To meet the ever-growing demand for 3D content and immersive home entertainment, Samsung announced its beta version of the “Explore 3D” videoapp, available for free download from Samsung Apps, the world’s first HDTVapps store.

“Explore 3D” is the first application we’ve heard of that provides streaming 3Dcontent via the Internet. Currently, viewers can access 3D movie trailers from box office favorites Shrek Forever After, Megamind, and How to Train Your Dragon directly on their 3D-capable smart TV from Samsung, without the need for additional equipment such as a Blu-ray player or cable device. Apparently, more content will be made available through this app in the future. With the dearth of real 3D content on Blu-ray, this is one way Samsung can at least begin to justify sales of its new 3D televisions – something that is turning out to be a real bust for most manufacturers this year.

See the original post here: http://www.audioholics.com/news/industry-news/samsung-explore-3d-video-app

(Phil Lelyveld comment: This story is a rerelease of a story that was originally reported on over a month ago – http://www.etcenter.org/2010/11/samsung-3d-streaming-service-described-video/ )

(Excerpts) WHILE the cricket kept many entertained at home, Gold Coasters also embraced another great Boxing Day tradition yesterday — spending the day in front of the silver screen.

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Robert Olive, the manager at Harbour Town’s Reading Cinemas, said admissions increased by 10 per cent each year.

”New technology such as the roll-out of 3D movies, better sound quality and bigger screens has made viewing experiences even more superior,” he said.

”I expect admissions to increase further in the future as more and more people realise watching a film at home can’t beat watching a film on the big screen.”

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According to ABS figures, attending the movies seems to be favoured among young people, with 93 per cent of 15 to 17-year-olds going at least once in 2009-10, compared with 71 per cent of 35 to 44-year-olds and 32 per cent of people aged 75 and over.

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Read the full story here: http://www.goldcoast.com.au/article/2010/12/27/278855_more-gold-coast-gig-guide.html

ABI Research anticipates that mobile devices may turn out to be the best form factor to bring 3D technology into mainstream markets. By 2015, 3D devices—including smartphones, notebooks, mobile Internet devices, and portable game players—will comprise over 11% of the total mobile devices market.

“Emerging 3D technologies for mobile devices do not require the user to wear glasses to view the 3D content,” says senior analyst Victoria Fodale. “While there are still challenges with glasses-free 3D on televisions, is it is possible on smartphones and other mobile devices.” Glasses-free technologies require an optimum viewing distance and a screen size that is better suited for single-viewer applications like those used on mobile devices.

And according to Fodale, “Unlike 3D TVs, the mobile category has a fast replacement cycle. This means consumers are more likely to buy a mobile device with 3D in an upgrade purchase much sooner than they would purchase 3D in a larger form factor such as a flat-screened television.”

Mobile 3D devices will be driven by three key applications: creation of user-generated 3D content by integrated video and still cameras; playback of 3D content; and 3D gaming. Some 3D devices will also support the conversion of 2D content to 3D content.

It is still a very early market: in late 2010, notebooks and smartphones are the only mobile device categories that are shipping with 3D capabilities, and most of those have been limited to specific areas, in particular Japan. As glasses-free technologies are refined and gain broader market acceptance, 3D will spread to other regions and mobile device categories, including media tablets and netbooks.

A new ABI Research study, “3D Mobile Devices” (http://www.abiresearch.com/research/1006094), examines the key market and technology trends for 3D in mobile devices including in smartphones, notebooks, netbooks, media tablets, MIDs, and portable game players. It highlights recent releases of 3D mobile devices from leading OEMs, and other issues influencing the 3D market. The study also examines 3D enabling technologies: stereoscopic, autostereoscopic, parallax barrier, and lenticular lens, and includes comprehensive forecasts of mobile device shipments and attach rates.

The report is included in two ABI Research Services, Smartphones & Mobile Devices (http://www.abiresearch.com/products/service/Mobile_Devices_Research_Service), and Netbooks, MIDs and Mobile CE (http://www.abiresearch.com/products/service/Netbooks_MIDs_and_Mobile_CE).

ABI Research provides in-depth analysis and quantitative forecasting of trends in global connectivity and other emerging technologies. From offices in North America, Europe and Asia, ABI Research’s worldwide team of experts advises thousands of decision makers through 30+ research and advisory services. Est. 1990. For more information visit www.abiresearch.com, or call +1.516.624.2500.

Original press release here: http://www.hulu.com/watch/198802/modern-family-dance-dance-revelation#s-p1-so-i0

IMAGINE if Oscar voters in 1939 saw The Wizard of Oz only in black and white. Would they have nominated the film for best picture and best visual effects if the yellow brick road were just another shade of grey?

The filmmakers behind the latest 3D movies face just such a dilemma. Films in 3D require academy members to drive to a cinema, rather than just pop a DVD into their home players, to see the full depth of the work that went into them. But with a bumper crop of 3D films up for award consideration, it’s not clear how many Oscar voters will make that effort.

”We came out of last year’s award season having Avatar overshadow everything,” says Jim Chabin, president of the International 3D Society, a non-profit organisation that gives its own awards to 3D movies. ”This year has been scrappy.”

Visually ambitious 3D movies released this year include Toy Story 3, Alice in Wonderland, How to Train Your Dragon, Tangled and Tron.

Whether in animation or live action, 3D adds a level of difficulty for filmmakers, particularly in the category of special effects.

Most critics agreed 3D was deployed with particular dexterity in How to Train Your Dragon, an animated film about a teenage Viking who develops a special bond with a monster. The movie’s swooping, kinetic flying scenes earned praise from the Los Angeles Times film critic Betsy Sharkey, who called them ”a study in how nuance can actually complement the spectacle we’ve come to demand of 3D animation”.

While parts of the film left him cold, the Herald’s Paul Byrnes praised its ”thrilling flying sequences that make the movie enormous fun”.

DreamWorks Animation released How to Train Your Dragon in cinemas in March and began holding 3D screenings for members of the academy and various guilds in mid-August. But its directors, Dean DeBlois and Chris Sanders, must walk a fine line between exhorting their peers to see their movie in 3D and just hoping they watch it at all.

”If they have the chance to, we hope people will see it in 3D,” DeBlois says. ”There was a lot of effort put into the 3D experience and making it part of the storytelling and not just gimmickry.”

The 3D technology is still controversial among the industry’s artistic elite, most of whom have yet to make a 3D movie. ”For the academy, there’s some interest, but it’s somewhat divided because there are too many projects that come out where 3D is just used as a diversion,” DeBlois says.

Shoddy 3D has tainted the perception of the format. Many academy members are old enough to remember movies such as Jaws 3-D (1983) or The House of Wax (1953), which relied on a more rudimentary technology to create the impression of objects jumping off the screen.

”This digital 3D today is a completely different technical standard, and the storytelling can be done far more subtly,” Chabin says. ”But people have those memories, and it’s difficult to change those perceptions.”

More recently, the trend of conversions from 2D to 3D has raised hackles in the industry, with Clash of the Titans drawing criticism for its rushed, second-rate work. That kind of bad buzz can taint other conversions, like Alice in Wonderland, which underwent a much longer, more painstaking process.

The year The Wizard of Oz was released marked a major change at the Oscars; the creation of separate categories for colour and black-and-white cinematography, a distinction that endured until 1967. It’s unlikely, says Chabin, that the academy will introduce a 3D-specific category any time soon.

Full story posted here: http://www.smh.com.au/entertainment/movies/oscar-angst-for-3d-filmmakers-with-fears-of-long-memories-20101230-19b7r.html

The 3D shock from James Cameron’s Avatar last year ushered in a new era of 3D technology that shook the film industry. The movie left patrons with a little regret that you can only put yourself in a 3D theater with heavy 3D glasses to watch a 3D movie.

Now DealExtreme has brought a brand new solution to this hassle. The 3D MP5 player PM5950, which is manufactured by Aigo Portable Digital Technology Co., Ltd, is soon to be available on DealExtreme.com. The device is the world’s first naked eye 3D portable media player. You can carry it to enjoy vivid 3D movies anywhere and share it with your friends at any time. Its high resolution LCD screen enables you to switch between 2D and 3D mode to enhance the user experience. Having been famous for its low prices and free shipping delivery, DealExtreme will sell it at a price around $230.

As one of the leading online shopping websites, DealExtreme has a wide selection of electronic gadgets, most of which were manufactured by factories in Hong Kong and Shenzhen, China. In order to keep a top position in the B2C industry, specifically in providing various cutting-edge electronics gadgets, DealExtreme is seeking partnership with various branded companies, of which Aigo Portable Digital Technology Co., Ltd is a candidate.

Having successfully cooperated with some big names like PayPal and eBay, DealExtreme now realizes that it is crucial to have some local high tech companies join its supplier chain. These companies can bring most advanced products in a quick way to the product lines and this is quite an advantage when competing with opponents. There are already more than a hundred websites that follow DealExtreme’s business model in the past 2 years in hope of copying DealExtreme’s success, though none of them was able to reach the volume of DealExtreme.

With the large amount of users DealExtreme has acquired in the past years, Aigo chooses DealExtreme to make its first debut of the world’s first naked eye 3D portable media player. Aigo believes this is a win-win and could bring more attention to the product. Aigo also wants to present more cutting products on DealExtreme to reach the world. It is highly expected that their cooperation can benefit DealExtreme’s users and hopefully more “WOW” will be heard.

Original press release here: http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/world-debut-of-aigo-3d-mp5-at-dealextremecom-112600774.html

3D television may be the latest coveted high-tech household electrical gadget but the three dimentional device could be harmful to your health.
Research indicates that watching TV while wearing 3D Active Glasses for an extended period of time may cause headaches, fatigue or even temporary short-sightedness.

[Interview : Yu Young-mi, 3D TV owner] “When I watch games like soccer on 3D TV I cannot watch the second half of the match because of dizziness, eye-fatigue and headache.”

Based on a research conducted by the Korea University medical center a large proportion of the participants in the 3D viewer medical trial suffered from some form of visual discomfort after only a quarter of an hour into the 3D movie clips.

[Interview : Song Jong-suk, Ophthalmologist
Korea University Guro Hospital] “Our eyes need to constantly adjust the crystalline lens to observe movies in three dimensions which may trigger eye strain and temporary short-sightedness.”

Experts say viewing in 3D mode may also cause other side effects such as motion sickness and spacial disorientation.
So the expert’s advice for now is to put away those 3D Active Glasses and to switch off your 3D sets until the symptoms disappear.

Original post here: http://www.arirang.co.kr/News/News_View.asp?nseq=110860&code=Ne2&category=2

The above story ties back to earlier stories about the study here: http://www.etcenter.org/2010/12/korean-regulator-says-take-15-minute-break-for-each-hour-of-3dtv/

“3D could have a real future, breathing new life into an ageing curriculum”

Biology lessons are a distant memory for me but if they had been anything like the one I’ve just sat through at Abbey School in Reading, I think I may have remembered a little more.

The pupils were looking at how a chest works, via 3D glasses and a 3D-enabled projector.

“So cool”, “It’s huge”, “I thought the diaphragm was a flat muscle,” “I didn’t realise it wasn’t under the ribs” were just a few of the comments made when the girls put on their glasses to examine the model of the thorax in more detail.

“It is an amazing experience, so good for learning,” said Yvette.

“Much more interesting than looking at a flat text book,” added Polly.

“It is more lifelike which makes it easier to grasp the concept, ” said Rosie.

If 2009 had a buzz word it might have been 3D. But despite the hype, there are murmurings that it is a gimmick already getting past its sell-by-date.

Some reports suggest cinema audiences are starting to tire of 3D movies and, while 3D TVs are increasing sales, not everyone is impressed with the results.

According to net measurement firm Nielsen, only a tiny percentage of houses have 3D TV with many others saying they have no intention of upgrading.

Not so in education, where it seems 3D could have a real future, breathing new life into an ageing curriculum and offering a glimpse of how 21st education should be.

“We aren’t far away from the next stage where children can hold and manipulate 3D images in their hands. This could be combined with online learning. It could be a phenomenally successful educational model that is truly visionary,” said Katheryn MacAulay, deputy head at the school.

She introduced the system to Abbey School in the spring of 2010, having discovered Texas Instrument’s (TI) system at the BETT education show.

“TI wanted to see whether it would be successful in a non-US environment and we agreed to test it,” she said.

Within four months she had interest from schools in Germany, the Netherlands, Italy and Turkey and at next year’s BETT will be talking to 100 headteachers about how the system has slotted into the curriculum at Abbey School.

Ros Johnson, head of biology at the school, said she was “gobsmacked” when test results from classes using the 3D technology were compared to those without it.

“The 3D results were significantly better,” she said.

Teaching a Year 7 class about plant cells proved difficult using traditional methods

“You try to explain how cells divide and they aren’t getting it,” she said.

But with a 3D model to explore, the class had a collective light bulb moment.

“I knew it would be useful but I didn’t expect it to have such a significant effect,” said Ms Johnson.

3D in the classroom isn’t gimmicky said Ms Johnson, instead it is very much just a part of the lesson, rarely on for more than 10 minutes.

The fact that it can be projected over the whiteboard means that it is easy to switch between 3D and 2D teaching.

It is early days for 3D technology in schools. 3D-ready projectors are no more expensive than normal ones but a class set of glasses currently costs around £1,500.

This seems even more expensive when the technology is so new and therefore prone to glitches.

The class set at Abbey School had to be replaced because of synching issues as pupils moved their heads around in very different ways to how someone simply viewing a movie would do.

There is also more to do to develop software for the system. According to Ms Johnson some of resources she has used have been factually inaccurate.

“The software developers must work with teachers in future,” said Ms MacAulay.

Despite the issues, the school is already building up an impressive library of 3D resources in a wide array of subjects from maths to geography and history.

3D in the classroom could be here to stay.

See the original post here: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-11891753

“A key challenge in 2011 will be consumer education regarding 3D in the home and the value proposition that digital ownership represents,” [Lori MacPherson, EVP and GM of Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment] said. “Consistent messaging that resonates with our core consumers will be key as we strive to tackle the ever-present issue of marketplace fragmentation. We need to make good on the promise of interoperability, and the driving force has to be, ‘How do we best serve our consumers?’”

Read the full story here: http://www.homemediamagazine.com/news/2010-a-year-transition-21512

(Phil Lelyveld note: This story has been virally spread for a day and made the front page of the Wall Street Journal and other newspapers this morning.)

Excerpts from the Wall Street Journal:

“Given scant evidence of medical dangers, it wasn’t known what prompted the warning from Nintendo, which echoed that of other 3-D manufacturers. Some people in the industry speculated that it was a prospective effort to fend off litigation.”

—

“Despite the warnings, eye specialists say there’s no proof that 3-D images seen in movies and used in games could harm a child’s developing eye, regardless of whether a viewer is wearing glasses or not.

Steven E. Rosenberg, a pediatric ophthalmologist at the New York Eye and Ear Infirmary, said 3-D images on a screen, with or without glasses, work the same way to present separate images to the right and left eye, which the brain combines into one 3-D image. He said there’s no reason to believe their effects on the developing eye would be different.

There may be, however, some theoretical reason for concern about heavy 3-D exposure for children under 3, whose vision is undergoing the most active development, said Kristina Tarczy-Hornoch, director of the Vision Development Institute at Children’s Hospital Los Angeles. It’s possible that a lot of time spent looking at 3-D images might have an impact on the development of normal binocular vision, she said. She and other physicians said there’s no clear reason why Nintendo has picked a cut-off of six years.”

The full Wall Street journal story, which includes interviews with researchers, is here: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052970204304204576051021329863968.html?mod=WSJ_hp_LEFTWhatsNewsCollection

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Nintendo warns: No 3-D gaming for young players

Nintendo is warning parents that its forthcoming 3-D portable game machine may not be appropriate for the youngest gamers. More specifically, that no one under 6 years old should play 3-D games on it.

Earlier this year, Nintendo announced that it was working on a successor to its massively successful Nintendo DS handheld game machine. At the Electronic Entertainment Expo, they showed off the 3DS, a device that lets gamers play games in 3-D but without the use of special glasses.

The gadget is scheduled to go on sale in Japan on Feb. 26 for about $300 and will launch in North America and other areas in March. Nintendo is in the midst of preparing to show the 3DS to the Japanese public for the first time at next month’s at the Nintendo World event. In advance of the event, the company issued the warning about children and 3-D via this web site.

Game site Kotaku.com translated the page and reports that it warns that 3-D viewing causes quicker eye fatigue than standard screen viewing, and says that since the vision of young children is still in developmental stages, the company recommends children under six not use the 3DS’s 3-D screen effect.

This warning follows comments made by Nintendo of America president Reggie Fils-Aime, who told gaming site Kotaku.com, “We will recommend that very young children not look at 3-D images,” he said. “That’s because, [in] young children, the muscles for the eyes are not fully formed.”

He pointed out that this is the same message that’s being passed on by the movie industry as well.

Meanwhile, earlier this year, Sony issued very similar warnings about playing 3-D games (with the glasses) on the PlayStation 3 console.

Sony Computer Entertainment of America recommends that you “consult your doctor (such as a pediatrician or eye doctor) before allowing young children to watch 3-D video images or play stereoscopic 3-D games.”

But there’s good news for young Nintendo fans: The 3DS will come with a slider that lets players adjust the amount of 3-D they see in a game. The 3-D effects can be completely turned off for youngest players, and Nintendo executives have said the device will include parental controls for keeping the 3-D turned off.

Really, this is good news for parents of young gamers: The good ol’ non-3-D Nintendo DS or DSi will do your kids just fine until they’re old enough for the third dimension … and will cost you a whole lot less to buy.

Original post: http://ingame.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2010/12/29/5733901-nintendo-warns-no-3-d-gaming-for-young-players

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from: http://www.sci-tech-today.com/news/3DS-Can-Harm-Kids–Eyes–Nintendo/story.xhtml?story_id=13200G4UT0QC

3DS Can Harm Children’s Eyes, Nintendo Warns

Nintendo is banking on 3-D to keep its DS portable gaming system on top in an increasingly crowded field that now includes smartphones as well as Sony’s PlayStation Portable. But when the new no-glasses-required 3DS premieres next month at Nintendo World 2011 in Japan, it will come with a potentially troublesome disclaimer: Using the device can harm the vision of children under six.

Children under that age may face difficulty training their brains to focus their eyes after too much strain caused by the 3-D viewing, Nintendo fears, evidently heeding the advice of doctors.

As of Wednesday midday, there was no cautionary note posted under “safety warnings” or “info for parents” on Nintendo’s U.S. products web site, but a message posted on its Japanese site, widely translated by media, warns that “Vision of children under the age of six has been said [to be in the] developmental stage. [The 3DS] delivers 3D images with different left and right images, [which] has a potential impact on the growth of children’s eyes.”

High Stakes

The DS is the most successful handheld gaming device in history, having sold more than 128 million units since its debut in 2004, although sales dropped last year to around 27 million from more than 31 million in 2008.

In June, Nintendo of America President Reggie Fils-Aimee, speaking at the E3 Expo in Los Angeles, promised that the 3DS would raise the bar for gamers with its double 3.5-inch wide-screen lenses on the outside that can also display movies and photos in 3-D. “No more glasses!” he exclaimed.

A slider lets users determine the depth of the effect or turn it off completely to watch in one-dimensional mode. The U.S. price hasn’t been announced, but it is said to be priced at the equivalent of $300 in Japan.

Consumer-devices analyst Avi Greengart of Current Analysis said Nintendo had likely chosen the best time to release the warning — weeks ahead of the launch — “so every reaction will be taken into account,” and the image of dazzled and delighted kids using the device may overshadow the warning.

“I think it’s just a matter of crossing their t’s and dotting their i’s with legal requirements,” said Greengart.

Release Delayed

Another analyst, Jason Blackwell of ABI Research, said warnings on video games as well as 3-D televisions have become almost de rigueur.

“There haven’t been a lot of long-term studies of the effects of 3-D,” Blackwell said. “I think it’s more along the lines of [Nintendo] protecting themselves against potential lawsuits.”

He said ABI’s forecast for the 3DS is still strong. “The overall impact on the market for the product should be pretty minimal, unless it’s something along the lines of having a warning right on the box like cigarettes do. But from our perspective, the delays in releasing it may have more of an impact than anything else — after the holiday season, when it was supposed to be in November.”

Greengart said the two most important factors for the 3DS are the price and the extent of content from third-party developers who want to literally add new dimensions to their current game franchises.

“Nintendo has said they have had better luck recruiting third-party developers for the 3DS than for any other platform of its kind,” he said.

Dr. Michael Ehrenhaus, a New York ophthalmologist, told us that Nintendo is likely concerned about “chronic strain,” but added that “nothing has been proven. People are nervous because in the past there were games that caused epileptic seizures.”

He recommended that parents limit their kids to using video games in moderation and have regular eye exams.

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from: http://www.dailyfinance.com/story/investing/asian-markets-mixed-gamers-plunge-on-3d-health-warning-and-pate/19781350/

In Asia, Nintendo Stock Plunges on 3-D Health Warning
In Asia Thursday, Japan’s Nikkei 225 Index fell 1.1% to 10,229. In China, the Shanghai Composite Index inched up 0.3% to 2,760, and Hong Kong’s Hang Seng added 0.1% to end the day at 22,999.

Japanese exporters are fighting the effects of a surging yen, which hit a new seven-week record of 81.50 yen per dollar today. Many see exporters as the key to bolstering the flailing Japanese economy. But a stronger yen shrinks the pot of money companies have earned, once they bring their profits back home. In addition, Sony, one of Japan’s big exporters, is now splashing out lawsuits against Korean competitor LG Electronics, which it claims is illegally using Sony’s technology in smartphones bound for the U.S., reports Bloomberg.

Nintendo Releases Health Warning for Young Children

Today, Sony (SNE) dropped 1%, despite rumors that it has plans to launch a portable PSP with a built-in smartphone. This would help Sony level the playing field against Apple’s (AAPL) iPhone. “If Sony can nail this, they could be on to a winner,” one industry insider told The Sun.

Nintendo suffered a 2.4% drop, with a new report showing that 3-D images, like the ones featured on its soon-to-be-released 3DS, could harm young children’s eyes. According to Sci-Tech Today, Nintendo is releasing the warning early to avoid legal problems later, saying that excessive use can be detrimental to eye development in kids under 6 years old.

2010 saw an explosion of 3-D products for consumers and also the arrival of augmented reality as a mainstream technology. In both areas, however, only some commercial implementations proved ready for prime time.

3-D TVs, Cameras, and Camcorders Galore

3-D was a hot topic at the start of the year, partly because of the 3-D blockbuster movieAvatar, which came out last December. Many predicted that 3-D technology would move quickly from the movie theater into the home, and major electronics companies including Panasonic, Mitsubishi, Sony, Philips, and Toshiba announced plans to release 3-D televisions and Blu-ray players (Home 3-D: Here, or Hype? and Here Come the High-Definition 3-D TVs). But obstacles—particularly the need to wear 3-D glasses costing upwards of $100 per pair and the limited amount of 3-D content available to watch (a handful of DVDs and few TV transmissions)—have prevented 3-D TVs from becoming wildly popular, at least for now (Will 3-D Make the Jump from Theater to Living Room?).

In an effort to make the technology more enticing, some companies are developing glasses-free 3-D displays. Each lens in a pair of 3-D glasses filters a different image, which fools the brain into responding as if to a three-dimensional image. To ditch the glasses, the display has to produce alternating images very rapidly, and the user has to sit in just the right place relative to the screen. While most people would prefer not to have to wear 3-D glasses, few will be happy with this constraint. Fortunately, Microsoft has figured out a way around the problem—a screen that detects the viewer’s position and shows different images to each eye. Although it’s still in the research stages, the technology will allow one or two people to see a 3-D image on a screen, regardless of where in the room they are sitting (3-D Without the Glasses).

Glasses-free 3-D technology may be more suitable for handheld devices, whose users typically view the screen from a particular position anyway. The first phone featuring this type of 3-D tech was released this year (TR10: Mobile 3-D). Nintendo sees a different market for it: last January, the company announced plans to release a glasses-free 3-D gaming system (Nintendo Plans Glasses-Free 3D Console), potentially as early as next year.

A few researchers are looking into the possible side effects of viewing 3-D (with glasses or without). A small number of moviegoers complain of headaches or eye strain after watching 3-D movies, and some scientists argue that viewing 3-D—which, after all, tricks the brain into seeing something that’s not there—is responsible. But more research is needed (Is 3D Bad for You?).

The Dawn of AR

Smart phones helped usher in another reality-altering technology this year, as many new augmented-reality games and mapping applications were released.

Companies including Layar, Wikitude, and Qualcomm released AR apps for smart phones. Users point a phone’s camera at something and see an image overlaid with floating information, such as directions, the names of buildings, historical photos, or restaurant reviews. One app even shows people’s latest Twitter and Facebook updates floating around their heads (Augmented Identity). Businesses are starting to get on board with AR apps for advertising (Augmented Reality Lacks Bite for Marketers).

Researchers have found other applications for AR (Augmented-Reality Floor Tiling andTreating Cockroach Phobia With Augmented Reality). Even big companies like GM have been experimenting with AR—for instance, to help improve car safety (GM Develops Augmented Reality Windshield). One collaborative AR experiment used sophisticated tracking to ensure that two people simultaneously saw the same virtual elements in physical space (Collaborative Augmented Reality Makes Beautiful Music).

Having to view the world through the screen of a smart phone is tiresome. So some companies are working to bring affordable, lightweight AR glasses to consumers. These could provide a more immersive AR experience (Augmented Reality Goggles) and help AR become more common, and more useful.

Source story here: http://www.technologyreview.com/computing/26990/?p1=MstRcnt