The highly experimental and anticipated technology which we used to see only in Sci-fi movies is now a reality. Yes, we are talking about Augmented Reality ( AR ) which is something new and a WOW factor to the end-user. Wiki says,
Augmented reality (AR) is a term for a live direct or indirect view of a physical real-world environment whose elements are augmented by virtual computer-generated imagery.
For Augmented Reality to work and provide rich visual experience the combination of GPS, Compass, Camera and a 3G/WiFi connection is required. And with the existence of powerful mobile platform like Android things are much easier for developers to roll out more apps. Here is our list of apps that make use of AR technology which we believe has a promising future.
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1) Layar
Layar is the worlds first augmented reality app and it uses Android’s GPS, camera, and compass features to display real-time information on the things you see and explore. Once you point your phone camera to the places in front, details are displayed on the screen. Be it restaurant, school or hospital you will get the info quickly. Developers created many layers for diff services and many more are in pipeline.
Wikitude Drive is an Android navigation app that make use of the Augmented Reality technology to overlay your route directly on top of what is coming through your Android phone camera’s viewfinder. This app can truly replace your virtual tour guide and can be helpful for frequent vehicle users. Real time geographical data is spiced up with camera inputs to give you a visually rich experience.
3) TagWhat
TagWhat is basically a social networking app that make use augmented technology. It lets users to tag whatever they see in front of them using the apps tag feature. Once tagged your friends when visiting those tagged places will see the details while pointing their android phone to places in front.
Goggles is Google Inc’s contribution to this emerging revolutionary technology. While the app is running just point your android phone’s camera to an object in front and capture. The app then uploads it to SnapTell server and image recognition backend compares images with available ones to find an exact match. A very useful and worth using AR app available till date we say.
Space InvadAR is the latest addition to Android augmented reality space. It’s actually a vision based game that make use of AR. You point the camera towards a high resolution image and the app loads the right game based on the image. Here for demo purpose they have used an earth image and a fun game loads. Watch out this app is a paid app and is costly.
Hope you liked our post. Do check out our earlier list post Top 5 Free Alternatives to Safari Browser for iPhone.
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{ 10 comments }
Wish I could try those apps. Sadly i dont own any device running on Android
Motorola Droid / Milestone is the best to experience AR on Android
I must disagree. The HTC Droid Incredible is way better than anything Motorola has put out.
I must disagree. The samsung infuse 4g is way better than anything HTC has put out
Check out this reality browser. it has text to speech and speaks while you walk.
http://hamzeen.com/blog/?p=354
Many thanks, i’m going to test these apps ! You should also look at Sekai camera (tonchidot) and artags !
Grégory
Wow, great post. My wife just got a Nexus S, loves AR apps. This article helped her to choose what apps she should download.
I have found a framework of augmented reality for android Look! is a complete framework for creating augmented reality applications on Android http://www.lookar.net
Augmented reality apps would be awesome in the construction industry.
The best Augmented Reality application I found is junaio, it has lot of cool features to offer, such as visual search, bar codes scanning.