Some nice design fiction from Google. You might enjoy the parody version too.

via youtube.com

Layer of course is famous for its augmented reality platform, but they've introduced a new recognition tool. The best way I would describe it is that it works like a QR code, but without needing the QR code. Try out the demo yourself. What do you think?

This isn't particularly new and Viewdle have some fancier videos on their Website. But I think its better to actually see a live demo of it in action.

Viewdle is all about building "interesting [social networking] applications based on who is standing in front of the camera". Or if we distill it further - its the consumerisation of facial recognition. This idea is likely to create mixed feelings of excitement and dread.

So far these interesting applications include apps for Facebook to auto-tag your 'friends' and an AR role playing game is coming:

Use your camera to recognize enemies and find real-world items. The battle is nearing!

Hmm... Personally I'd like to see what we would get if they opened it up to the hacking community.

When you think about it, this is a natural extension of search and augment reality techniques. Goggles is more than just landmarks and places - it can be used to find information about books, contact information, artwork, wine and logos from the images you scan.

Obviously I'm disappointed you don't actually get to wear some kind of AR 'goggles' for this, but the contact lens HUD is still under development.

Meanwhile, those of us with iPhones will need to wait a little longer until we get to play with the Goggles too.

Just in case you thought augmented reality (AR) was all about marketing gimmicks involving mobile phones and barcodes, this example from some Finnish researchers shows how some people are thinking about other ways of applying augmented and virtual reality to business. Actually many of these ideas aren't new but perhaps what is more interesting is that the technological barriers are falling and in easy (or very close) reach of consumers. I suspect that the only real barrier is probably the headsets! However, these experiments all pave the way for new, innovative methods for collaborating and manipulating data to come.

Hat tip to Games Alfresco.