Articles Posted in Augmented Reality

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A weekly wrap up of interesting news about virtual worlds, virtual goods and other social media.

 

Gaming is a top priority for mobile-tech makers

“Gaming is now a ‘need to have’ category, not a ‘nice to have’ category for mobile devices, whether they be tablets or phones,” said PJ McNealy, videogame analyst at Digital World Research. “The days of a single-function mobile device are long gone.”

PixyKids raises $3M for a social media platform just for kids

PixyKids has raised $3 million to develop its social platform for kids ages six to 12. It is built on the idea that kids want to socialize, even though they’re too young for Facebook. Kids can join PixyKids under their parents’ supervision and can share experiences and pictures the way that adults do on Facebook. The company is betting that social networks, not virtual worlds or education sites, will resonate most with kids.

FanCake Debuts as First Live Social Gaming Experience for Sports Watching

Kwarter, a mobile application factory building apps that lie at the intersection of the social, mobile and TV spaces,
announced today the launch of its first app, FanCake. FanCake turns live televised sporting events into interactive and social games, connecting millions of sports fans, teams, broadcasters, brands and athletes to enhance the game watching experience.

LVFH Launches Real Vegas Casino on Facebook

Las Vegas From Home.com Entertainment Inc. is pleased to announce the launch of its social casino product, Real Vegas Casino,
on Facebook to the general public. It is expected LVFH will launch more games under the Real Vegas Casino brand shortly, coinciding with a specialized marketing campaign.

 French City Implements Virtual Currency to Avoid Financial Ruin

The French city of Nantes has plans to introduce its own virtual currency as a complement to the euro. By 2013,
participating local businesses will be able to pay, or be paid in virtual currency units called “Nanto.”

Olympic stars brought to life in world’s first ‘augmented reality hotel’

From today, guests at the Holiday Inn London Kensington Forum will be able to use their smartphones or tablets to see athletes in virtual action in the reception, corridors and bedrooms. When the devices are pointed at specific sites in the hotel, the athletes will appear on the screen. BMX World Champion Shanaze Reade can be seen performing tricks on her bike in the lobby, while Paralympic table tennis world number one Will Bayley hits table tennis balls behind reception.  Meanwhile, UK long-jump record holder Chris Tomlinson can be seen to jump in a corridor. And leading windsurfer Dempsey will – somewhat bizarrely – do his thing in the hotel’s bedrooms using a bed sheet.

 

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Our Virtual Worlds & Social Media team is leading the way in understanding and addressing legal issues for a number of cutting-edge interactive and immersive technologies, including augmented reality. Some of our team members recently outlined IP, privacy and liability issues in a Q&A on Augmented Planet, a popular news site for the developer industry. However, the technology’s legal issues are increasingly relevant to all companies.

Augmented reality technology blurs the line between what is real and what is computer-generated by enhancing a real world view with text, images, graphics or other media. Many businesses are already using augmented reality to market services and goods. Use of this technology will exponentially increase in the very near future.

Our team engages with both augmented reality technology developers and brands and businesses using the technology. We advise the developers at an early stage, advising on business model and technology design issues for a service or application before too much time and financial resources is spent on programming and development. We advise businesses using the technology on an array of legal issues to help protect their brands and minimize liability.

The Augmented Planet Q&A is here.

 

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Thumbnail image for Canon_logo.png

Augmented reality (sometimes referred to as Mixed Reality) will likely get a boost from Canon’s vision for the future of imaging. The following is an excerpt from an announcement about Canon’s upcoming EXPO in NY.

 

Canon EXPO 2010 New York will feature the “Imaging for Tomorrow” exhibit
showcasing new technologies that will enhance people’s lives and offers a
preview of Canon’s vision for the future of imaging. Capitalizing on the
significant developments in display technology and cameras, the exhibit will
include Canon’s mixed-reality initiative, which uses computers to combine the
real and virtual worlds in real-time, creating a visual experience in which
users can not only “see” images in a visual space, but also control and create
them. Canon’s Mixed Reality system utilizes a head-mounted display with built-in
cameras and a computer that processes video to blend real and virtual realities.

 

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Augmented Planet Ltd. indicates that as of the end of June 2010, a search of the App Store revealed nearly 400 applications found by searching “augmented reality” and nearly 100 more that were augmented reality apps but didn’t use those words. In comparison, prior to September 2009, there were less than 100.

This is one more indicator of rapid growth of augmented reality.

This data confirms the the sense of optimism that our team members experienced while we attended the Augmented Reality Event conference in early June this year.

Of course with the rapidly expanding business opportunities in this space come legal issues of which companies should be aware. Our team has prepared a Legal Issues with Augmented Reality fact sheet which highlights some of the common issues faced in this space.