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Buyer's Guide: The Best Monitors 
Augmented Reality
Florence Legrand
Updated: July 15, 2010
Updated: July 15, 2010
From Gaming to Geotags
While the term 'augmented reality' may bring a smile to some faces, in practice, this technology is promising. Augmented reality allows reality to be enriched by additional information. It offers another perspective, through the eye of your mobile device.
The technology superimposes images and information on the real, physical world using the camera sensor on your phone. Augmented reality can, depending on the application, call on the GPS chip for geotagging information, on the digital compass for orientation and the accelerometer for gaming. The Mattel and Qualcomm demonstrations at Uplinq highlighted a different procedure to those we had seen previously. Above all, the application is based on image recognition (see the demo on the video opposite).
The power and hardware of the latest smartphones are able to handle this type of application. In spite of everything, handsets are going to have to improve battery life because these applications, that are no doubt very addictive, are particularly demanding of energy resources.
A must-have tool of the future
Compatible devices and AR are a boon for brands, shops, estate agents and museums: at the same time as offering added value to the user, it has the potential to create supplementary revenue from advertising.Illustration: the iPhone app for the Paris Metro
While we've all been sporadically leaving the real world for virtual worlds for a few years now, augmented reality is essentially the same process in reverse—the virtual comes into our every day 'physical' world to enrich it with information. 'Augmented reality uses the environment like a play park' explains Jay Wright, Director of Business Development at Qualcomm. Some museums and estate agents already have this type of application on offer. IKEA, for example, has had a certain amount of success with its app that allows you to simulate placing different pieces of furniture in your apartment.
Additional Financial Opportunity
The financial potential that augmented reality can offer when combined with mobile devices is becoming clearer and clearer. The future of this new niche is promising indeed. Like others, Qualcomm is setting itself to work, developing and organising this new interactive playground with a few more patents no doubt on the way. After swatting up on handset hardware, Qualcomm wants to take its expertise further and benefit from the financial opportunities offered by apps.
Before: Rock'em Sock'em Robots - Mattel
Now with AR: Rock'em Sock'em Robots - Mattel
At the conference, we were shown several video games demos, which are played with the help of technologically compatible phones (such as the Nexus One equipped with the Qualcomm SnapDragon chipset). The most impressive and fun demo we saw was the one developed with toy-maker Mattel, showing how to rejuvenate Rock'em Sock'em Robots. All you need is a games area filled with recognition points, two smartphones and you're away! The robots and their ring appear on-screen. Obviously, if you look around the other side of the phone, you can't see anything at all. Check it out in the video below:
Rock'em Sock'em Robots - Mattel/Qualcomm
The forecasts of analysts are very encouraging for investors, as this market looks very lucrative indeed! Last autumn, Juniper Research announced that the AR market for mobile devices should total, including both paid apps and advertising revenues, USD 732 million by 2014. When we asked about pricing, Jay Wright smiled: 'Good question! Development is longer than for standard games and we are also trying to improve the hardware side [ed. the sensor must be more sensitive to receive the maximum amount of information], which will have to support this type of game as best it can.' No clear answer here then, but the first AR apps will no doubt be pricey.
Qualcomm is upping the pace and hoping to get a head start on the competition. Last spring, the company announced the opening of an R&D centre given over to this new technology. The firm has also entered into a partnership with Georgia Institute of Technology, based in Atlanta.
Moreover, as of this autumn, a free SDK will be supplied to developers, for Android OS first of all. Eventually, Jay Wright confirms 'all applications will be accessible on other operating systems.' At the same time, a competition will be launched, with the three best apps sharing a prize of $200,000. The prizes will be awarded at the next Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, in February 2011.
