The View From Above: In Hard Focus Round-up (August 30, 2011)

Mediating Mediums - The Digital 3d - [Part 3] from Greg Tran on Vimeo.

AR the next step for architecture: A graduate student at Harvard University utilizes Augmented Reality concepts in an architecture project called "Meditating Mediums," which begs the question - why didn't we think of this application before? As the student, Greg Tran, explains, "people looked at painting, walked around sculpture and walked through architecture," and thus the modern digital equivalent would translate to 3D AR and other technologies that have the ability to play with form, space and function all on one plane. See a video of this project above, via The Next Web.

AR applications beyond fun and games: We’ve covered a lot of Augmented Reality applications here on InHardFocus, many of them focused on entertaining or informing the average smartphone user. However, PBS tackles AR’s potential uses beyond consumer engagement, introducing some current and potential applications that could benefit a variety of industries. These applications include tracking food products in assembly lines and processing plants, creating a broad range of educational supplements to real world objects and textbooks, and building and analyzing crime scenes with technologies so far only existing on popular TV shows. Can’t wait to see what it can do for other industries – from security to medicine.

Otoy brings cloud-based animation tools to the masses: VentureBeat covered a new company today, Otoy, which aims to bring high quality special effects, animation and 3D image rendering to those not working with James Cameron’s budget. Beyond opening up the space for more game changers (literally), Otoy’s plan is quite ambitious in terms of moving this process (and all its graphics) to the cloud. Certainly other video game companies are working toward this, so perhaps we may see those video game consoles obsolete in the next few years.