augmented

Oculus Rift Got Tested. Here Are Some Epic Reactions.

July 7, 2013 by Raj Agrawal Leave a Comment

Oculus Rift is a gaming device with a head mounted display, powered by a revolutionary head-tracking technology that enables view transitioning with no noticeable latency. In order to use Oculus Rift, it has to be worn on face to experience a stream of virtual reality environment in a ‘highly immersive manner’, well let’s say – almost realistically. As a matter of fact, Oculus Rift quickly gained support with it’s instantaneous funding at a Kickstarter campaign on 1 August 2012. This is one of the most awaited upcoming augmented reality devices.

So quite recently, the developer version of Oculus Rift was experimented with a number of people, and the reactions recorded were surprisingly similar. Sit back, relax and enjoy some of the best reactions videos collected from YouTube, below!

7 Powerful Computers That You Can Wear On Face!

March 2, 2013 by Raj Agrawal 1 Comment

UPCOMING TECHNOLOGY – What is Augmented reality? It is a technology aimed to enrich the experience and interaction with real life environment. An augmented reality device would produce computer generated layers of graphics and information over what you would see in the real world. It’s just like the scene from Minority Report. “Oh cool! That’s like the Virtual Reality thingy, right?”. Augmented reality is NOT virtual reality. Virtual reality is where your vision is completely surrounded by a computer simulated environment. Just you finding yourself completely inside a video game world. There is a subtle difference between the two. But I digress. This article will talk about a number of ‘augmented reality’ computing devices announced in recent times; what seem like high-tech accessories from sci-fi themes, but are powerful-wearable computers in reality. Each of the following devices have been made with certain type of users in mind, and they are potent enough find a warm place in the consumer industry.

Golden-i

The makers of Golden-i call it a headset than an eyewear. But structurally, it can be thought of as a combination of both. Golden-i simply a USB, Camera, phone, Wi-Fi and bluetooth enabled computer with a near-eye heads-up display (HUD) and speakers. It runs on Windows CE operating system and is driven by user’s voice commands. The device is also powered with a head-tracking functionality. So when Golden-i is connected to a camera located elsewhere, the user can easily look around those corners by manipulating the viewing angle of the camera. Golden-i is specifically meant for heavy and light industry professions like for instance – fire fighters, security personnel and even health care. It’s said to release this year, in 2013, with a price tag of $2,500 (₹1,25,000).

Google Glass

Google Glass is probably the most talked about product after their search engine. They recently released a breathtaking video showcasing the Glass in action. You can take photographs, shoot videos, make phone calls, text, search, remind you of events, guide you through locations, etceteras – all of it with a simple voice command, at any moment. The device is connected to Google servers and all of the interactions will be communicated with Google’s cloud (privacy concerns?). While using the glass, you can scroll up and down on the software window on the heads-up display, just by tilting your head. Mind that Google glass works independently as a standalone device, but additionally, it can tether to an iPhone and Android too.

Google Glass is expected to release by the end of 2013 for consumers. Yes! You can very soon move around wearing a smartphone on your face! Currently, Google glass is currently selling exclusively for developers for a price of $1,500 (approximately ₹75, 000). Google has promised the final consumer version to be significantly cheaper.

Microsoft’s own HUD glasses

Microsoft's HUD glass - United States patent application 20120293548 — Microsoft’s HUD glass – United States patent application 20120293548

Microsoft had filed a patent for it’s own idea of HUD glasses as per the news in late 2012. There isn’t any official information about this product, it’s target users or it’s functions. Speculations are that the device could probably be to improve their Gaming console’s experience. However, it’s sure that Microsoft is definitely cooking something on the lines of augmented reality. We’ll have to wait and watch on this one.

VuZix Smartglasses M100

The Vuzix M100 appears like an elongated bluetooth device, but contains a virtual display with an integrated camera (capable of recording at 720p), bluetooth, Wi-fi, GPS, Accelerometer and a 16:9 aspect ratio with WQVGA display. The device is quite powerful too. It packs a 1GHz OMAP4430 processor, 4GB of flash storage and 1GB of RAM. The device primarily runs on Android OS 4.0 (ICS) and can connect to a secondary iOS and Android device wirelessly. So while the device is connected to a secondary device, the user can perform all major functions through the M100 like texting, making phone calls, shooting videos, etceteras. Wait what? Doesn’t all of this sound similar to Google glass? Though it does, unless Google actually reveals it’s hardware specs and more importantly, unless both of these devices are out in the market, it’s quite hard to tell if they are really similar. VuZix M100 is meant for general consumers and professionals. The M100 is scheduled for commercial release in late 2013. It is said to be around $500 (₹25,000)

Pranav Mistry’s Sixth Sense – What happened?

Pravav Mistry's Sixth Sense Project — Pravav Mistry’s Sixth Sense Project

Remember Pranav Mistry and his Sixth Sense project? Some of us may not know that the project isn’t really a message of an upcoming product, but only a concept. The concept is fabulous, but far fetched and a bit ahead of the time. Some of the current hardware technologies are not evolved enough to complete the exact product. It’s being said that Microsoft will use a part of Pranav Mistry’s project in it’s upcoming HUD glass. If you want to know more on the whereabouts about this project, head over to an interesting discussion at Quora.

Oculus rift

Oculus Rift is a gaming accessory. If the rumours about the Microsoft’s HUD glasses being a gaming device hold true, that both of these could stand on a competing position. We recently covered an article titled ‘Leap Motion And Oculus Rift – Augmented Reality, Now And The Future‘.

Motorola HC1

morotola hc1 — Image Credit: YouTube.com

Motorola HC1 is on the same lines as the Golden-i. Interestingly, Motorola had initially collaborated with Golden-i, but now they have brought out their own device. Full details and specs about the HC1. The device is priced around $4,000 – $5,000 (₹2,00,000 – ₹2,50,000).

Augmented Reality Technology Meets A Revolution

November 20, 2012 by Raj Agrawal Leave a Comment

UPCOMING TECHNOLOGY – Remember in the film Minority Report when the operators are fiddling around with their systems in a 3D space? And remember how there were those virtual reality things that put you straight in to an immersive environment? Both of those things are right round the corner – the Leap Motion device, an incredibly precise 3D tracking suite, and the Oculus Rift, a next-generation head-tracking stereoscopic virtual reality headset, are going to completely change the world. Here’s an introduction to both of them, and an explanation of how they will work together to revolutionise computing.

What is Leap Motion?

In the video above, you can notice that Leap Motion is a device not much larger than an iPod. It sits wirelessly on a desk and creates a virtual cubic metre of point tracking space. That means it can detect your hands, your body or any object you suspend in a cubic metre of 3D space before it. It can track well over a million points at once – over a thousand times more accurately than current tracking technology such as the Microsoft Kinect – and can discriminate between a finger, a pencil and palms. It supports whole new ways to interact with your computer, from using chopsticks to pull Google Earth about to using a playground-style pistol-shaped fist to play first-person shooters. Leap Motion – Founded in 2010 as OcuSpec, the startup raised a $1.3M seed financing round in June 2011 with investments from venture capital firms Andreessen Horowitz and Founders Fund as well as several angel investors – An excerpt from Wikipedia.

What is Oculus Rift?

The Oculus Rift is revolutionary too, but in a completely different way. Current virtual reality headsets suffer from two main problems. The first is the speed of head tracking: as the head moves, the view shifts with noticeable latency. The second is the field of view: users of VR headsets currently have about an 40 degree field of vision, well below the 130-degree field of vision (average) of normal sight.

The Rift solves both of those problems. It contains revolutionary head-tracking technology enabling virtually instant view transitioning based on the user’s movements. It also ups the field of vision to 110 degrees – just off that of normal sight. It is, in both senses, totally immersive.

The company announced a Kickstarter campaign on 1 August 2012. Within four hours of the announcement, Oculus secured its objective of $250,000 to further develop the headset. In less than 36 hours, the Kickstarter campaign surpassed $1 million dollars in funding, eventually ending with $2,437,429 in funding – An excerpt from Wikipedia.

So what about the two together?

There’s the most exciting part. Leap claimed that the original idea for the Motion came out of the difficulty of 3D modelling. Something so simple in real life, they believe, should not be so difficult on a computer. And so, the Leap allows you to manipulate virtual clay in to any sort of structure you want – incredibly realistically. Oculus Rift slots straight into this, of course. Manipulating a 3D model on-screen is all very good and well, but real sculptors need to be able to see the shape they create before them.

One of the unexpected benefits of the Motion and the Rift is that the device a program is being run on will become less important. This could see the end of desktop computers altogether – both devices are so portable that fully-immersive computing will be possible using a quality, powerful notebook or laptop. Remove the static media, and you remove the static category – perhaps this will be the catalyst the notebook industry needs to continue its meteoric rise.

The Oculus Rift will be available as Developer Kits from January 2013, with the Leap Motion Dev Kits already shipping. End-user products are available to pre-order from both company websites.