--Discusses Company's Layar Browser and the Emerging Augmented Reality Space
Dutch mobile technology provider, SPRXmobile, recently announced that it is opening up its mobile augmented reality browser, Layar, which it launched just last month, to developers. The browser, which will initially be available free-of-charge in the Netherlands for handsets running the Android operating system, displays real-time digital information on top of a mobile phone's camera screen--effectively transforming reality into a giant, real-time interactive video experience. While looking through their phone's camera lens, users can see overlays with, for example, information on houses that are for sale, local bars and stores, healthcare providers and ATM's. Thus, for example, a user looking to buy a house could select a real-estate "layer" (as SPRXmobile calls its overlays), specify a maximum budget, and then, whenever they pointed their mobile's camera at a house for sale within their price range from a participating real estate company, they would see a small dot over the house, together with clickable information about the house (e.g. price, contact info for the realtor who represents it) on an "information bar" at the bottom of the screen.
In this recorded episode of [itvt]'s talk radio show, "The TV of Tomorrow Show with Tracy Swedlow," SPRXmobile co-founder, Maarten Lens-Fitzgerald provides an overview of the Layar browser and of the emerging augmented reality space in general. Topics covered include the technology behind, and the business model for, Layar; SPRXmobile's upcoming developer event; the kinds of applications augmented reality technology is enabling; the augmented reality industry's various players; and more
