As children we all dreamt that our toys would come to life and play with us. Well thanks to Qualcomm and some augmented reality technology our children won’t have to dream.

At CES2012 this week, Qualcomm showed off a product demo of the Sesame Street Playset. The playset was developed in partnership with Sesame Street Workshop for the education of pre-school aged children. The toys are fun to play with on their own but come to life when a tablet joins in. In this case Qualcomm used a HTC Jetstream tablet.

“In the past, the only place toys came to life was on TV and in movies. Today, we are bringing that magic one step closer to reality,” said Jay Wright, senior director of business development at Qualcomm.

The experience is built using Qualcomm’s Vuforia™ platform and an application to recognize 3D figures. Qualcomm has always been active in the augmented reality space working with and supporting developers to create the hardware needed for truly immersive executions.

Although a prototype this Playset has been created with learning and interaction at it’s core. Qualcomm has worked closely with the Sesame Street Workshop to ensure the toys are educational and maximize developmental growth. The toys from our dreams and sci-fi movies are now in our living rooms. What will be next?

Check out this video to see the Playset in action:

Want to try on watches but can’t make it to the store? Tissot, maker of Swiss watches has a solution for you. Using augmented reality technology you are able to try any of a select collection of watches.

This magical experience lets you shop online for just the right watch. You can see a 3D model of each watch on your own wrist. Compare styles, seek the right color to match your outfit or decide which face size is appropriate for you. By activating the touch functions you can learn about the features of each watch.

Congratulations go to Tissot for a perfect matching of e-commerce and augmented reality. With this unique offering Tissot ensures that their consumer is engaged with their product and spends more time on their site. The AR application is both refined and informative. The experience is compatible with both Windows and Mac systems. The only draw back is the hefty download. For Mac it weighs in at a whopping 85 MB.

Download the marker:

Tissot Touch Collection

Download the AR Experience:

Windows or Mac

Video of Experience:

During my time at the first annual Augmented Reality Event 2010 in Santa Clara last month, I had the distinct pleasure of meeting Camilla Grey from Moving Brands. Moving Brands is a London based branding company. Their goal is to “redefine branding by setting new standards of creativity for a moving world.” They have done some amazing identity work.

During the conference Camilla gave a wonderful presentation on Living Identity. Instead of the usual PowerPoint or Keynote slides Camilla used a custom AR format. What a great way to present at an AR conference. If you would like to experience the script for yourself you can download the marker and follow the link below. Through the use of their logo Moving Brands is able to display blog, twitter, video and image feeds from their site. To cycle through the content you simply move the marker to arrows at the left or right of the content. The code is flash based so there is no download required.

Tips for use:

1) On Mac computer make sure you have USB camera selected. To do so, right-click select settings and click the webcam icon.

2) For easy recognition, you may want to print the marker at 100% and fold the edges of the paper under to make it more stable.


Download the marker:
Moving Brands: Living Identity

Launch AR Experience


Video of Experience:

This Wednesday April 21st, I will be attending the Augmented Reality Conference. A one day part of the Emerging Communications Conference at the Airport Marriott in San Francisco, CA.

The AR Conference is the world’s first and largest commercial augmented reality event. Industry leaders will be sharing their expertise on a variety of AR related subjects. Topics range from a presentation on crowd sourced traffic apps by Di-Ann Eisnor, Community Geographer, of Waze to the applying the advancement of desktop applications to the future of mobile AR, presented by Blake Callens, Senior Software Engineer at Zugara.

This conference is going to be a place where the future of the marketplace will be molded. The advancement of AR is changing the way that consumers experience their products and promotions. As with other industries in the past few years AR is helping to put the power back in the consumer’s hands. When the consumer decides how and when they experience a promotion the relationship is enhanced.

Other industry leaders presenting will be Bruno Uzzan of Total Immersion, Peter Meier of Metaio, Dana Farbo of Acrossair, and Mark Rolston of Frog Design. Take a look at the full schedule here.

Keep up on the AR Conference news throughout the day on Wednesday by following hashtag #arconf on Twitter. I will also be providing updates on the sessions via Twitter. You can follow me @mdusing.

Interesting heads up AR concept. Experience your computer screen when you get up in the morning. Concept shows calibrating by looking at certain points with your eyes. A long ways off and something like Minority Report (the part no one wants to come true) but a good look at an AR UI Design.

Posted by Spannungsbogen on YouTube. The poster is primarily a DJ/Producerbut he does have some serious 3D and artistic talent. You can find him @bojean on Twitter or on his personal website here.

Saatchi & Saatchi Israel recently created an AR promotion for Passover. Using Matza as the marker they have created a very memorable interactive card. Do you want a bite?

Adidas is ushering in a digital age in footwear with their new Originals AR Game Pack shoes. That’s right augmented reality on your feet.

The shoes come in a set of five colors exclusive to select Champs Sports locations and Eastbay online. The experience is part of Adidas’ virtual Originals Neighborhood. Wearers will be able to hold their shoe up to a webcam unlocking a challenging gaming experience and exclusive content with the AR codes on the tongue. Users play games by using the shoe as a controller. New games will be launched each month starting in February and ending in April of 2010. Shoes range in price from around $70 to $99.

The games come in a variety of flavors. Starting with a Star Wars game where the user fires blue paint balloons at Stormtroopers. In the second game the user skateboards through a 3-D neighborhood performing tricks and navigating their way through obstacles. The third game being released in April is more musically oriented. Users become their own DJ and create beats.

From a retail perspective; Adidas is doing a great job engaging their consumers by creating a lasting conservation. Not only do they engage with their consumer in-stores and online during the purchase experience; they keep them coming back for more. Consumers will show their pride for the brand by wearing their products around as well as engaging online. The experience builds the brand and makes consumer feel a part of something exclusive and cutting edge. Word of mouth and digital WOM will be huge spreading the message of Adidas’ innovation. It’s great to see a brand staying fresh and taking a risk of trying out new technology. Let the conversation begin.

What do you think of the shoes, another gimmick or actually a good use of AR in the marketplace? Leave a comment below and let us know.

Want to buy a pair check out these styles online:

Superstar LTO

Forum Mid

Teaser trailer for the online experience:

Follow Adidas Originals on Twitter at @adi_originals

UPDATE:

Finally found a link to all the shoes on Eastbay.com You can see the line-up here

Also got my hands on a pair and have been trying to get them to work. Turns out that most of my problems were because of my work firewall and port blocking. Video of experience and tips/review to come shortly.

Augmented reality has hit the mainstream. The first AR app to make it to the iPhone app store was Metro Paris Subway by French developer PresseLite. Unfortunately you need to be in Paris to experience the AR features of the app.

Lucky for us, with the latest release of Yelp you can experience augmented reality on the iPhone 3GS for yourself. Yelp is a handy location based directory app for finding restaurants, bars, banks, etc. in your area. In order to use augmented reality in the Yelp app you need enable a hidden feature called Monocle. Follow these simple steps:

1. Grab the app here, Yelp.

2. Launch it and shake your phone. You need to shake it 3 times. TUAW got it working with one good shake, while other TUAW bloggers needed more than 3.

3. A message appears indicating that you’ve activated “Monocle.” That’s what they call the AR feature.

4. A monocle button appears on the top right of the app. Press it.
( Directions provided by: www.tuaw.com )

Now its time to play. Launch the Monocle augmented reality feature by clicking the new button in the upper right corner. As you move the phone around you will see your surroundings through the iPhone camera. Pop-up style windows display nearby business in their corresponding direction related to your location.

Note: Monocle only works on the iPhone 3GS.

For a more in depth review check out this video from GearLive: