we can impose useful information over our normal viewing field - this is obviously a long long way off.
We would like to continue to explore the architecture+AR, interior+AR areas.
PO: How do you feel that this could eliminate billboards in the future, aren’t completely unrelated?
AR: Once information is abstracted from the object, the object is freed. I think this is particularly true in places which put high priority on signage such as Japan, Hong Kong, Seoul etc (very true of Asia in general). I'm not suggesting buildings should be boxes, but as priorities shift so will subtle expressions in the architecture.
PO: Any plans to sync this kind of app with the stores actual stock so customers can know what the store is carrying before they go in? (ie, if a customer is looking for a specific shirt in their size, they would be able to click on that store and see what sizes they have so they know if they should bother going in or not).
AR: No such plans, but that is an awesome idea!
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