I predict: Augment Reality Network
By gam3r3OOO 5 Comments
What is it?
Augment Reality Network or AugNet for short.
Augmented reality is placing 2D objects or 3D objects in a display that are drawn over objects in real life when viewed through a digital device, like a Cellphone.
It would probably be a database of 3D data. OpenGL probably. Textures and lighting would be up to the AugNet Engine you use to navigate it. Whether you physically walk around in AugNet or use keyboard and mouse would depend on how much money you make in a year. A full immersion setup will probably run you something like $50,000.
Augnet is just taking augmented reality to its logical next step. Make it a network, make it editable, and make it sharable with others. It is like the internet, but more immersive, spatial and more user friendly.
AugNet will feature a 3D object search engine. I'm not into sculpture or anything so I can't come up with anything interesting offhand that you would want to scan in.
Augnet: a mirror world of sorts, based on a static version of our own world. Similar to a map except 3D.
People wear Cameras similar to the ones present in KinectFusionHD. They walk around and collect 3D data the same way Google Map Cars drive around and collect 2D map data from roads around the world.
I could have. The difference between AugNet and Virtual Reality is in AugNet locality is precisely represented in reality. Location data is aligned with landmarks in a real place. Virtual Reality can be anything you want, not constrained, we could fly if we wanted to. Virtual Reality is basically a RayTraced version of Second Life. AugNet would reflect actual data. One side effect of course is AugNet will become a place proliferated with advertisements. But on the plus side we can save money on ink.
What would it be used for?
Tourism: to see places from multiple angles, optimally these locations would have 3D cameras setup so you could see the humans and animals in their natural habitat. Imagine walking up to a Lion and seeing it up close. Or imagine going to a concert and walking up on the stage while they are playing.
But you wouldn't be interacting with them. But there are even better uses. You could visit places that are negatively effected by light and air. You could visit places that are unsafe to travel to, but be free from danger.
Shopping: to see products from multiple angles before you buy and without having to go to a store
It could replace paper, because you would have the ability to write anywhere, anytime you were online.
Any wall could become a computer screen or a touch recordable surface.
It could be used to track items in your home so that you don't lose things. You could tag every item in your AugNet for your home and the system would keep track of where they are stored.
People might be scanned into AugNet. And we might even have Virtual Movie Actors.
Why would we do this?
So that you can bring back dead actors.
Why would you want Virtual actors?
Step 1: actor is scanned
Step 2: a person adds bones and actuation points to the 3D model
Step 3: a bunch of animators animate the model in common poses and actions, more likely this will be done from film to film
Step 4: the voice of that actor is analyzed and a synthesizer is created for that person's voice based on previous films that he was in.
How would you visit AugNet?
On the go:
You would pull out your Cellphone or have a Headmounted device. Whichever is more convenient.
At home:
You might use one of the above or:
You could see it on a Computer, or some kind of Immersion setup.
No, AugNet is only the first step afterword we might have a smarter system that not only collects data of stationary objects, but of moving ones as well. Perhaps you could collect data on birds, and simulate them moving around in this Mirror World as you walk through it.
It can't all be a good thing what are the negatives?
For one, people could be tracked and traced more easily. Just because they lost your trail wouldn't mean that they couldn't track you down again.
Another concern is advertising. It is inevitable, in AugNet you would eventually see a Microsoft ad here, a Google ad there an As-Seen-On-The-Internet ad.
Some people, buildings, cars would have advertisements on them. But think of the bright side, you could make money by selling your forehead, shirt and pants as a place to put virtual ads.
Another concern is that people may like AugNet so much that they leave a visor on at all times.
If most people used AugNet all the time, people of interest could be censored, or made effectively invisible to all AugNet users.
Some might even intentionally censor out other people, even cars. It would be tragic if someone "augmented out cars" and then crossed the street. It would be parallel to crossing the street with a blindfold on.
Further Info:
http://development.blog.shinobi.jp/Entry/5446/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Augmented_reality
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mixed_reality
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