The View From Above: In Hard Focus Round-Up (July 26, 2011)
Tuesday, July 26, 2011 at 1:31PM New App Replacing Time Square Ads With Art: A new AR app is turning multi-million-dollar Time Square ads into art. A joint project between billboard takeover operation Pubic Ad Campaign and The Heavy Projects, the untitled app isn't available widely yet. Check out the video above to see this in action. While the image of throngs of people with eyes fixated on iPad screens instead of watching where they're walking is a scary thought, it beats being inundated with the mess of color and bright lights associated with Times Square. Can't imagine the companies shelling out the cash for these brick and mortar ads will be too pleased.
AR Making Big Strides: The Financial Times today commented on the drastic progress augmented reality technologies have made in just two years. Specifically highlighting Autonomy's new Aurasma technology and the work they're doing in advertising, the writer, Maija Palmer, notes that what we're seeing now compared to 2009 is like moving from black and white silent films to color television. Of course, webcams becoming commonplace on most computers and the mass adoption of smartphones (with cameras) are big pieces of the puzzle, but there's much more to be explored. The question is what's in store for 2013...and 2015. We're excited.
BarSpace Helps Folks Find Best Bar Each Night: Out of the East Bay Express, a new iPhone app is now available to help folks going out for a night on the town find the right venue. Called BarSpace and developed by a few Sonoma County entrepreneurs, the app (and website BarSpace.tv) streams real-time video from bars – of course, only those that agree to install cameras in their facility. This looks to be somewhat similar to SceneTap, a new app we covered a few weeks back that uses facial recognition technology to tell users how many people are at a given bar and the bar’s current male-to-female ratio.
A number of uses come up immediately, including the ability to see if your favorite dive bar is packed, if your friends have already arrived and basically to show you what you're getting into that night. The ALCU is quick to point out the privacy implications of BarSpace (different from SceneTap's cameras set up at entrances and exits to only capture the sex of the person walking into the bar) -- but heads-up that many bars in San Francisco already are using the platform.
