Computer Scientists Introduce a New Software Modeling Program

UMass Amherst Computer Scientists Introduce New Graphics Software

August 11, 2015

AMHERST, Mass. – Computer scientists from the University of Massachusetts Amherst led by Evangelos Kalogerakis today unveiled a new software modeling program that uses sophisticated geometric matching and machine learning to successfully mimic the human perception of style, giving users powerful new tools to compare the style similarity of three-dimensional (3D) objects.

Computer Scientists Introduce a New Software Modeling Program

Kalogerakis and his doctoral student Zhaoliang Lun in the College of Information and Computer Sciences at UMass Amherst, with Alla Sheffer from the University of British Columbia, presented their new algorithm at one of the world’s largest computer graphics conferences, the annual Association for Computing Machinery’s (ACM) Special Interest Group on Computer Graphics and Interactive Techniques (SIGGRAPH) 2015, going on this week in Los Angeles.

Kalogerakis is an expert in developing computational techniques that analyze and synthesize visual content, focusing on machine learning algorithms that help people to create 3D models. To develop the new software, he and colleagues drew on observations about style similarity in art history and appraisal literature, which provided geometric elements including shape, proportion and lines, and visual motifs as key indicators of stylistic similarity.

They also used crowdsourcing to present object’s style comparisons to more than 2,500 people, including artists, who volunteered via Amazon Mechanical Turk on the Internet. This yielded more than 50,000 responses on seven structurally diverse categories, buildings, furniture, lamps, coffee sets, architectural pillars, cutlery and dishes. The human respondents agreed on style similarity on average 85 percent of the time.

As for the software tool, the researchers evaluated it by comparing its responses to the human evaluations and found that it achieves “a surprising agreement rate” of 90 percent, Kalogerakis reports, “making it your next-to-best alternative style expert for providing you with suggestions of objects to populate your home, dining table, or virtual reality environment.”

As he explains, computer graphics algorithms help people create movies, visual effects, games, virtual and augmented reality environments. They are also useful in manufacturing real objects and designing architectural scenery. More generally, the new algorithm is expected to be useful to those exploring databases of digital representations of buildings, pillars and other objects according to style attributes for designing virtual or real environments, creating content for a computer game, and populating an augmented reality environment with virtual objects.

Computer algorithms also run in the background on many devices, as well, he says, such as spell and grammar checkers, programs that deblur photographs or focus on faces. Robots run computer algorithms to recognize their environment to move around and pick up objects. Online search engines run computer algorithms to help users find documents, pictures and videos.

SIGGRAPH members include researchers, developers and users from the technical, academic, business and art communities who use computer graphics and interactive techniques. ACM is the world’s largest educational and scientific computing society for educators, researchers and professionals to inspire dialogue, share resources and address the field’s challenges.

Following links gives more information about new software modeling program

Elements of Style: Learning Perceptual Shape Style Similarity  (PDF)

Elements of Style: Learning Perceptual Shape Style Similarity (SIGGRAPH 2015) (YouTube Video)

News Release Source : UMass Amherst Computer Scientists Introduce New Graphics Software

Image Credit : University of Massachusetts

First Eye Tracking Upgrade for Augmented Reality Glasses

SMI Shows First Eye Tracking Upgrade for Augmented Reality Glasses

SensoMotoric Instrument (SMI) adds eye tracking to Epson Moverio BT-200 for hands-free interaction, gaze sensitive on-demand content, and personalized visualization in augmented reality.

BOSTON and TELTOW, Germany, August 6, 2015 /PRNewswire/ --

At the 2015 Siggraph Conference, SensoMotoric Instruments (SMI) shows the world's first Eye Tracking Integration for augmented reality, based on Epson's Moverio BT-200 see-through head mounted display and on SMI's mobile eye tracking platform. With this new solution, unprecedented quality and efficiency is brought to personalized visualization and to multi-modal, hands-free interaction with context-sensitive displays. For the first time, professionals and researchers can integrate gaze, and visual attention in AR applications.

[caption id="attachment_310" align="aligncenter" width="500"] First Eye Tracking Upgrade for Augmented Reality Glasses[/caption]

SMI will demonstrate the solution at Siggraph in Los Angeles, booth 1022, August 11-13, 2015.

One critical component for a good AR user experience is the ability to accurately overlay and add content to objects, as if pinning it to them. To achieve this, precise knowledge about the users' physiognomy and gaze is required. SMI's advanced eye tracking algorithms offer this quality and add continuous adaption of the visualization to the user's biometric information, replacing current cumbersome and error-prone display calibration routines.

Visual orientation, search and inspection procedures are often crucial, yet error-prone, tasks in manufacturing, logistics, technical service, medical and other professional fields. Gaze-sensitive information processing supports tasks by exploiting the user's attention, e.g. by providing "in-the-loop" gaze guidance during procedures that are quality-sensitive and visually complex. This can be done by structuring, guiding and monitoring the search, and the visual intake progress. Eye tracking enables objective assessment and documentation of what is seen. Gaze overlay also allows for transfer of expertise and can make expert knowledge and procedures explicit and transparent to others.

With eye tracking in AR Displays, context sensitive information can be provided to the user exactly when he needs it, where he needs it. Superimposing information and instructions onto real objects gives the user access to instant 'at-a-glance' and on-demand information, such as condition of cargo, health data of patients, or performance data of machines. SMI's eye tracking integration into multimodal interaction helps to realize convenient, hands-free device and application operation in these challenging situations and environments.

"I believe that eye-tracking is one of the last remaining critical interaction mechanisms that will enable digital eyewear to be intuitive for end users and SMI is the clear leader in this space," says Pete Wassell, CEO and Co-Founder of Augmate.

Professor Dr. Thomas Schack, who leads the research group "Neurocognition and Action - Biomechanics" (NCA) at the Cluster of Excellence Cognitive Interactive Technology (CITEC) at Bielefeld University: "SMI's AR eye tracking is the technology platform that helps us realize a unique research project at CITEC, funded by the German Federal Ministry for Education and Research. ADAMAAS focuses on the development of a mobile adaptive assistance system in the form of intelligent glasses."

"SMI Eye Tracking for Augmented Reality Glasses completes our broad range of innovative eye tracking solutions for researchers and developers," says Eberhard Schmidt, Managing Director at SMI. "Many AR applications need and will greatly benefit from eye tracking for visualization and interaction purposes. With this latest addition, our eye tracking platform spans all relevant display categories from desktop over handheld and mobile to HMD and Smartglasses for VR and AR. According to market researchers, the AR smartglass market will grow tremendously to 100 million units in 2018 and it will be as big as the smartphone market in 10 years. We think that eye tracking will be of critical importance to equip AR devices and applications with the high-quality user experience to reach such numbers."

The SMI AR Eye Tracking upgrade package to the Moverio BT-200 comes with an SDK for easy creation of and integration with applications for the rapidly growing smart glasses and augmented reality applications market. Among other functionalities, the SMI SDK allows access to real-time streaming of gaze data synchronized with the AR display content.

- Cross reference: Picture is available at AP Images (http://www.apimages.com )

About SMI

SensoMotoric Instruments (SMI) is a world leader in eye tracking technology, developing and marketing eye & gaze tracking solutions for scientists and professionals, OEM and medical solutions for a wide range of applications. Find out more at www.smivision.com. Follow @SMIeyetracking on Facebook, Flickr, YouTube and Twitter.

News Release Source : SMI Shows First Eye Tracking Upgrade for Augmented Reality Glasses
Image Credit : SensoMotoric Instrument (SMI)

Intelligent Augmented Reality glasses designed for professors

Intelligent glasses designed for professors

This news release is available in Spanish.

The proposed system (Augmented Lecture Feedback System – ALFs) seeks to improve communication between students and professors during large lecture classes like those frequently given at universities. The way they work is quite intuitive: the professor wears a pair of augmented reality glasses that enable him/her to see symbols above each student; the symbols indicate the person's state while this activity is taking place. "These symbols are activated by the students via their cell phones and are used to tell the professor that they don't understand the explanation, or that they have understood it, to ask the professor to go more slowly, or to say whether or not they know the answer to the question that the professor has just asked the class," explains one of the researchers from UC3M's Grupo de Sistemas Interactivos (Interactive Systems Group), Telmo Zarraonandia. This way, the professor knows, simply by looking at the symbol a student has displayed over his/her head, exactly what that student wishes to communicate to him/her. In addition, on the upper part of the glasses, the system shows a diagram with the aggregate of the answers given by the students, which can be particularly useful in large groups.

[caption id="attachment_289" align="aligncenter" width="619"] Intelligent Augmented Reality glasses designed for professors[/caption]

The main advantage of this device is that students have a new way to communicate that enables them to be in contact with the professor both immediately and privately, and without interrupting the class. "The channel that we've created will help overcome the problems of timidity or fear of speaking in front of the class that some students have", points out one of the researchers, Ignacio Aedo, a tenured professor in UC3M's Computer Science department. This way, the professor has a source of immediate information on what the students are grasping from his/her presentation. "The hope is that this system will make for more effective lecture classes, because receiving greater feedback, continuously, will allow the professor to adapt the class based on the students' actual knowledge and understanding, giving extra examples, varying the rhythm or skipping those parts of the lesson that the students indicate that they already know or remember," concludes Aedo. Moreover, through the glasses, the system allows the professor to visualize notes or comments that s/he doesn't want to forget to mention at specific moments, and which s/he can introduce in the system prior to the class.

Education of the future

The architecture of the system is described in a scientific article published in the British Journal of Educational Technology in a special monographic edition dedicated to the education of the future. The prototype that these researchers have developed is controlled by gestures, captured with a Microsoft Kinect; using these gestures, the professor selects the support slide for an explanation, or activates predetermined questions to which the students respond by displaying a variety of symbols that they select using their cell phones. The system can identify the students using facial recognition (by previously loading their photographs to a database) or, in larger groups, by using a positioning system based on markers.

In order for the students to be able to select the symbols, they just have to connect their cell phones to the server where the system is installed. The professor, on the other hand, just needs a pair of augmented reality glasses. "Because of their ability to display information on the user's field of vision, these devices have the potential to change the way in which we carry out many of our daily tasks, as well as offering many interesting possibilities from a research point of view," comments Telmo Zarraonandia. Currently, the various models of augmented reality glasses are costly and not very ergonomic because they are too heavy and make it difficult for the professor to move, but "it is hoped that in the next few years new models will come onto the market and these will be suitable for use in class, as might be the case with the new Google glasses, which could be adapted to this system," points out Ignacio Aedo.

###

This research is part of TIPEx (Information Technologies for Planning and Training in Emergencies), a project that has been funded by the Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad (Economy and Competitivity Ministry) in which researchers from the Universidad Politécnica of Valencia and the Universidad Pablo de Olavide also participate; the project examines how augmented reality and other technologies can be applied to the area of emergency management.

Further information:

Title: An augmented lecture feedback system to support learner and teacher communication Authors: Telmo Zarraonandia, Ignacio Aedo, Paloma Díaz, Álvaro Montero Journal: British Journal of Educational Technology. Volume: 44. Number: 4. July 2013 Article published on-line 4 June 2013 DOI: 10.1111/bjet.12047http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/bjet.2013.44.issue-4/issuetoc

VIDEO: http://youtu.be/sNHFhL034F4

News Release Source : Intelligent glasses designed for professors

 

 

Metaio to integrate 3D Augmented Reality into Intel® RealSense™ Computing SDK

Metaio to integrate 3D Augmented Reality into Intel® RealSense™ Computing SDK

MUNICH and SAN FRANCISCO, Jan. 6, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- Metaio, the world leader in augmented reality (AR) software and solutions, today announced at the 2014 Consumer Electronics Show (CES) the planned integration of their patented 3D augmented reality tracking software with the Intel® RealSense™ Software Development Kit (SDK).

(Logo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20130530/SF23360LOGO)

Winner of multiple awards, including the ISMAR Tracking Competition and the recent 2013 Volkswagen Tracking Competition, Metaio's augmented reality tracking technology recognizes real-world images, objects and environments in order to attach relevant digital or virtual information, in real-time. Tracking is perhaps the most important aspect of any augmented reality experience. Now, with the Intel® RealSense™ 3D camera integrating into 2 in 1, Ultrabook, notebook, and AIO devices, real and virtual objects environments will interact with each other in practical as well as entertainment applications. For example, someone could accurately map a room in their house and virtually rearrange the furniture on their computing devices.

[caption id="attachment_284" align="aligncenter" width="640"] Metaio to integrate 3D Augmented Reality into Intel® RealSense™ Computing SDK[/caption]

"Intel's vision is to make computing more immersive and enable human-like natural interactions with our devices," said Mark Yahiro, Managing Director, New Business, Perceptual Computing, Intel Corporation.  "Using Intel RealSense 3D camera technology in combination with Metaio's augmented reality tools, we look forward to blurring the virtual and real worlds further than ever before. For example, children will be able to play with their favorite toys and customize their experiences with digital interactions in creative new ways."

The Intel RealSense Software Development Kit (SDK) will be released in the first half of 2014. It will be an evolution of the Intel® Perceptual Computing SDK, which was released in 2012 and has been downloaded over twenty-five thousand times by developers worldwide.  The Intel® RealSense SDK will include voice recognition in more than 9 languages; background subtraction, a capability that enables developers to add green-screen-like functionality to applications; close-range hand and finger tracking that permits users to control their computing devices with mid-air hand and finger gestures; and face analysis, which identifies users and tracks their facial features across the camera's field of view. Once the addition of the 3D tracking and recognition engine by Metaio is completed, the Intel RealSense Computing SDK will offer developers advanced augmented reality features using depth data from the integrated Intel RealSense 3D camera in computing devices.

This anticipated integration brings new levels of interactivity to the SDKs of both Metaio and Intel. The 65,000 developers on Metaio's AR platform will have access to advanced human-computer interaction features offered by Intel. Developers will be able to create experiences that utilize hand gestures or facial recognition; manipulate backgrounds and environments in real time; and utilize voice recognition, all for new augmented reality applications that bridge the physical and digital worlds for natural, intuitive and immersive experiences.

"Developers need the best tools," said Metaio CTO Peter Meier. "Metaio's collaboration with Intel for the Intel RealSense SDK with depth camera integration will allow developers to push the boundaries on creativity and use of technology in completely new ways of human interactions with computing devices."

To learn more about the Metaio SDK and download it for free, please visit http://metaio.com/products

About Metaio The worldwide leader in Augmented Reality (AR) research and technology, Metaio develops software products for visually interactive solutions between the real and the virtual world. Based on the Metaio Augmented Reality platform, digital and 3D content can be integrated seamlessly into the real world through the user's camera view. Serving over 65,000 developers and powering over 1,000 apps for enterprise, marketing, retail, publishing and industrial cases, over 30 Million consumers use Metaio's AR software. Learn more at www.metaio.com

SOURCE Metaio

RELATED LINKS
http://www.metaio.com

News Release Source : http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/metaio-to-integrate-3d-augmented-reality-into-intel-realsense-computing-sdk-238960841.html

Augmented Reality Helps Intellectually Disabled Workers Perform Their Daily Jobs

Vodafone Spain Foundation and Qualcomm Collaborate to Help Intellectually Disabled Workers Perform Their Daily Jobs

Augmented Reality Improves Individuals' Autonomy at Work and Quality of Life

BARCELONA, Spain, Feb. 28, 2012 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Qualcomm Incorporated (NASDAQ: QCOM), through its Wireless Reach™ initiative, Vodafone Spain Foundation (VSF) and the APROCOR Foundation, a non-profit organization aimed at improving the quality of life of the intellectually disabled and their families, today presented the Augmented Reality for e-labora project, which aims to help workers with intellectual disabilities integrate into the labor market.

[caption id="attachment_222" align="aligncenter" width="500"] Augmented Reality Helps Intellectually Disabled Workers Perform                  Their Daily Jobs[/caption]

People with intellectual disabilities need assistance to perform work tasks, such as how to replenish depleted products on store shelves or what to do when a copy machine runs out of paper. With this in mind, the Augmented Reality for e-labora project, implemented by VSF and the APROCOR Foundation and supported by the Spanish Government through the Avanza 2 Plan (TSI-040500-2010-85), seeks to develop a new paradigm of accessible work environments.   This project will work to improve the integration of intellectually disabled persons in the workplace, creating an environment that enhances their safety, emotional stability, communication, self-determination and participation.

Using Qualcomm's Vuforia™ augmented reality (AR) platform, 3G-enabled smartphones and tablets, and applications and content created by VSF, the project incorporates AR into job coaching and training activities.

With a grant from Qualcomm's Wireless Reach initiative, these AR-enabled devices will be used as personal support tools that provide communication, scheduling functions, on-location tutoring, step-by-step training, task descriptions and other relevant information. Applications include an office navigation tool, a printer instruction guide, and a manual to help gardeners and supermarket stockers through their daily tasks. For example, with the EasyUse AR application, the user points a mobile device at a printer to access an interactive instruction guide with easy-to-understand learning commands that have been digitally superimposed onto the physical environment.

"Qualcomm's Vuforia platform improves the autonomy and integration of the intellectually disabled in the work environment," said Ramon Corral, chairman of the APROCOR Foundation. "It's very helpful for identifying people, giving information about their responsibilities, describing the space they are working in, or offering advice on how to use a device."

"Augmented Reality enabled through 3G connectivity offers new opportunities to improve people's lives," said Shawn A. Covell, vice president for Qualcomm's Wireless Reach initiative.   "We are very pleased to collaborate again with our long-term partner Vodafone Spain Foundation and APROCOR Foundation on this project to support an important community of workers. This project demonstrates how AR on mobile devices can be an effective tool to allow people to achieve their full potential."

"The Augmented Reality for e-labora project is a good example of how VSF helps build strategic collaborations across relevant stakeholders to match social knowledge with technology in order to achieve as a team what we can't do individually," saidSantiago Moreno, general manager of Vodafone Spain Foundation. "With this project, we have the opportunity use technology to change the lives of people with intellectual disabilities and make a difference by promoting independent living and personal autonomy."

Qualcomm's Vuforia platform is among more than 30 innovative wireless solutions the company is demonstrating during Mobile World Congress 2012, February 27-March 1 in Barcelona, Spain. In addition to this project, Wireless Reach will demonstrate how a 3G-enabled cardiovascular monitoring system is helping patients within rural regions of China, and how a mobile phone and microfinance loan is enabling entrepreneurs in Indonesia to operate businesses through the re-selling of airtime minutes to neighbors. To view the demonstrations, visit Qualcomm's exhibit in the Fira Convention Center, Exhibit Hall 8, #8B53.

Additional information on the project is available at www.qualcomm.com/vsf-project

About APROCOR Foundation
APROCOR Foundation is a private non-profit organization with the objective of promoting and executing activities in different fields, aimed to improve the quality of life of the intellectually disabled and their families, supporting everyone's life plan and promoting, in all situations, a more inclusive social model. APROCOR is focused in offering opportunities that promote personal fulfilment, personal independence and social and labour integration. For more information, visitwww.fundacionaprocor.com

About Vodafone Spain Foundation
Vodafone Spain Foundation aims at promoting accessible ICT and using ICT for providing accessible solutions for the elderly and people with special needs. Its programmes comprise the development of innovative projects for the promotion of active and healthy ageing, independent living and personal autonomy. It is committed to improving the social and labour integration of vulnerable groups training them on ICTs and helping to advance their careers. For more information, visitwww.fundacionvodafone.es

About Qualcomm and its Wireless Reach Initiative
Qualcomm believes access to 3G and next-generation mobile technologies can improve people's lives. Qualcomm's Wireless Reach initiative is a strategic program that brings wireless technology to underserved communities globally. By working with partners, Wireless Reach invests in projects that foster entrepreneurship, aid in public safety, enhance the delivery of health care, enrich teaching and learning and improve environmental sustainability. For more information please visitwww.qualcomm.com/wirelessreach

Qualcomm Incorporated (NASDAQ: QCOM) is the world leader in 3G and next-generation mobile technologies. For more than 25 years, Qualcomm ideas and inventions have driven the evolution of digital communications, linking people everywhere more closely to information, entertainment and each other. For more information, visit Qualcomm's website, OnQ blog, Twitter andFacebook pages.

Qualcomm is a registered trademark of Qualcomm Incorporated. Vuforia and Wireless Reach are trademarks of Qualcomm Incorporated. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners.

Qualcomm Contacts:
Tina Asmar, Corporate Communications
Phone: 1-858-845-5959
Email: corpcomm@qualcomm.com

Warren Kneeshaw, Investor Relations
Phone: 1-858-658-4813
Email: ir@qualcomm.com

Vodafone Spain Foundation Contact:
Concha Serrano, Corporate Communications
Phone: +34 610 513 474
Email: concha.serrano@vodafone.com

SOURCE Qualcomm Incorporated; APROCOR Foundation; Vodafone Spain Foundation

News Release Source : http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/vodafone-spain-foundation-and-qualcomm-collaborate-to-help-intellectually-disabled-workers-perform-their-daily-jobs-140676323.html

Augmented Reality : real world to be merged with live, dynamic web updates

Aurasma Augments the Real World With Real-time Web Updates

**Company unveils new live update feature at MWC for its free augmented reality platform**

**Feature enables the "Internet of Things" to become an Augmented Reality**

BARCELONA, Spain, Feb. 28, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- Aurasma, the world's leading augmented reality platform, has announced today at Mobile World Congress (MWC 12) a new feature that enables the real world to be merged with live, dynamic web updates. This announcement follows hot on the heels of Aurasma's launch of its 3D engine at CES 12, since rolled out by commercial partners including Bandai – one of the world's largest toy manufacturers.

[caption id="attachment_224" align="aligncenter" width="500"] Aurasma Augments the Real World With Real-time Web Updates[/caption]

The new feature, powered by HTML5, allows partners to deliver live web updates augmented into the real world. When viewed with Aurasma, print, products and even places can show live twitter feeds; buildings can be augmented with real-time information from social networks to show who is inside; share prices can be continually updated in newspapers; and tickets for public transport can show travellers the latest travel information. Being able to view live web updates using a mobile device in this way enables the "Internet of things" to become an augmented reality.

Launched in June 2011, Aurasma now has over three million users and three thousand commercial partners are also using Aurasma's free technology to merge their online and offline activity, making it one of the fastest growing platforms in the world.

With Aurasma, even everyday items can have digital depths.  The MWC delegate badge now delivers twitter updates of tweets that include the hashtags #MWC12 and #Aurasma. The back of a 20 Euro note transforms into an interactive audio-visual experience. To watch a video, click here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=izjbnI_JTgw

Available as a free app for iOS and Android devices or as a free SDK for app developers, Aurasma uses advanced image and pattern recognition technology combined with a meaning-based approach to computing to recognise and understand images and objects in the real world.  It then augments the real world with interactive digital content, such as videos, 3D animations and now, live web updates.

James Loxam, Chief Technology Officer at Aurasma said:

"Integrating live web updates into the platform allows partners to deliver up to the minute content within an 'Aura' – our name for when the physical and virtual worlds merge.  This feature, powered by HTML 5, adds a new, real-time dimension to the augmented Aurasma experience and opens up a host of new use-cases – we're looking forward to seeing how our partners innovate around it."

Martina King, Managing Director at Aurasma said:

"There are a host of applications for this new live feature on the Aurasma Platform. It enables the 'Internet of things' to become an augmented reality, with print, products and places delivering real-time information and to access it, you just point your mobile phone at them.  Aurasma is changing the way millions of people see and interact with the world using their mobile devices and this new feature looks set to spark a new wave of innovation on the platform by our partners."

Aurasma will be demonstrating on the HP Stand (7C37) at Mobile World Congress (27 Feb – 1 Mar)

For Aurasma enquiries at Mobile World Congress 2012 please contact Tamara Roukaerts, Head of Marketing at Aurasma on +44 7795 463 276 or Tamara@aurasma.com

For further information or visuals, please contact the Aurasma team at Mischief PR on +44 203 128 6600 orAurasma@mischiefpr.com

ABOUT AURASMA

Aurasma is the world's leading augmented reality platform, using mobile devices to merge the physical world with the virtual. Available as a free app for iPhone3G, 4 and 4S, iPad2 and high-powered Android devices or as a free kernel for app developers, Aurasma uses advanced image and pattern recognition to recognise and understand real-world images and objects in much in way the human brain does. It then seamlessly blends the real-world with rich interactive content such as videos and animations called "Auras". Auras can be created for printed images, product packaging, clothing, physical places and users can even use the app to create and share their own.

Since its launch in June 2011, Aurasma has had more than three million downloads. Over 3,000 partners in more than 70 countries worldwide are using the free technology in their campaigns or embedding the technology in their own applications, including global brands such as Panasonic, Mazda, Virgin Atlantic, Sky, BMW, Procter & Gamble, NET-A-PORTER, BBC Worldwide, Hyundai, UniCredit and Universal Pictures. Aurasma was developed by software company Autonomy – an HP Company.

Links
MWC 12 badge shows twitter updates: http://vimeo.com/37539813
20 Euro note comes to life when viewed with Aurasma: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=izjbnI_JTgw

Aurasma:
http://www.aurasma.com
http://www.facebook.com/aurasma/
http://www.twitter.com/aurasma/
http://www.youtube.com/user/AurasmaLite
http://aurasmalite.tumblr.com/

SOURCE Aurasma

News Release Source : http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/aurasma-augments-the-real-world-with-real-time-web-updates-140710813.html

Location Based Augmented Reality Gaming

Location Based Augmented Reality Gaming Company Borglar Launches at SXSW 2012.

Borglar is proud to announce its foray into the realm of location-based augmented reality.

San Diego, California (PRWEB) February 23, 2012

Borglar is proud to announce its foray into the realm of location-based augmented reality. Borglar exists in the space between real and virtual worlds. Borglar wants to accompany it's gamers on a real-life adventure while along the way guiding them in collecting virtual coins, medallions and other special items, allowing the gamer to exchange them for real-world rewards.

[caption id="attachment_228" align="aligncenter" width="555"] Location Based Augmented Reality Gaming[/caption]

The Borglar gaming application is powered by a proprietary, patent-pending hyper geo-location based augmented reality cross promotional delivery system. Borglar allows virtual goods to be placed on specific GPS coordinates ensuring unique users are exposed directly to marketing messages at the precise location of the merchant’s choosing.

“We want to give our players a fun and interactive gaming experience and combine that with tangible items to be acquired in the real world. Whether it is actual items, discounts or location-based information about something in their local area, we believe this interaction between the real and virtual is what people have wanted to see in augmented reality games, but the technology wasn’t quite there yet. It is very exciting we are able to give it to them now”. Founder and CEO Andrew Couch

The application is a real-time, multi-dimensional cross-promotional platform that can be easily integrated or added onto any current two-dimensional promotional campaign to ensure direct brand visibility in a non-intrusive, fun and interactive environment for the game player.

For the merchant, login to Borglar on your computer anytime from any place to start a new campaign with immediate implementation of promotions and watch as Borglar players interact with them. Borglar delivers real-time promotions and brand communication through a highly functional, incentive-based game layer where the environmental factors facilitate immediate interaction between virtual and real world goods and services in real-time.

Interact with the Borglar yourself when the Android application launches at SXSW in Austin, Texas on March 9th. A press conference will be held in the Palmer Events Center rooms 4&5 on Friday March 9, 2012 from 1:30 to 2:30PM – lunch will be provided for the press.

To gather more information about Borglar or to schedule an interview with Andrew Couch, please call 619.379.007 or email at contact(at)borgar(dot)info

Source : http://www.prweb.com/releases/2012/2/prweb9224157.htm