Munich-based augmented reality specialist, metaio, announced Tuesday that its flagship junaio mobile AR browser--which is now available for the Android OS as well as for the iPhone--can now not only display informational overlays that have previously been associated with nearby points of interest, such as shops, restaurants and train stations, and that are triggered via GPS, but can actually identify objects and dynamically "glue" specific, real-time, dynamic, social and 3D information onto those objects. The company says that this new capability--which is initially available on Android, with an iPhone release slated to follow shortly--is being extended by a partnership with kooaba, a company that specializes in technologies for visual object search and that has amassed extensive object databases.
According to metaio, using image recognition and object tracking technology, junaio is able to identify an object through a smartphone's camera, access information through visual search, and then "glue" information displays onto it--thus removing the need for AR experiences to be triggered either by 1) a combination of the smartphone's GPS, compass and accelerometer (a method that will only work outdoors, in association with large objects), or 2) by special markers. By moving the object or the camera, the company says, users can interact with the "glued" AR layer in order to navigate through information, rotate 3D displays, issue game commands, provide feedback and more. "We are taking AR to a new level," metaio CTO, Peter Meier, said in a prepared statement. "The combination of Visual Search and Object Tracking is an amazing and highly intuitive way of interacting with objects and information."
According to metaio, the combination of server-side and client-based image processing is "the next step towards an ever present and highly accurate information overlay on physical objects in our real world." The company describes the "future prospects of this augmented vision" as follows: "Useful and entertaining information may be called up based on places or objects around you. Multimedia experiences can be triggered by images, signs, posters, magazines or newspaper pages, packaging or any other object nearby. Ratings, tips, affiliates and other ecommerce functions can be displayed on real products. Advertisers may 'augment' their print ads with games or added displays. Museums may offer a guided tour of their art treasures through augmented reality. The possibilities are endless."
However, the first use of the new capability will be to power what metaio is calling a "talking CD" service. According to the company, junaio users who access a kooaba channel within the AR browser will be able to access online information about any CD by pointing their smartphone's camera at the CD's cover--thanks to kooaba's advanced visual search capabilities and extensive CD database: among other things, metaio says, users will be able to view band-related merchandise on eBay, customer ratings, listings of local performances by artists, and a "3D animation related to the content category." The information is "glued" directly onto the camera's image of the CD, metaio says, allowing users to interact with and navigate through the informational displays simply by rotating the CD. "CD's are only the beginning," kooaba CTO, Till Quack, said in a prepared statement. "Our database is constantly growing. The visual search and live-rendering will be accessible for more and more services and products."
A demo video of junaio's new capabilities is embedded above.
In other metaio news: The company said Tuesday that it has teamed with YOUReality on an "Online Retail Visualization 3D" tool, that uses AR to allow consumers to see how products--such as furniture--would look in their own homes, before they purchase them. The tool superimposes a product image on a photo provided by the consumer. The companies are billing the new tool as "allow[ing] shoppers to make more confident buying decisions, deliver[ing] retailers a higher sales conversion rate, and significantly lower[ing] product return costs."
