WEBVTT - What in the world is augmented reality? 0:00:00.320 --> 0:00:02.880 Brought to you by the reinvented two thousand twelve camera. 0:00:03.200 --> 0:00:08.920 It's ready. Are you get in touch with technology? With 0:00:09.080 --> 0:00:17.680 tech Stuff from how stuff works dot com. Hello everybody, 0:00:17.680 --> 0:00:19.919 and welcome to tech stuff. My name is Chris Poelette, 0:00:19.920 --> 0:00:22.520 and I'm an editor here at how stuff works dot Com. 0:00:22.520 --> 0:00:26.240 Sitting across from me as usual as senior writer Jonathan Strickland. 0:00:26.360 --> 0:00:30.040 He there. All right then, and today we're gonna start 0:00:30.080 --> 0:00:32.600 off the way we've started off several podcasts recently, with 0:00:32.640 --> 0:00:39.680 a little listener mail. Yeah, and this listener mail comes 0:00:39.680 --> 0:00:44.000 from Crystal. Crystal says augmented reality. What in the world 0:00:44.080 --> 0:00:47.840 is it? Thank you, Crystal for that very concise listener mail. 0:00:49.040 --> 0:00:53.400 She probably figured you'd make up another paragrapher said, uh yeah, considering. 0:00:53.400 --> 0:00:58.160 So we've received some some novellas recently. There they've been excellent, guys, 0:00:58.200 --> 0:01:01.200 We love them. Don't don't that as a dig, because 0:01:01.200 --> 0:01:03.080 I think that's awesome that you guys take so much 0:01:03.080 --> 0:01:05.959 effort to write as listener mail. And Crystal, that's awesome 0:01:06.000 --> 0:01:07.399 that you were able to sum it up in one 0:01:07.440 --> 0:01:10.080 sentence long or short. We love the listener mail. Yeah, 0:01:10.120 --> 0:01:14.480 you're all awesome. So anyway, augmented realitmented reality one the 0:01:14.560 --> 0:01:17.880 world is it? You know what? I didn't really know either, Um, 0:01:17.920 --> 0:01:20.400 I knew, I knew just the barest minimum of what 0:01:20.440 --> 0:01:22.760 it was. Yeah, we can give you like the the 0:01:22.760 --> 0:01:27.000 the bird's eye definition of augmented reality. The real idea 0:01:27.080 --> 0:01:31.480 here is that you are overlaying some sort of information 0:01:31.640 --> 0:01:34.720 on top of our perception of the world around us 0:01:34.840 --> 0:01:38.080 in real time. Yes, we're not talking about virtual reality, 0:01:38.080 --> 0:01:42.680 in which you replace the real reality with a institute 0:01:43.160 --> 0:01:46.720 and uh, you know see if you're um, coffee drinkers 0:01:46.720 --> 0:01:49.880 can tell the difference, right, the But the worlds of 0:01:49.880 --> 0:01:53.200 augmented reality and virtual reality do have a lot of overlap. 0:01:53.240 --> 0:01:56.080 There's a lot of technology that um, that belongs in 0:01:56.200 --> 0:02:00.680 both realms, uh, including things like head mald displays often 0:02:00.760 --> 0:02:05.040 are used in both augmented reality and virtual reality applications. Yes, 0:02:05.160 --> 0:02:09.720 except in in virtual reality, Um, the glasses that you 0:02:09.800 --> 0:02:13.480 wear replace you don't really actually see anything but this 0:02:13.600 --> 0:02:17.000 virtual world. And in augmented reality, you do see the 0:02:17.080 --> 0:02:20.280 virtual world with other information layered on top of it. 0:02:20.880 --> 0:02:24.080 I'm sorry, you're right, you see the real world with 0:02:24.120 --> 0:02:26.320 other information layered on top of it. Right. If you 0:02:26.400 --> 0:02:28.960 were the virtual world with other information layered on top 0:02:28.960 --> 0:02:32.080 of it, it would be augmented virtual reality. Can we 0:02:32.120 --> 0:02:35.799 invent that patent pending? All right, no one else out 0:02:35.800 --> 0:02:42.320 there grab it? That's us. Yes, So augmented reality. Uh. 0:02:42.480 --> 0:02:44.720 You know, ideally, what you would have is some sort 0:02:44.720 --> 0:02:48.240 of system where you could look at, say a building, 0:02:48.800 --> 0:02:51.720 and you would have information pop up that might give 0:02:51.720 --> 0:02:54.320 you things like the address of the building that you're 0:02:54.320 --> 0:02:58.519 looking at any businesses that are located within that building. If, 0:02:58.600 --> 0:03:00.919 for example, you were looking at a restaurant, you might 0:03:01.000 --> 0:03:04.320 see reviews pop up and you could see what kind 0:03:04.320 --> 0:03:06.760 of food that restaurant serves without having to actually go 0:03:06.840 --> 0:03:08.760 up there and look at a menu, or if they 0:03:08.760 --> 0:03:11.160 had really poor reviews, and you can think, oh well, 0:03:11.240 --> 0:03:14.320 let's just skip that and find something else. Um. I 0:03:14.320 --> 0:03:18.720 mean that's just a very basic application. There are unlimited 0:03:18.760 --> 0:03:22.560 applications for augmented reality. Sure, I mean, you know it's 0:03:22.560 --> 0:03:24.720 not you could you could use it for something like that. 0:03:24.800 --> 0:03:27.440 You can use it for business purposes. Maybe you're on 0:03:27.720 --> 0:03:31.120 a business trip and you need information like that. Um. 0:03:31.360 --> 0:03:34.000 Sad to say. You could also use it for military purposes. Actually, 0:03:34.000 --> 0:03:37.400 the military is already using this technology. It's in a 0:03:37.440 --> 0:03:41.480 lot of visor displays for jet pilots, for example, so 0:03:41.520 --> 0:03:45.240 that they are coupling the the helmet technology with augmented 0:03:45.280 --> 0:03:48.400 reality so that you can do things like track h 0:03:48.720 --> 0:03:52.080 other other aircraft. You can look at targets, things like 0:03:52.120 --> 0:03:54.800 that heads up display. Yes, an h U d ye 0:03:55.000 --> 0:03:57.040 heads up it's actually had that for quite some times. Yeah, 0:03:57.040 --> 0:03:59.440 it's been around for a while now. That's not unusual. 0:03:59.760 --> 0:04:04.000 Just like virtual reality, augmented reality has a lot to uh, 0:04:04.240 --> 0:04:07.920 a lot to to owe the military establishment. UM, military 0:04:07.960 --> 0:04:11.560 applications have fed the research and development of this kind 0:04:11.560 --> 0:04:15.000 of technology for years, just like with virtual reality. And 0:04:15.040 --> 0:04:17.440 it makes sense because when you really think about you've 0:04:17.440 --> 0:04:21.960 got to think with any research project, there's one thing 0:04:22.040 --> 0:04:26.880 all research projects need, no matter what the project is. Money. Yes, 0:04:27.120 --> 0:04:31.839 the money has to come from somewhere. And academic research 0:04:31.880 --> 0:04:35.080 institutions they have a limited budget. You know, they have 0:04:35.120 --> 0:04:36.960 a limited amount of money that they can they can 0:04:36.960 --> 0:04:40.320 dole out to any particular department UM and all of 0:04:40.360 --> 0:04:44.360 them are vying for that same pool of cash and UH, 0:04:44.440 --> 0:04:46.359 and so there's a very limited amount of money you 0:04:46.360 --> 0:04:51.240 can get for for pure research research for research sake, UM, 0:04:51.320 --> 0:04:54.520 You're more likely to see money come in from any 0:04:54.520 --> 0:04:59.000 sort of practical application, So things like the military, where 0:04:59.360 --> 0:05:02.360 practical app location can mean the difference between losing and 0:05:02.360 --> 0:05:06.600 winning a conflict or saving hundreds of people's lives. UH, 0:05:06.640 --> 0:05:08.920 that's obviously going to take a larger priority than just 0:05:09.160 --> 0:05:15.799 a a important but kind of esoteric academic project. UM. 0:05:15.920 --> 0:05:20.000 You would also probably see it in corporate UH functions 0:05:20.040 --> 0:05:22.320 as well. Things that things where companies think they can 0:05:22.360 --> 0:05:26.880 make some money off of an augmented reality application, whether 0:05:27.000 --> 0:05:30.440 that's something that's in a car, like perhaps you were 0:05:30.480 --> 0:05:33.080 able to create a screen within your car so that 0:05:33.680 --> 0:05:36.320 as you're driving down the street, a little display what 0:05:36.480 --> 0:05:39.400 can tell you things are that are coming up, like 0:05:39.440 --> 0:05:42.560 where the next gas station is. That's funny you would 0:05:42.560 --> 0:05:47.280 mention that I was thinking of Dash. Yeah, that's a 0:05:47.320 --> 0:05:51.880 good example. UM. Dash is a company that was recently 0:05:51.920 --> 0:05:56.560 acquired by Research in Motion, who you might be aware 0:05:56.800 --> 0:06:00.440 made the BlackBerry UM. When they start it out, they 0:06:00.440 --> 0:06:04.320 were making a very sophisticated and also very large GPS 0:06:04.360 --> 0:06:07.679 def ice called the Dash Express UM and John Fuller 0:06:07.720 --> 0:06:10.800 wrote an excellent article about it on the website. Unfortunately, 0:06:10.800 --> 0:06:13.120 he also wrote it the very same week that Dash 0:06:13.160 --> 0:06:16.080 announced that they weren't gonna make hardware anymore, and we 0:06:16.120 --> 0:06:19.520 had to edit the article before it went live. UM 0:06:19.560 --> 0:06:26.400 But basically, the technology combines GPS and UM information about 0:06:26.400 --> 0:06:28.359 that area so that you can be driving along the 0:06:28.400 --> 0:06:30.840 street and say, man, I could really use a cup 0:06:30.880 --> 0:06:32.960 of coffee right now, and it will tell you, well, hey, 0:06:32.960 --> 0:06:35.440 there's McDonald's on your left, there's a Starbucks on the right, 0:06:35.560 --> 0:06:37.640 A couple of blocks down the street, around the corner, 0:06:37.680 --> 0:06:40.760 there's a local coffee shop. UM. Or you could say 0:06:40.800 --> 0:06:42.960 I'm looking for a gas station and it's it will 0:06:42.960 --> 0:06:46.039 give you that information in real time. Also traffic information, 0:06:46.600 --> 0:06:49.680 so that kind of but that's not UM at least, 0:06:49.720 --> 0:06:51.840 the Dash Express wasn't showing you in a heads up 0:06:51.839 --> 0:06:54.680 display like you might see a fighter pilot might use. 0:06:54.839 --> 0:06:58.400 Although I know that they have dabbled with heads up 0:06:58.400 --> 0:07:01.760 displays and cars for again in years, I just don't 0:07:01.760 --> 0:07:04.000 see an awful lot of them. Yeah. The closest thing 0:07:04.080 --> 0:07:06.559 you tend to see in cars these days are things 0:07:06.640 --> 0:07:10.720 like um uh night vision applications, where you can you 0:07:10.760 --> 0:07:14.080 can have suddenly the windshield turns into like a screen 0:07:14.160 --> 0:07:16.880 with night visions that you can see an infrared or 0:07:16.920 --> 0:07:20.400 ultra violet as opposed to using headlights, which I guess 0:07:20.440 --> 0:07:25.080 would be very useful for law enforcement officers, um be 0:07:25.160 --> 0:07:26.920 kind of scary for anyone else if they don't have 0:07:26.960 --> 0:07:31.000 their headlights on. But uh so that that's one kind 0:07:31.040 --> 0:07:33.040 of application there. But of course there that's that's more 0:07:33.160 --> 0:07:35.640 night vision. That's not really augmented reality because you're not 0:07:35.680 --> 0:07:39.800 really adding any information to the display. And uh and 0:07:39.800 --> 0:07:42.120 in a lot of ways, augmented reality has kind of 0:07:42.160 --> 0:07:46.040 shifted to the mobile device market now. In the traditional 0:07:46.480 --> 0:07:49.720 idea of what augmented reality would be, uh, it was 0:07:50.080 --> 0:07:52.680 much more kind of sci fi. The idea was that 0:07:52.720 --> 0:07:55.040 you would have like a pair of glasses that you 0:07:55.160 --> 0:07:57.040 put on, and those glasses, you know, they look like 0:07:57.080 --> 0:08:00.000 stylish sunglasses. So you're just you know, hitting the towel 0:08:00.000 --> 0:08:03.800 and being a Hollywood schmooz um. But you're really looking 0:08:03.840 --> 0:08:07.200 around and you're seeing different, you know, facts and figures 0:08:07.200 --> 0:08:09.920 about the the area around you. It's just that it's 0:08:09.960 --> 0:08:12.600 on a screen that's you know, transparent, so you can 0:08:12.680 --> 0:08:16.160 look through the information. Um, so you're not blinded. Because 0:08:16.160 --> 0:08:19.120 I mean, that's obviously an important element in augmented reality. 0:08:19.160 --> 0:08:22.200 You've gotta have it so that the information is there 0:08:22.320 --> 0:08:24.760 if you want to read it, but it's also possible 0:08:24.800 --> 0:08:27.400 for you to ignore it and look at the real world. 0:08:27.800 --> 0:08:30.040 Otherwise you may not be able to react when someone's 0:08:30.040 --> 0:08:32.400 throwing a punch at you because you're a Hollywood schmooze, 0:08:34.040 --> 0:08:37.120 and they will because you know, if my nose could 0:08:37.160 --> 0:08:42.040 tell you stories. But the the other elements that have 0:08:42.160 --> 0:08:44.320 to be in place here. You have to have certain 0:08:44.360 --> 0:08:47.839 things to to allow an augmented reality system to work. 0:08:48.160 --> 0:08:50.719 All right. You have to have some sort of tracking system, 0:08:50.720 --> 0:08:53.800 so it has to know where you are looking, otherwise 0:08:53.840 --> 0:08:57.319 it can't display the relevant information. It has to have 0:08:57.440 --> 0:09:01.640 some sort of video feed or graphic generation so that 0:09:01.720 --> 0:09:04.079 it can create the things that you're gonna be looking at. 0:09:04.480 --> 0:09:06.600 And it has to have some sort of database of 0:09:06.720 --> 0:09:10.960 information to draw upon to to populate the fields so 0:09:11.040 --> 0:09:13.440 when you're looking around, it's actually giving you information you need. 0:09:14.360 --> 0:09:18.520 So so you don't actually need a sophisticated piece of 0:09:18.679 --> 0:09:22.320 eyewear to do this with or a camera on top 0:09:22.360 --> 0:09:26.200 of your head, although you could do in early systems. 0:09:26.240 --> 0:09:30.719 You know when some imagine quite expensive systems do have that. Yeah, 0:09:30.760 --> 0:09:33.719 if you look at early augmented augmented reality systems. They 0:09:33.720 --> 0:09:36.400 tend to like really big rigs with a huge head 0:09:36.440 --> 0:09:38.880 mounted display, and you know, it's it's meant to be 0:09:38.960 --> 0:09:41.120 portable because it doesn't do you much good to have 0:09:41.360 --> 0:09:45.160 a fixed augmented reality station. You can't. You know, you 0:09:45.240 --> 0:09:46.720 just be able to look at the stuff that's immediately 0:09:46.760 --> 0:09:49.360 around you, and that's it. But the problem is that, 0:09:49.440 --> 0:09:52.400 you know, carrying all that around, the power supply cables 0:09:52.440 --> 0:09:54.560 and everything, it's not the easiest thing in the world 0:09:54.600 --> 0:09:58.360 to do. So the mobile device market really makes a 0:09:58.400 --> 0:10:01.600 lot more sense to me. For thing, it takes away 0:10:01.640 --> 0:10:04.720 that that fear that suddenly you're gonna, you know, be 0:10:04.920 --> 0:10:07.800 focusing on the information in your glasses as opposed to 0:10:07.840 --> 0:10:11.800 the oncoming car. You know, that's a to me, that's 0:10:11.840 --> 0:10:13.800 a legitimate thing to worry about, because I mean, I 0:10:13.880 --> 0:10:15.920 know that I don't know about you, but I've been 0:10:15.920 --> 0:10:18.800 walking down the street before looking at my phone, reading 0:10:19.080 --> 0:10:21.400 Twitter messages and then suddenly realized that I was about 0:10:21.440 --> 0:10:24.240 to walk into a telephone poll. Yeah, you know, there 0:10:24.360 --> 0:10:27.920 is actually an iPhone application that uses the camera on 0:10:27.960 --> 0:10:31.520 the other side of the phone um and it will 0:10:31.520 --> 0:10:33.600 show you what's on the other side of your phone 0:10:33.640 --> 0:10:36.520 as you are working on it. Now, this is a 0:10:36.520 --> 0:10:39.120 problem for me because I have an iPod Touch which 0:10:39.120 --> 0:10:43.720 has no camera, right, so you're still you're still blind now. 0:10:45.000 --> 0:10:49.200 So the nice thing about the mobile devices is that 0:10:49.640 --> 0:10:54.200 you can take one element completely out of the the 0:10:54.240 --> 0:10:58.200 whole augmented reality issue, which is the idea that you 0:10:58.280 --> 0:11:02.439 no longer necessarily that camera. You don't need something to 0:11:02.480 --> 0:11:05.040 be able to look through because you're able to easily, 0:11:05.080 --> 0:11:07.520 you know, set the mobile device to the side and 0:11:07.559 --> 0:11:11.560 look around yourself. Um, what you do need is something 0:11:11.600 --> 0:11:15.480 that tells the device where it is and how it's oriented. 0:11:15.960 --> 0:11:19.200 So it has to have some sort of accelerometer so 0:11:19.240 --> 0:11:22.120 it knows which way it's facing asset or or which 0:11:22.160 --> 0:11:24.160 way it's you know, facing in the sense of is 0:11:24.200 --> 0:11:27.040 it is it portrait or landscape mode. You have to 0:11:27.080 --> 0:11:29.880 have some sort of GPS system so it knows the 0:11:30.160 --> 0:11:33.840 geographic location, and you need some sort of compass really 0:11:33.880 --> 0:11:36.839 to know which direction you're facing at any given time. 0:11:37.600 --> 0:11:39.800 This is starting to sound like something I'm sort of 0:11:39.800 --> 0:11:44.280 familiar with actually, how so, Um, basically the smartphone that 0:11:45.160 --> 0:11:47.080 most people have in their pockets these days, or the 0:11:47.240 --> 0:11:51.720 HTCG one. Yes, the HTCG one does have a compass, 0:11:51.800 --> 0:11:56.319 GPS and accelerometer, and the iPhone yeah, that's that also. 0:11:56.440 --> 0:12:01.040 Ran also willing to bet without a whole lot of 0:12:01.040 --> 0:12:04.520 additional detail, that Rim might have a reason for wanting 0:12:04.520 --> 0:12:08.880 to acquire dash. Yeah. Yeah, the iPhone three, we should say, 0:12:08.960 --> 0:12:12.240 has the compass. Yes, that's true, that's so. But I 0:12:12.240 --> 0:12:14.880 mean that more and more smartphones are starting to have 0:12:15.000 --> 0:12:18.920 these things built in. And uh, you may already have 0:12:19.320 --> 0:12:22.640 the makings of at least the basic augmented reality in 0:12:22.679 --> 0:12:27.240 your pocket right now. Well you happen to, but yeah, 0:12:27.280 --> 0:12:31.200 I don't so. Um. Yeah, there's actually an application right 0:12:31.280 --> 0:12:33.720 now for the iPhone that you can get that uses 0:12:33.960 --> 0:12:38.720 an augmented reality application. I think there are many, but 0:12:38.800 --> 0:12:41.280 there's one that made the news recently, right, but there 0:12:41.320 --> 0:12:44.120 they do it in varying degrees, right. The one I'm 0:12:44.120 --> 0:12:46.640 talking about is yelp and oh yeah, And the interesting 0:12:46.679 --> 0:12:49.960 thing to me is that the augmented reality function was 0:12:50.000 --> 0:12:54.120 a hidden feature. It wasn't designed. You know, if you 0:12:54.160 --> 0:12:57.280 were just using Yelp normally, I wouldn't even know necessarily 0:12:57.360 --> 0:13:01.400 that it was that it was working. So let's say 0:13:01.400 --> 0:13:04.480 you've got Yelp and you're walking down the street and 0:13:04.520 --> 0:13:07.880 then you um, you shake your phone three times while 0:13:07.920 --> 0:13:12.480 Yelp is running, it'll activate a secret feature called Monocle, 0:13:13.120 --> 0:13:15.920 and Monocle will give you a little overlay of the 0:13:16.000 --> 0:13:19.520 various places that are around you and tell you information 0:13:19.559 --> 0:13:23.040 about them. And the main thing would be like restaurants 0:13:23.200 --> 0:13:27.840 and and ratings, obviously, so you could hold your iPhone 0:13:27.920 --> 0:13:30.679 up and and point it at the h the pub 0:13:30.920 --> 0:13:33.280 that's across the street from you, and and read the reviews, 0:13:33.320 --> 0:13:35.200 and you might see that, hey, you know, the staff 0:13:35.240 --> 0:13:38.040 here is really friendly. They've got live music every night, 0:13:38.080 --> 0:13:40.080 and the food is great, and I think, awesome, I'll 0:13:40.080 --> 0:13:42.400 walk in and I'll have dinner there. Or you might 0:13:42.440 --> 0:13:47.679 see something like the the owner throws profanity at people 0:13:47.920 --> 0:13:50.480 left and right, and occasionally a fight breaks out for 0:13:50.520 --> 0:13:54.240 no apparent reason, and and there's a honky tonk piano 0:13:54.320 --> 0:13:56.800 player and who's missing some teeth in an eye, and 0:13:56.920 --> 0:13:59.240 you're thinking, you know what, that doesn't sound like what 0:13:59.400 --> 0:14:02.160 I want to do tonight, or maybe you're thinking, hey, 0:14:02.200 --> 0:14:05.000 that sounds exactly what I want to do tonight. But 0:14:05.120 --> 0:14:07.200 the point being that the application lets you make those 0:14:07.240 --> 0:14:10.959 kind of decisions right now. That's just again another very 0:14:11.040 --> 0:14:14.240 basic form of augmented reality. And it also blends in 0:14:14.240 --> 0:14:17.719 well with your your theory, your conspiracy theory about the 0:14:17.760 --> 0:14:21.240 iPhone and how they're just encouraging people to make applications 0:14:21.280 --> 0:14:25.160 that suggest you should shake it, throw it across the room, 0:14:25.240 --> 0:14:28.560 break it and by anyone. I call it the the 0:14:29.080 --> 0:14:33.960 wee phenomenon, we mote phenomenon where yeah, you you you're 0:14:34.040 --> 0:14:36.640 shaking the phone with all your might because you really 0:14:36.680 --> 0:14:39.920 want this thing to give you kay. And the next 0:14:39.920 --> 0:14:42.400 thing you know, you've just tossed it thirty feet and 0:14:42.440 --> 0:14:46.040 it's then it explodes as we have seen. You know, 0:14:46.120 --> 0:14:49.680 I iPhones and iPods can't explode if put under x 0:14:50.120 --> 0:14:53.320 an incredible pressure. Apple says that's not their fault. Yes, 0:14:53.360 --> 0:14:59.120 they say it's because of incredible pressure. It's not. It's 0:14:59.160 --> 0:15:01.360 just the way. Yeah know, we're both about to explode. 0:15:02.120 --> 0:15:07.800 We're both under incredible pressure now the Yeah, So that 0:15:07.920 --> 0:15:10.720 is part of my conspiracy theory that Apple, or at 0:15:10.800 --> 0:15:16.480 least some some application developers possibly in league with Apple, 0:15:17.240 --> 0:15:19.640 are trying to destroy iPhones. Watching right, so you have 0:15:19.680 --> 0:15:22.560 to go out and buy another one. I bought touches either. 0:15:22.760 --> 0:15:25.720 We should totally do a tech conspiracy theories podcast. We've 0:15:25.720 --> 0:15:27.520 talked about that. We actually have it on the list. 0:15:27.920 --> 0:15:31.360 Tech conspiracies is on our list of topics to cover. 0:15:31.480 --> 0:15:33.760 We just haven't hit it yet. So if any of 0:15:33.800 --> 0:15:36.600 you really want to hear a tech conspiracy podcast, write 0:15:36.680 --> 0:15:38.880 us and let us know and uh, and we'll bump 0:15:38.920 --> 0:15:40.640 that up the list. Think of a couple more than 0:15:41.480 --> 0:15:43.560 that we already like the ones that we're inventing as 0:15:43.560 --> 0:15:47.080 we go along. Maybe some that actually have other people 0:15:47.120 --> 0:15:49.240 believing them besides us. I mean we might have convinced 0:15:49.240 --> 0:15:51.840 some people today. Let's get back to our men a reality. 0:15:51.880 --> 0:15:54.440 We we boy talk about a rat hole. Actually, there 0:15:54.440 --> 0:15:58.880 are other applications, um that I can think of, um 0:15:59.200 --> 0:16:02.640 around here one of them. Um. There there are some 0:16:02.760 --> 0:16:07.760 that basically will use your information. Uh. Even even iPod 0:16:08.600 --> 0:16:11.400 users can find it because you can. It will use 0:16:11.440 --> 0:16:14.800 your WiFi information to get a rough idea of where 0:16:14.840 --> 0:16:17.840 you are. And then if you kind of tell what's 0:16:17.840 --> 0:16:20.360 going on and and say, well, you know, if you're 0:16:20.360 --> 0:16:23.480 looking for a restaurant around here, here's the place you 0:16:23.520 --> 0:16:26.400 can go. If you're looking for shopping. You know, it 0:16:26.440 --> 0:16:31.600 doesn't overlay information like augmented reality like we've been talking about, 0:16:31.680 --> 0:16:35.560 does but it does give you perspective on what's around you, 0:16:36.040 --> 0:16:39.320 and that that does make a difference. It does augment 0:16:39.400 --> 0:16:43.480 reality and some capacity, just not as thoroughly as it's 0:16:43.520 --> 0:16:47.840 not assarily immersive as the other option. Right and just 0:16:47.920 --> 0:16:51.160 down the street from us, Uh, there's the Georgia Tech 0:16:51.200 --> 0:16:56.280 Augmented Environments Laboratory, and they prefer they prefer augmented environment 0:16:56.320 --> 0:16:59.440 to augmented reality. Uh. It is because it captures our 0:16:59.520 --> 0:17:03.840 interest augmenting the user's perception and emphasizes our focus on 0:17:03.880 --> 0:17:07.359 the interaction between the user and their environment. UM. I 0:17:07.440 --> 0:17:09.600 can kind of understand that it's sort of similar to 0:17:09.680 --> 0:17:14.280 the way virtual reality experts prefer virtual environments now because 0:17:14.400 --> 0:17:16.720 the well, I mean, I'm not suggesting that this is 0:17:16.760 --> 0:17:19.679 why augmented reality changed, you know why they they are 0:17:19.720 --> 0:17:22.280 shying away from the term. But for virtual reality at 0:17:22.280 --> 0:17:25.679 any rate, it's because virtual reality got overhyped in the 0:17:25.800 --> 0:17:28.880 nineties and then kind of collapsed in on itself once 0:17:28.920 --> 0:17:32.240 the public realized that their perception of what virtual reality 0:17:32.359 --> 0:17:34.880 was and the reality of what virtual reality was were 0:17:35.080 --> 0:17:38.080 had a huge gap. And once that huge gap was realized, 0:17:38.119 --> 0:17:41.200 everyone's like, oh, is that all it is an interest 0:17:41.400 --> 0:17:44.399 completely disappeared. So then you had all these virtual reality 0:17:44.400 --> 0:17:46.560 people saying, you know what, let's change the name of 0:17:46.600 --> 0:17:49.239 what we do because it has a stigma on it. 0:17:49.280 --> 0:17:52.600 Now I'm guessing the same sort of thing applies to 0:17:52.640 --> 0:17:54.680 some people who have been working in augmented reality, because 0:17:54.680 --> 0:17:56.760 it's a term that's been around for a while. Well, 0:17:56.800 --> 0:17:58.680 one of the neat things that one of the projects 0:17:58.720 --> 0:18:01.760 they had that um, I'm actually really curious about his 0:18:03.040 --> 0:18:06.440 was for Oakland Cemeteries Sunday in the Park event. Now, 0:18:06.440 --> 0:18:10.120 Oakland Cemetery is an historic cemetery in Atlanta, Georgia, which 0:18:10.160 --> 0:18:13.560 is where we are, and uh, it's a phenomenal cemetery. 0:18:13.560 --> 0:18:16.680 Actually suffered severe damage in the tornado that hit us, 0:18:17.000 --> 0:18:21.160 you know, several months ago, many many many months ago. Um, 0:18:21.400 --> 0:18:24.240 and it's sort of I think it's pretty much recovered 0:18:24.240 --> 0:18:26.600 from that at this point. But yeah, they had a 0:18:26.640 --> 0:18:29.679 Sunday in the Park event where the some of the 0:18:29.680 --> 0:18:33.879 people from the Augmented Environment Lab showed up and had 0:18:33.920 --> 0:18:38.280 a Voices of Oakland project where it was an audio 0:18:38.400 --> 0:18:42.399 only augmented reality experience where you would tour the cemetery 0:18:42.560 --> 0:18:47.600 and hear stories by a ghost. Wow. So as you 0:18:47.720 --> 0:18:52.080 as you moved through the cemetery, the appropriate audio would 0:18:52.080 --> 0:18:55.760 play on its own. And I'm thinking this is brilliant. 0:18:56.080 --> 0:18:58.920 I would love to see this used again for for 0:18:59.040 --> 0:19:02.560 a Halloween ghost to Worth of Oakland Cemetery. It would 0:19:02.560 --> 0:19:06.679 be amazing use of theater and technology. Now I'm a 0:19:06.680 --> 0:19:09.080 big theater person, so for me, this is really exciting 0:19:09.119 --> 0:19:12.240 because I think of it in terms of performance. And 0:19:12.280 --> 0:19:14.360 of course that's just one small project, but I thought 0:19:14.400 --> 0:19:15.800 that was really neat that that was the sort of 0:19:15.800 --> 0:19:18.160 thing they were They were looking at applications that would 0:19:18.160 --> 0:19:22.800 really get people interested in the technology. That's true. I 0:19:22.840 --> 0:19:24.440 mean it's just gonna be I think it's gonna be 0:19:24.520 --> 0:19:28.000 one of those things that in fiction it's going to 0:19:28.119 --> 0:19:31.640 be a big to do. You know, you're gonna see 0:19:31.680 --> 0:19:33.440 it on TV and in the movies, and it's gonna 0:19:33.640 --> 0:19:36.119 be all high tech and stuff. But in reality, it's 0:19:36.119 --> 0:19:38.959 gonna just trickle out piece by piece until it can 0:19:39.040 --> 0:19:42.399 become more of a more affordable. Yeah, you you kind 0:19:42.400 --> 0:19:44.320 of see it the technology, because I don't think people 0:19:44.359 --> 0:19:46.840 are gonna want to walk around with you know, special 0:19:46.840 --> 0:19:49.440 glasses in a big camera on top of their heads. Yeah, 0:19:49.480 --> 0:19:51.520 the way, the way, the way it's usually shown in 0:19:51.520 --> 0:19:55.040 television is not with special glasses or anything, but it's 0:19:55.040 --> 0:19:58.440 always like holograms and things like that, things that are 0:19:58.200 --> 0:20:01.280 we're still many many years is away from perfecting the 0:20:01.280 --> 0:20:05.359 technology necessary to get even the most basic form of 0:20:05.359 --> 0:20:09.400 what they're showing as being commonplace and television. But that's 0:20:09.440 --> 0:20:11.720 TV for you, you know, I mean, you gotta you 0:20:11.800 --> 0:20:14.000 gotta take siliberties. If you were to show the real 0:20:14.359 --> 0:20:16.800 augmented reality as it stands now, I think a lot 0:20:16.800 --> 0:20:22.200 of people would just be bored. Well right then, kind 0:20:22.240 --> 0:20:24.160 of like you are. Yeah, well no I'm not bored. 0:20:24.440 --> 0:20:28.080 I don't really have anything else to add. Okay, Well 0:20:28.080 --> 0:20:31.240 then I guess that moves us on to our segment 0:20:31.440 --> 0:20:38.879 of listener mail. Now, this listener mail was sent to 0:20:38.960 --> 0:20:42.439 us from someone who signed it as London. Now I 0:20:42.440 --> 0:20:48.720 could city possibly if so, they are very verbose. Um, 0:20:48.760 --> 0:20:50.760 I could say the name that was on the email, 0:20:50.800 --> 0:20:54.040 but I'm not gonna because it wasn't in the actual signature. 0:20:54.119 --> 0:20:57.119 So I'm just gonna call this person London, this girl 0:20:57.480 --> 0:21:00.840 lady London, I guess because she refers to herself as 0:21:00.880 --> 0:21:05.280 a lassie at one point. Now London wrote us a 0:21:05.400 --> 0:21:10.520 very long and thoughtful response to our our podcast on 0:21:10.640 --> 0:21:13.119 video game systems, and I'm just going to read a 0:21:13.160 --> 0:21:15.280 section of it, because if I were to do the 0:21:15.320 --> 0:21:18.280 full letter, it would be a podcast all on its own. 0:21:19.680 --> 0:21:21.960 When I was a wee lassie of seventeen, all my 0:21:22.040 --> 0:21:25.320 friends had great computers and systems it was, and my 0:21:25.400 --> 0:21:28.159 top level console was a first generation Nintendo and the 0:21:28.200 --> 0:21:31.000 old Attari I had from my Nanni's house. Now, I 0:21:31.040 --> 0:21:33.359 guess I make up for my childhood poverty with the 0:21:33.400 --> 0:21:35.640 fact that I have a top of the line alien 0:21:35.680 --> 0:21:39.199 Ware computer and each of the three consoles out at 0:21:39.200 --> 0:21:43.280 the moment we Xbox three, sixty p S three. Listening 0:21:43.280 --> 0:21:45.480 to your podcast, I reflected on what I use each 0:21:45.520 --> 0:21:48.000 system for and thought maybe this would help you too, 0:21:48.000 --> 0:21:50.760 since you were thinking of getting another system, so this 0:21:50.920 --> 0:21:53.000 I thought I'd share this because our listeners may be 0:21:53.080 --> 0:21:56.840 thinking the same thing. The Xbox is primary use in 0:21:56.880 --> 0:21:59.080 our house is as a media center, while the PS 0:21:59.119 --> 0:22:01.679 three has the same B center capabilities, the UI and 0:22:01.720 --> 0:22:05.199 general usability isn't nearly as good. I personally despise the 0:22:05.320 --> 0:22:08.240 Xbox controller, and in my opinion, no self respecting gamer 0:22:08.280 --> 0:22:10.959 can play a fighting game properly on that system. The 0:22:11.000 --> 0:22:13.679 only game I regularly play on the Xbox at the 0:22:13.680 --> 0:22:17.240 moment is Geometry Wars Evolved two and sometimes a rousing 0:22:17.280 --> 0:22:20.760 game of un I'll skip around a little bit. UH. 0:22:20.880 --> 0:22:23.000 The p S three I didn't purchase till earlier this 0:22:23.080 --> 0:22:25.280