http://phys.org/ en-us Phys.org internet news portal provides the latest news on science including: Physics, Nanotechnology, Life Sciences, Space Science, Earth Science, Environment, Health and Medicine. (Phys.org) —Yawn. Two startup visionaries claim they have just the device to replace keyboard and mouse forever and ever. Where have you heard that before. But maybe these two have something important. Meron Gribetz, the startup founder and CEO and Ben Sand, the co-pilot and evangelist, are behind something called the Meta wearable computer headset, which consists of stereoscopic glasses and camera. It's the way computers always should have been: wearable, viewed through both eyes, and directly controlled using the entire arms and hands, according to its founder and CEO Gribetz. The belief is that the future of computing is in this technology that can display information from the real world and control objects with one's fingers, Tony Stark-style, at low latency and high dexterity. Meta founder and CEO Gribetz referred to the technology as the keyboard and mouse of the future. http://phys.org/news288096606.html Technology Sat, 18 May 2013 11:50:38 EST news288096606 (Phys.org) —Apple Inc. has been granted a patent for an application filed with the U.S. Patent Office in 2010 for "Synchronized, interactive augmented reality displays for multifunction devices." The patent filing describes Augmented Reality (AR) technology that is familiar to most tech watchers, along with new ideas that are not. http://phys.org/news282998595.html Technology Wed, 20 Mar 2013 11:43:31 EST news282998595 (Phys.org)—Metaio this week announced its AREngine, an augmented reality chip that closes in on the future of smartphones as AR devices for daily use. The hardware chipset being introduced is a jump up for Metaio which has in the past focused on AR software. The AREngine is being promoted as a move to make "all-day AR possible" for mobile device users, a feature that will be easily appreciated by tourists, not to mention developers eager to gain from a riper ecosystem. http://phys.org/news280731318.html Technology Fri, 22 Feb 2013 05:30:01 EST news280731318 (Phys.org)—Researchers and engineers at a Japanese company called Different Dimensions have taken the concept of augmented reality to new heights by adding the touch of an avatar to the experience. That touch comes courtesy of a robot they've built that mimics commands sent from an animation generator—it's covered with green material to allow for connecting augmented reality imagery with the real world robot. They call it a "virtual humanoid." http://phys.org/news279799524.html Technology Mon, 11 Feb 2013 10:30:01 EST news279799524 (Phys.org)—People with impaired depth perception might see better with augmented reality glasses according to a research initiative under way at the University of Yamanashi in Japan. The team involved are working with off the shelf goggles that are aimed at the "bionocularly challenged," referring to people who lack binocular depth perception. The glasses generate a feeling of depth in the partially sighted person's "good" eye via software especially written for the glasses. http://phys.org/news278503020.html Technology Sun, 27 Jan 2013 10:10:03 EST news278503020 Unable to resist the "Try me!" sign, 8-year-old Julian Rivas held up a box containing the Star Wars Death Star Lego set in front of a yellow kiosk and was blown away. http://phys.org/news276968781.html Technology Wed, 09 Jan 2013 16:10:02 EST news276968781 (Phys.org)—Are we moving closer to a computer age where "touchscreen" is in the room, but it is the counter, desktop, wall, our new digital work areas? Are we moving into a new form factor called Anywhere? Do we understand how locked up we are in on-screen prisons, and that options will come? The drive for options is strong at the MIT Media Lab, where its Fluid Interfaces Group has been working on some AR options, the "Augmented Product Counter" and the "LuminAR." The latter is a bulb that makes any surface a touchscreen. You can even use it to replace the bulb in a desk lamp with the MIT group's "bulb" to project images onto a surface. The LuminAR bulb is small enough to fit a standard light fixture. http://phys.org/news274368763.html Technology Mon, 10 Dec 2012 13:33:16 EST news274368763 Augmented reality applications for mobile devices could become smarter and more sophisticated, thanks to two recent grants awarded to UC Santa Barbara computer science professors Matthew Turk and Tobias Höllerer. http://phys.org/news274012432.html Technology Thu, 06 Dec 2012 10:34:37 EST news274012432 (Phys.org)—Sports fans have come to expect some of the extras they see on their TV screen, such as the yellow lines that appear on a football field highlighting where the ball needs to go for a first down. Similarly, NASCAR fans can find their favorite driver in the pack because of those superimposed car numbers on the screen. http://phys.org/news267177323.html Technology Tue, 18 Sep 2012 08:55:44 EST news267177323 The Office of Naval Research (ONR) is demonstrating the next phase of an augmented-reality project Aug. 23 in Princeton, N.J., that will change the way warfighters view operational environments—literally. http://phys.org/news264941817.html Technology Thu, 23 Aug 2012 12:10:01 EST news264941817 While in-store shopping accounts for 92 percent of retail volume, consumers are expecting the same levels of personalization and customization that they do when they shop online; 58 percent of consumers want to get in-store product information and 19 percent of consumers are already browsing their mobile devices while in-store. Scientists at IBM Research - Haifa are looking to bring all the benefits of online shopping into traditional, brick-and-mortar stores and are creating a new augmented reality mobile shopping application (app) that will give in-store shoppers instant product details and promotions through their mobile devices. http://phys.org/news260557425.html Technology Tue, 03 Jul 2012 18:05:13 EST news260557425 (Phys.org) -- The new version of the augmented reality (AR) browser Junaio launched this week with more promise of easy immersive browsing with mobile devices. The idea is to merge via smartphone the vastness of the Internet into the real world, or to browse the world as one does the Internet. Metaio, the company behind Junaio, says the new release represents “the most advanced AR browser and open development platform.” The browser is designed to bring AR into the everyday world of experiences such as gaming, finding buildings, ordering off a restaurant menu, and walking in the right direction to the subway. Junaio was first released back in 2009 and has built up adoption among smartphone users and developers. Junaio uses have included scanning Quick Response (QR) codes, navigating environments, and discovering augmented content in print. http://phys.org/news259510248.html Technology Thu, 21 Jun 2012 15:40:01 EST news259510248 (Phys.org) -- Most children at some point in their schooling are taught about the water table and many wind up being tasked with creating a model of some sort to represent how it all works. Some use clay, but many more likely use sand, as it’s far easier and faster than most anything else. Now researchers at UC Davis have taken that model to new extremes by building a sandbox system that is capable of automatically adding augmented reality real-time coloring to the sand to indicate altitude and moving water as changes are made to the terrain with a hand or small tool. http://phys.org/news255942033.html Technology Fri, 11 May 2012 08:04:30 EST news255942033 (Phys.org) -- A Bellevue, Washington, company specializing in display technology based on eyewear and contact lenses has sealed a deal with DARPA. Innovega, which says its technology can open a “new dimension to virtual and augmented reality applications,” told the BBC earlier this week that it has signed a contract to deliver a prototype of its iOptik display system to DARPA. That system consists of special contact lenses and eyeglasses. The product is touted to be a better solution than bulky heads-up display systems of the past. Screens sit directly on users' eyeballs and work with a pair of special lightweight glasses. http://phys.org/news253678515.html Technology Sun, 15 Apr 2012 05:50:01 EST news253678515 Mobile computing tools for urban and construction planning have developed dramatically over the past few years. Even by global standards, the progress made at VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland has been remarkable. Augmented Reality technology developed by VTT has enabled the placement of office and residential construction in the appropriate environment and the study of the overall concept on-site, even at the planning stage, for example on a smart phone display. http://phys.org/news253357936.html Technology Wed, 11 Apr 2012 10:12:41 EST news253357936 (PhysOrg.com) -- NASA’s Langley Research Center in Virginia has been hard at work developing an Augmented Reality headset for use by commercial pilots to help reduce airline accidents due to poor weather and overcrowding at airports. The results of that effort have now become known as NASA has recently begun searching for a company to make and market the headset which thus far, doesn’t have an official name. http://phys.org/news251027426.html Technology Thu, 15 Mar 2012 11:20:01 EST news251027426 A new augmented reality unit developed by ESA can provide just-in-time medical expertise to astronauts. All they need to do is put on a head-mounted display for 3D guidance in diagnosing problems or even performing surgery. http://phys.org/news247736484.html Technology Mon, 06 Feb 2012 08:10:01 EST news247736484 Currently being developed by DARPA researchers at Washington-based Innovega iOptiks are contact lenses that enhance normal vision by allowing a wearer to view virtual and augmented reality images without the need for bulky apparatus.  http://phys.org/news247320618.html Technology Wed, 01 Feb 2012 12:10:54 EST news247320618 (PhysOrg.com) -- Sony UK is using Augmented Reality technology in a new online tool to help consumers decide which Sony television size will be best for their walls or tables. For those in a palatial home where you don’t want the TV to look lost, or for those in a shoebox room where every bit of space counts, the tool is intended to be the accurate guide. It is designed to let you see exactly how the set would look in situ before you buy. http://phys.org/news233809752.html Technology Mon, 29 Aug 2011 04:09:46 EST news233809752 Imagine if you could wander the streets of a new city and get monuments and shops to reveal detailed information about themselves in a speech balloon. Like in a cartoon. http://phys.org/news233326445.html Technology Tue, 23 Aug 2011 14:00:50 EST news233326445 Sony has developed integrated ‘Augmented Reality (hereafter referred to as ‘AR’) technology’ called as “Smart AR.” When capturing visuals through a camera on a device such as a smartphone, the technology enables additional information to be displayed on the device’s screens such as virtual objects, or images and texts that cannot be identified by visual perception alone. The technology employs the markerless approach, forgoing any requirement for special markers such as 2D barcodes. The object captured by the camera is quickly recognized and can be tracked at high-speed along with the movement of the camera, as it is displayed over the actual 3D space. http://phys.org/news225018267.html Technology Thu, 19 May 2011 10:04:37 EST news225018267 (PhysOrg.com) -- Virtual reality may take us to worlds that worlds that we have never been to before, but augmented reality can make the world that we already live in a better, or at least a more digital, place. It should be no surprise then that augmented reality technology is showing up everywhere, and being integrated with the technology we already use every day to make things easier or just more fun. http://phys.org/news224255900.html Electronics Tue, 10 May 2011 15:10:01 EST news224255900 Nestle is out to boost its share of the global breakfast cereal market with a dose of augmented reality supplied by French technology firm Dassault Systemes. http://phys.org/news220853519.html Technology Fri, 01 Apr 2011 06:00:02 EST news220853519 (PhysOrg.com) -- It seems like there are no shortage of uses for the Kinect system. The device, which was initially created by Microsoft as an add-on to its popular Xbox 360 video game console, to allow users to ditch the controller, has been getting around. Now, it has been integrated into a system designed to help the blind. http://phys.org/news219675381.html Technology Fri, 18 Mar 2011 13:57:47 EST news219675381 You’re in a bookstore checking out the bestsellers. You scan the book with your iPhone camera and immediately see information floating in the air, provided by the store’s information channel. You add your own book club channel to the view, overlaying additional reviews from friends and other relevant information from shopping sites on the Web. http://phys.org/news217697920.html Technology Wed, 23 Feb 2011 15:38:57 EST news217697920 (AP) -- The new iPhone application mTrip is a travel guide and then some: It uses the latest in smart phone technology to make it easier to stay on track in a foreign locale. http://phys.org/news202730215.html Technology Fri, 03 Sep 2010 10:57:15 EST news202730215 The Georgia Institute of Technology announces the release of the developer preview of Kamra, the first mobile augmented reality (AR) browser for the KHARMA (KML/HTML Augmented Reality Mobile Architecture) development platform based on open Web standards. http://phys.org/news194611621.html Technology Tue, 01 Jun 2010 11:47:46 EST news194611621 (PhysOrg.com) -- GPS may no longer have to be about following audio directions only, and looking at maps on your screen. Wikitude Drive for Android offers an augmented reality feature that lets you actually see the road ahead. http://phys.org/news193667758.html Technology Fri, 21 May 2010 14:40:01 EST news193667758 (PhysOrg.com) -- From the Italy of Visconti to the Spain of Almodovar, many people's first encounter with a foreign country is in the cinema. Imagine if images from the silver screen could be conjured up anew when they do visit, for real? http://phys.org/news190452318.html Technology Wed, 14 Apr 2010 08:40:04 EST news190452318 Picture this: As your eyes alight for the first time on a skyscraper in a foreign cityscape, a disembodied voice whispers in your ear the phone number of a posh bar on the top floor. http://phys.org/news189747401.html Technology Tue, 06 Apr 2010 04:37:10 EST news189747401