Augmented Reality will change the way you view the world…or at least the road
A new form of technology will either revolutionize the way we view the world or be just another digital fad that people don’t really need. How will “augmented reality” applications affect your daily life?
“Augmented Reality” is a phrase that has much of the mobile tech world buzzing. The term refers to the recent trend of apps that use a phone’s GPS data, compass, and accelerometer to provide information about the user’s surroundings. Hold up your Android phone and Layar will locate nearby house prices or NRU will offer reviews and ratings for the restaurant across the street. You can even take your iPhone for a stroll and TwittARound will map out the Twitter messages sent from nearby users.
This new form of technology is opening up frontiers that go far beyond the days of suitcase cell phones. Augmented Reality apps, sometimes called “reality browsers”, are literally changing the way we view the world thanks to the information – both static and real-time – available from these apps. AR will tell you the history of that statue you see in the park, find nearby Wi-Fi hotspots, and even see a real-world representation of things that were once only available online.
Some will be intrigued by how digital information enhances daily lives, others may be upset to see people turn into super-plugged-in droids who know too much about everything and everyone around us. I understand both points of view, but I fall a little more on the side of, “Wow, this is pretty cool.”
Take a look at the latest augmented reality application set to hit mobile phones soon, Augmented Traffic.
A few key points to consider:
- Using your GPS coordinate (location on a map) and “geo-coded” traffic cameras in Ontario, mainly in the Toronto area, the app is able to show recent snapshots of streetlights. This seems like a very interesting way to check traffic. Imagine driving down the highway and seeing a real-time alert based on camera data that traffic is getting too congested.
- As you can probably tell from the video’s 2:40 mark, voice guide is challenging. It’s very robotic and might be hard to understand, causing some people to look at the screen. This poses the same danger as in-motion usage of GPS devices or cell phones. Drivers will be wise to use extreme caution when it comes to using an AR app. It’s just a matter of time before someone not paying attention ends up like the girls in that British texting-while-driving PSA (warning: this links to a very graphic traffic video).
- Augmented Traffic has other features besides traffic, like favorites or POI alerts, and its creators plan to show real estate listings in another app. That’s right, you’ll be able to drive through a neighborhood and see the value of certain homes without even getting out of your car.
This is what the future of augmented reality promises. Is it unbelievable or uncomfortable?
Filed Under: Tech Explained
Tags: augmented reality, cell phones, mobile tech
How we can use this app….is it free and what type of smartphones are support this application….
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It hasn’t been released yet. The company who created it has just released the video to create hype.
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Great, this is just what we need.. More people not watching the road infront of them. Really now..
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No way. Cell phone, texting, the radio, now this, who is going to drive the car? The traffic will be backed up on every street due to the accidents.
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cars will clearly be driving themselves in 10 years
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The radio? Really? Are you saying the radio causes accidents? I think we all know its the idiots behind the wheel that think its ok to look somewhere other than the road for extended periods of time. And if the radio (or the cell phone) weren’t there… then they’d be gazing at their own belly button lint.
My two cents.
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Wow, great. Another distraction on the road. I just hope when the people using this get into accidents that they don’t kill anyone around them.
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That’s crazy! So will this app also pop-up the name and next of kin of the kid you just ran over?
Geez. More driver distractions!
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OUR LAWMAKERS MUST TAKE CONTROL HERE WHEREBY THE PROGRAM WON’T WORK UNLESS THE CAR IS TURNED OFF OR ELSE PARKED.
PATRICK HIT IT RIGHT ON WITH “THAT’S CRAZY” ETC.
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yea, that’s it! BRILLIANT idea Ron! Turn your car off or put it in park? what about the passenger thats with you and they are using this to make your trip more enjoyable, safer and quicker commute? Let’s say an emergency arises and someone flips their car… but it’s still in gear. They can reach their cell phone, but wait. the car is NOT in park. They can’t call for help!
Perhaps seeing a drunk driver dodging through traffic about to ‘wipe out’ innocent bystanders on the sidewalk, and you need to call 911. wait. I had to turn my car off and put it in park, but I had to pull off the road I was on so I wouldn’t cause an accident. But, he was last seen 10 mins ago heading the direction I was going before I turned off. Oh now I am confused, but I think he was driving a blue sedan? Or was it a red SUV? Either way BRILLIANT idea!
Perhaps we should censor what people see on their way driving into work everyday. Perhaps instead of cell phone app distractions lets all stare at the guy in the other lane trying to read his newspaper and drive? The lady two cars up who is applying her lipstick while drinking coffee and using Kleenex to remove the lipstick smudges from her teeth? How about that guy in the far lane driving with no headlights at night? Perhaps the guy who is trying to change or put on or take off a jacket? Or the guy who is tying his tie and driving? You get people who are so concerned with these distractions, they become distracted and bang! They become the distraction to other drivers! Someone stops. But the driver who is distracted with all these other drivers is too busy paying attentiuon to all these other “idiots” on the road. This driver doesn’t realize that he too is now being distracted and a distraction to and from other drivers.
So, perhaps the easiest solution is that driving is now outlawed all together? It’s not the apps, the cell phones, the radios, or anything else that causes accidents. It’s the fact that too many drivers have LOST ALL COMMON SENSE! Friends in your car can be a distraction. Family can be a distraction. Have you ever had a kid(s) scream at the top of their lungs while driving and you’d swear they just had an arm ripped off. Of course you turn around to check on them quickly. But now children are a distraction? Perhaps we all need to take a look at our OWN driving habits to see how EACH of us can make an improvement to help better everyone else’s driving experience?!?
I am with you on these distractions, and agree they need to be limited. But at this rate everything will become a distraction, and there will be NO ONE allowed in a car except yourself without the cell phone, radion, GPS or anything else. Perhaps someone gets too hot in their single car, and turns on the A/C, then too cold and turns it off. Now the heater controls become a distraction! Where does this end? a single car for a single person, in a glass bubble with no radio, heater, or room for anything but yourself?
To me, I believe COMMON SENSE is what is lacking in drivers these days. Common sense would eliminate a lot of accidents and situations that arise on our roads.
I truly believe what Trixie wrote. Is radio and cell phones were not present in the equation, these drivers would be staring at their own belly button lint. Why? Because they lack COMMON SENSE. When you lack common sense, EVERYTHING becomes a distraction! EVERYTHING!
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Wow. I hope everyone posting on this site knows how OLD they sound. It’s just laughable. Did that guy say “the radio” as a car accident causer? Next thing you know there’ll be a bulb like device that makes light to replace candles.
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