augmented reality |

Pokémon Go Hits the US

Last week, the producers of Pokémon Go announced the US launch of the augmented reality game in beta version or, better said, in field testing. It officially started yesterday; Australian, Japanese, and New Zealand players were the first ones able to enroll in the program.

Niantic opened up the Pokémon Go testing signups yesterday with invitations for beta testers. The company offered some information about the mechanics of the game: there will be “more than a hundred” Pokémon gizmos that players will have to discover and catch.

When a Pokémon is nearby, the players’ phone will buzz. Pokémon Go wristbands will be available for purchasing. The wristbands will light up and buzz when the little creature is around.

The tiny gizmos are caught with the phone’s touch screen. When the Pokémon is nearby, with the help of the touch screen users will overtake them in a Poke Ball.

These Poke Balls, or other items the user might need, are found at the “PokeStops.” Although a specific list of the exact locations was not provided, these PokeStops will be placed in the real world public spaces like “art installations, historical markers, and monuments.”

In battle terms, players will struggle to gain control of a Gym by using the creatures they’ve caught. By swiping to the left or the right on the screen and by attacking the defenders, Pokémon Go players will fight to diminish the Gym’s Prestige.

When the Gym’s Prestige has reached zero, the defending team has lost control and the victors will be assigned to defend the Gym. To increase the Prestige and the level, Pokémon Go players can train their Pokémon with other supporting ones.

Once the level of Prestige goes higher, the defending players can dispense more Pokémon to guard it. Teams of friends can also be created to battle together and conquer powerful Gyms faster.

The augmented reality Pokémon Go game is set to launch fully this year for Android and iOS. It will be free, but in-game purchasing will be available to buy PokeCoins. PokeCoins is the game’s currency that’s used to access items and power-ups.

Rumors say the game will launch in full by the end of this summer.

Image source: YouTube

Apple Moves Into Augmented Reality With Purchase of Metaio

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Apple has bought Metaio, a German-founded company whose is specialized in augmented reality technology which is used by developers and enterprise customers.

It appears that an analyst’s prediction made earlier this year that Apple was moving into augmented reality was absolutely correct, with Metaio being a stepping stone for Apple to expand its augmented reality experiments. The agreement was officially reached last week, according to published documents.

Apple announced the deal trough a standard statement which is released when making lower-value acquisitions: “Apple buys smaller technology companies from time to time, and we generally do not comment on our purpose or plans,” the company said.

Metaio was the result of a project at Volkswagen and entered the market in 2003, according to TechCrunch. There were signs that a change was ongoing at the company only last month when it decided to cancel its user conference in San Francisco.

Metaio is serving over 140,000 developers who have released 50,000 apps after benefiting from its technology. Some of the most important clients that have released apps using its augmented reality software include Audi, Ikea, Mitsubishi and Lego. Ikea used Mateio to use augmented reality to unite its catalogue app to its print catalogue.

As it is usually the case with many small companies that Apple buys, the firm’s web page is now offline and the company is not negotiating with other new customers. Metaio has also published a statement on its LinkedIn page in which explains that its subscriptions and products are no longer available for purchase.

Apple said it is also working on a project to offer an augmented reality perspective called Browser Around Me to all its maps for local listings, according to 9to5Mac. iPhone users will then be able to point their mobile gadget to a cafe, for example, and the Maps application would show a virtual view of its menu. The new scheme is very similar to Nokia’s previous efforts to bring augmented reality to Here maps.

Apple has also teamed-up with a virtual-reality headset company designed to fit an iPod or iPhone which like Oculus Rift will envelope the user’s vision.

The Cupertino-based company and its move on augmented reality comes in a time when Google seeks to enforce support among developers which are using its Project Tango tablet, targeting to create the next generation of 3D applications for indoor navigation, mapping and gaming.

Image Source: Metaio

Google Glass prescription lenses will be available for $99

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Google Glass has been appealing for a lot of reasons, but one crowd displeased with the current augmented reality experience is people who need glasses. Until a few months ago, Google had no plans or reveals on the prescription side, but they will soon be offering an accessory out for $99.

Rochester Optical or VSP Global will be the first prescription lens manufacturer for Google Glass. Rochester Optical seem to be the ones ahead, but they have no official relationship with Google and their glass project may be canned if Google don’t like what they see.

With or without official approval, Rochester Optical have said they will make prescription, fashion, and sport lenses for Google Glass in early 2014, with more to come alongside once Google announces an official release date, perhaps at Google I/O.

The move to get prescription lenses on Google Glass will benefit everyone who has to wear glasses in everyday life. The importance of this accessory is paramount to getting Google Glass out to as many users as possible, especially when the product goes public.

Details are pretty bare so far and neither Google or the third parties are adding anything on what the lenses will look like and when the release date is exactly. Google has still not actually added an official release date for Google Glass or for the Glass API.

The company is adding more features to the augmented eyewear every month, through a patch update sent to Google Glass users. Google recently updated the hardware side, adding a mono-earpiece for improved call quality – this was sent out to all backers for free in exchange for their old unit.

Google has also opened up the Glass platform to any subscriber of Google Play All Access, the $10 per month music subscription service, designed to be a rival to Spotify and iTunes Radio.

Google Glass to partner with custom prescription glasses manufacturer

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Google Glass has grabbed their first third party manufacturer to design custom prescription glasses for the augmented reality device. Currently Google Glass is only compatible with Clear Shield, a first party accessory available on Google’s store.

Rochester Optical are the third party supplier, an 80 year old military and prescription glasses supplier. The company will be in charge of making all prescription, fashion and sport lenses in the early stages of development, possibly leading to more suppliers in the future.

This is a big step up on Google’s third party policy, although it still is only one company and Google said nothing about other third party suppliers getting possible dimensions and approval from Google to make any prescription/sport glasses compatible with Google Glass.

Google is starting to become more friendly on the Google Glass project, allowing users to start to give away their device to others or possibly sell it – this has been restricted and Google has been hunting down eBay pages and locking glasses that have been sent to another user.

We still have no date on when Rochester Optical will start producing the glasses, we expect it to be sometime in 2014, when Google is set to offer Google Glass out to the public at a much cheaper base price and a possible redesign, to be more in line with regular glasses.

The glasses may come even sooner, with the Google Glass accessory store now officially launched, Explorers may be able to buy add-ons to their glasses to make them more workable in different environments.

We may see an influx of different ideas, waterproof glasses, scratch-proof glasses, prescription glasses and in the future brands may get involved, adding their own twist on Google Glass to make it more ideal for their brand base.

Google Glass v2.0 getting mono earbud for improved call quality

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Google is still not near the release date for their experimental augmented reality headset Google Glass, but they are preparing a second hardware version for Explorers who put down $1,500 for the fancy new piece of tech.

On Google Glass’ Plus page, they showed two photos of the version two of Google Glass, still the same futuristic and funky design that now comes with a plugin mono earbud for improved call quality and the ability to listen to videos and chats without everyone hearing on the speaker.

The design of Google Glass has not changed a peep and the team has went into detail about the radical design choice they went for and why they won’t change it, at least in the Explorer stages. If a full release does come out, perhaps Google will look towards a more consumer friendly design.

The earbud has the signature Google Glass logo and connects onto the back of the headset, plugging in from the bottom. The earbud has a very small wire making it only suitable for the right ear, we wonder if Google will allow third party developers to make earbuds and earphones for Google Glass.

This is exciting news for Explorers, especially considering the new updated hardware version will ship out for free to all those with version one Google Glass. Google will offer a swap program, where the user exchanges the first version for the updated version for free, if only this happened with smartphones.

Google is gaining a lot of information and feedback from the Google Glass project and it may benefit them in the long run. They have held a few events for Google Glass users and have been expanding the feature-list with the XE updates at the start of every month, taking feedback and adding features.

The Google Glass v2.0 should be coming to users by the end of the year.