cool site

Cool Site of the Week – GE Augmented Reality!!!

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If you do nothing else today spend 5 minutes and go to this site. You’ll need a printer, a pdf viewing application,  a computer with a webcam (new Macs come with these by default), and a web browser with 10 installed (you will get a prompt to install if you don’t have it).

  1. Go to this link:  http://ge.ecomagination.com/smartgrid/?c_id=Huff#/augmented_reality
  2. Print out the PDF linked here: http://ge.ecomagination.com/smartgrid/ar/printme.pdf
  3. Click on the “Launch Turbine”  or “Launch Solar” link and permit to access your camera (you’ll get a dialog box)
  4. Hold up the printed PDF so it shows up in your camera view and prepare to be amazed.

This demo begins to show the promise of Augmented Reality on embedded display technology. What I mean is as displays get cheaper it will be more common for them to be placed in public or even private areas for your benefit. Imagine dressing room mirrors that can show you what you will look like without changing cloths. Imagine wearing digital accessories visible only to those who view you through a screen or through a Head Mounted Display (HMD). The possibilities are endless as we start to embed virtual objects in our reality.

If you don’t want to spend the time or don’t have all of the gear, hear is a video that is almost as good (and NOT fake).

Note: has been awarded (we’re in the ‘negotiation’ phase) a grant to design a user interface concept for Augmented Reality.  More on that soon!

Posted by Joseph Juhnke on February 25, 2009

Cool site of the week – www.sumopaint.com

SumoPaint

If this isn’t a testament to the future of Rich Internet Applications (RIA), then we don’t know what is. Sumo Paint is a robust, feature rich, easy to use (relatively), illustration tool created using Adobe Flex technology. It runs exactly the same in Windows as it does on the Mac. We haven’t heard of anyone using it as a production tool yet but it’s not beyond the realm of possibilities. It is FREE after all. Given Google’s full-court-press in the RIA document space we don’t think it will be too long (minutes?) before they are acquired. We’re taking bets… share yours.

P.S. The picture above was created in 5 clicks. We know you’re impressed. :) 

Posted by Joseph Juhnke on February 4, 2009

An open letter to 1stAvenueMachine

Dear 1stAvenueMachine,

We realize you specialize in CGI for film and advertising but you are making the rest of us, across a lot of different industries, look bad. Please do your best to reduce the amount of coolness you exude from your website so the rest of us can put food on the table.

Sincerely,

The internet

Posted by Joseph Juhnke on December 10, 2008

Cool site of the week

This site is amazing. We’re still wrapping our heads around how they pulled this off. Hats off to the dev team, whoever you are. When you click the link, choose “North America” and “USA” then skip the intro. Enjoy the delicious particle mayhem.

Posted by Joseph Juhnke on December 8, 2008