Augmented Reality Technology | Layar Development

Exile on Your Street: The Rolling Stones Augmented Reality App for iPhone and Android

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From the maker of The Beatles Augmented Reality application comes Exile on Your Street – an app that lets Rolling Stones fans mythologize the band in augmented reality. With the app, which works on iPhone 3Gs and Google Android phones, Stones fans will able to fly-post their streets, homes or offices with virtual interactive posters of the rock icons.

The app is the first of its kind in the world and was built by Howard Ogden of Augment Reality in conjunction with Polydor Records to celebrate the succe­­ss of the recently re-released Stones’ masterpiece Exile on Main St.

Using their phones, people with the app will be able to ‘stick’ virtual posters to the places they pass. Attached to the posters they can add a comment, one of 28 tracks from the double album and a short video clip of the band. Friends or passers-by with the app will be able to look through their phone screens and see all the posters left by other users within a 2km radius. They can then listen to the tracks stuck to the posters, watch the video, comment on other people’s posters and leave their own.

The Rolling Stones app opens a unique window on the world and creates a new way to experience the legendary songs. Through the screen of the phone, ordinary streets become galleries of rock photos and the ability to anchor songs to places makes journeys into spatial mixtapes where new songs are activated as you or your friend walk past certain points.

Exile on Your Street is also available as a website and Facebook app which will let you leave posters for your friends anywhere in the world – using a map to drop the posters and songs where you want them.

The 18 posters available come from a selection of photographs taken by Dominic Tarlé during the Stones’ stay in Nellcôte, France in the early 1970s, when they recorded Exile on Main Street. The video clip is from the DVD available with the re-released album.

To download the app you need a smartphone with the Augmented Reality browser Layar installed – available for iPhone 3GS, iPhone 4 and Google Android phones.

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About Augmented Reality: augmented reality mixes virtual computer-generated content with reality; for example when images of the real world are overlaid with virtual images. The computer-generated content can be pegged to particular locations and made to interact with the real world.

About Layar: Layar is a platform available on iPhone 3Gs, iPhone 4 and Google Android phones which allows developers to build apps using augmented reality.

About Howard Ogden and Augment Reality: Augment Reality is a company set up by Howard Ogden to create apps for Layar, it has been behind several of the most high-profile Augmented Reality apps to date including the Beatles AR app released in December 2009, Find a Property  and Dubai Metro.

http://www.augmentreality.co.uk/

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Exile on Your Street will available for free  on Layar, Facebook and the web  from 18:00 GMT Friday, 25 June

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Website: www.exileonyourstreet.com

Facebook app: http://apps.facebook.com/exileonyourstreet/

The Layar app:  http://m.layar.com/open/rollingstones

This was originally posted at http://www.augmentreality.co.uk/blog/exile-on-your-street-the-rolling-stones-augmented-reality-app-for-iphone-and-android.html

Android Launcher App for Layar

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We  are pleased to announce our new feature for our customers: our Android Launcher App for Layar. So, basically, the app is a BRANDED desktop shortcut to your layer that’s available to download in the Android Marketplace.  All AugmentReality customers get this and our Layar Stream optimization service included with any project. No other developer offers this!

As the Layar platform becomes more complex, and the number of Layers keeps growing we’ve heard many clients say that it is just too difficult to find individual Layars in the catalog – our Android Launcher App for Layar eases this problem for your customers by allowing them to have an app on their mobile desktop.

Once downloaded and installed the app will:

  1. Check for an installation of Layar
  2. If not installed a message will pop up pointing the user to the Layar Browser in the Android Marketplace.
  3. Display a full screen splash image of our choice.
  4. Loads Layar and automatically opens reality view of the associated layer.

No fuss, no searching… a great experience for your users!

Here’s show you some screenshots of the funda Android Launcher App:

The launcher gives you a presence in the Android Marketplace

The launcher gives you a presence in the Android Marketplace

Users can save a shortcut to the app on their desktop

Users can save a shortcut to the app on their desktop

A beautiful splash screen reinforces the branding

A beautiful splash screen reinforces the branding

AugmentReality offers cloud based AR solutions using AWS.

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This is big news! AugmentReality are the first of the premium Layar developers to offer a fully managed cloud based hosting system. For those projects for which even our ultra-fast dedicated server wont cope with, i.e. a Layar with intense use of Audio/Video/3D  internationally – this is the optimum solution.  Contact us for details.

Google Zeitgeist Europe 2010

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It does exist, we have been there! Google’s Zeitgeist event was this year hosted at The Grove Country Club in Hertfordshire, UK.  The attendee list read like a whos-who in business, all 300 were C-level. Speakers included Boris Johnson, Desmond Tutu, Sir Tim Berners-Lee, Eric Schmidt and Larry Page and Layars’ own Maarten Lens Fitzgerald. AugmentReality were asked by Google UK to develop a special layer for the event and I was invited along to demo it for the 2 days.

Highlights included:

Demo-ing to Larry Page – his comment: “That’s cool”

Trying out a pair of AR glasses Maaten Lens Fitzgerald had brought along (demo-ing them was not so fun!)

Trying out Google Earth hooked up to 8 flat-screen TVs and a control stick.

Hooking up Layar to our big screen in the event demo area… must remember next time not to demo with an iPhone with a broken compass!

Seeing a robot solve a Rubiks Cube!!

Here’s a few shots from the event:

The Grove

Forum

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Maarten with the AR Glasses

Maarten with the AR Glasses

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Screenshots Layer (3D)

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We felt bad keeping all the cool stuff to ourselves, so, our latest layer – Screenshots Layer (3D) was launched a fortnight ago. This is a collection of some of the 3D objects we have tested in our AR Lab.

The concept behind the layer is self-explanatory.  Load it up, view cool 3D objects and take screenshots. You can share the pictures via MMS, e-mail, Twitter, Facebook or just keep them to show your friends.

In the short time since launch the layer has climbed steadily up the “popular” list of  layers and is currently at 3rd position! The response has been amazing.

Zlate Stranky Layar Launches in Czech Republic

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FINGER-64x64We are proud to announce the launch of the first of several Layars we have created for European Directories went live on Thursday for Zlate Stranky in the Czech Republic.

A press conference at 9am officially marked the launch with a number of Prague’s jounalists in attendence. The app has been positively received and covered in several online reviews. Here’s a great video demonstration (in Czech) by mobilmania.cz with a feature testing the application “in the wild”:

European Directories Group VP of Mobile, Carey Bunks, said the following:

AugmentReality developed several layers for European Directories, and I am very pleased with the quality of the work delivered, as well as impressed by their very professional level of customer service. I can highly recommend AugmentReality to any company considering the development of a Layar layer.


AR Lab#02: Augmented Reality Autos

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AR Lab#02: Augmented Reality Autos

“From Our AR Lab”

ar-car1

ar-car2

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Every now and then we do stuff in testing that will never see the light of day….. that is, until now.

Concept:

Placing a 3D version of a new car in Augmented Reality is now possible with Layar. Couple this with an audio and video tour and you’ve got a great tool for selling autos. This is an early concept – the positioning and altitude issues seen in the screenshots can easily be ironed out in a production version.

Lab#01: From our AR Lab

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Every now and then we do stuff in testing that will never see the light of day.. that is, until now.
The new “lab” category of this blog will showcase these tests.

Every now and then we do stuff in testing that will never see the light of day….. that is, until now.

The new “AR lab” category of this blog will show you some screenshots of our concepts… and, maybe if there’s sufficient demand to produce it, we will.

LAB01 – The Burj Khalifa in Dubai

This is a 1:1 scale 3D model (860 meters high) of the Burj Khalifa in Dubai shown in augmented reality. The first screenshot (below) is taken 558 meters away from it.  If you walked towards it,  the true scale of this super-scraper would become clear

AR Burj Khalifa in Dubai

here it is from a little nearer:

Burj Khalifa from 72 meters

And looking up:

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We have been exploring the possibilities of placing 3D models of new buildings on top of their construction site, it’s possible right now! Contact us now if you would like to discuss your AR building concept.

Update 10th January 2009:

Some improved screenshots:

burj1sm

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Why Invest in mobile Augmented Reality?

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The media are all abuzz with articles and information on augmented reality. Businesses large and small are asking themselves whether they need to have an AR presence and are busily trying to figure out how to fit AR into their marketing plans. Is it worth investing time and money into this burgeoning technology? Here are some of the benefits:

Strengthen your brand: Early adopters are enjoying masses of free publicity

197 million augmented reality-capable smartphones set to be in the global market by 2012,  91 million in 2010

Become a pioneer in what could potentially be the next paradigm shift in technology

Differentiate yourself from your competitors

Connect in an exciting new way with consumers

Target a new audience

AugmentReality.co.uk offers you the opportunity to enter the AR space quickly and efficiently. By launching a Layar you can tap into an expanding global user-base of hundreds of thousands of smartphone users. Contact us today to discuss your project.

MMX… the year of AR?

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As we approach the year 2010 AugmentReality clearly hopes this will be the year of AR.  Much promise is heralded from this technology – the platform is there – as content creators we now have to deliver captivating, fun and useful applications.

Here at AugmentReality we have a few apps up our sleeves that will create much interest in the technology. Our new partnership with a top-class 3D lab in Palo Alto ensures that we are able to create stunning 3D graphics for Layar – keep an eye out soon for an updated Beatles model – It’s gonna knock your socks off!

We wish everyone a happy, healthy and prosperous MMX!

newyearCheers!