Eye interaction for the ANW

The opportunity for interaction with the environment using eye movement is possible with scene devices like the Ouidoo Gaian. Canon debuted this technology in the semi-professional EOS 5 film SLR over a decade ago which could track eye movement using a low resolution digital sesnor
near the eye piece. This technology evolved to its epitome in the EOS 3, the last of Canon's professional film cameras.

The 1 megapixel video camera could be used to track eye movement. The SLR provides a better opportunity with the close proximity of the 1 kilopixel sensor and the eye. A phone held 30cm away from the eye could be close enough for accurate recognition using the latest algorithms and
high available computational power.

It would be an extraordinary interface. Simply looking at a building on the screen brings up the articulated naturality information. The experience is science fiction. Hand, touch or phone orientation gestures could also be used to provide pan and zoom functions interfaces. The
user can interact easier and with one less step. It will make the interface with the ANW exciting and novel as well as functional.

This technology could be extended to modern digital video cameras and could enable a new standard of creativity and high quality output.

Proximity social network applications - the future of Facebook?

Websites like meetups.com already provide a platform for likeminded people in a local area to get together. An upgraded version would bring this to a phone interface and locate meetups within easy distance of the user.

Would this be the AR application that takes over from Facebook? The proximity-based social network platform has a wealth of opportunities for convenient socialisation. This may be a natural progression of the Facebook platform or a usurper may capture the market.

The smarter phone

The first mobile phones did one thing: they handled calls. SMS was developed for the engineers to recieve a 'ping' from the base station but the obvious opportunity was quickly brought into the feature set. The first Nokia Communicator brought mobile phone computing and internet
access to the masses in the late 1990s and its in the 21st century that the phone is changing into a multipurpose mobile computing device.

Today sees people reach for their phone for more than answering a phone call. The Blackberry brought pervasive business email. The iPhone is succeeding in mobile gaming where the Nokia N-gage series failed. Almost every new phone has a music player as well as a Swiss army knife
of useful digital utilities like diaries and alarm clocks. Mobile TV has becoming commerically viable and the next step will see people reaching for their phones to access the Articulated Naturality Web.

The mobile phone has evolved beyond its inventors' visions. The modern smartphone is a powerful, portable computer that is connected to voice, text and digital networks. The additonal of sensors, applications and advanced algorithms to sense the world around the phone is a significant leap of evolution for the cellular device. These new capabilities are the tools for the architects of the future to build the applications and the new channel for the content creation herd.

Questions about ownership of the ANW

The ANW exists upon real space. Someone's house can have all sorts of articulated spaces or advertisements but does the owner of the house own that space? The answer is yes I think. It may not make sense for it to be otherwise.

At the moment there are no laws about the new virtual world of digital overlaid on physical objects. What would the future bring?

Would an AN billboard automatically be owned by the owner of the physical billboard? Yes. I guess that would make sense. The alternative would be a free market in ANW space and the potential for new 'stolen' billboards or other aggressive marketing tactics is high.

Anywhere where reviews are posted could delete unfavourable reviews? Yes. That would be inevitable unless there was a free 'layer' of the ANW that was unmoderated like alt. newsgroups.

And for free? If the law was the ownership of property came with the ownership of the land area and body of the property in virtual space then it would be hard to justify a charge unless the business take tried to exploit this opportunity was successful long before a legal challenge.

But what about the street? Who owns that? Would that be left anarchic or would it become moderated by a large, provider that sold advertising space to fund the free ANW platform for users?

And what if a company wanted to advertise using the sky in the ANW? I don't know who would own the sky in the ANW.

Progess in AN and ANW

At the moment there's a perception amongst some people that theAR ANW is going to be a gimmick. The same potential risk existed with the first internet. Back then few but the visionaries and early adopters could see the potential of an interconnected world wide computer network but even they couldn't dream of what it would become a decade after the internet boom hit the public consciousness.

The ANW requires a shift in thinking and many do not have the imagination to take that leap. The big brands like Microsoft and Qualcomm are out buying all the imagination they can, and in Qualcomm's case they've actually bought an Austria R&D company called Imagination, because creativity doesn't grow in these levianth organisations. They will take the ideas from the true innovators and mass produce them, and that's how the ANW will succeed. Most modern smartphones are already equipped with the basic featureset for AR applications and by the end of the year more products will meet the requirements for the ANW.

The big companies have already seen the potential for AR applications and they're starting to hear about AN and the ANW. Microsoft is poaching Oxford AR researchers, Google's beta-testing basic AR software and Apple have patented an AR headset. Each one is looking to get their hands on the expertise, patents and market share. Its basic business sense:
they're looking for the cash cow of their future and its AR.

The real innovation is happening elsewhere. Leading the pack is QderoPateo. They're introducing a range of smartphones designed to make the reality of the Articulated Naturality Web happen today. Its being launched with a series of signature applications, a new chip and new AN software at the Shanghai Technology Expo 2010.

What do people think of AR?

I spoke about augmented reality and Articulated Naturality to a friend of mine who works at a major gaming company. He said "All the AR stuff is very interesting - very curious to see how it
evolves... It's all a bit niche so far but I can see how there could be some really useful and fun applications."

Its a good summary of the general attitude to AR outside the fanboy culture.

Those in the industry can see the possibilities and some people can see the potential but perhaps a generation burned by the dotcom boom and bust are more cynical about new technology.

To the uninformed public consciousness augmented reality is an iceberg with a tiny tip they can see. The huge mass of research and specialised product development that's been going on for the last 30 years and has accelerated in the last decade as the realisation of virtual continuum
consumer technology quickened represents the unseen mass. Those who can see the whole iceberg can see a positive collision with the Titanic that will create a wealth of "really useful and fun applications."

The state of play today is "a bit niche" for the majority of AR applications and most of the world outside the US. For many reasons they've been the earliest mass-adopters of AR technology. The UK is far behind as it was with the dotcom revolution which is why my friend's
view may be different from a Californian's.

The development of the Articulated Naturality Web

The Articulated Naturality Web (ANW) is slowly coming into existance however its only a tiny percentage of the population that have experienced the potential of location-relevant online information let alone the extraordinary new experience of a virtual world of information
overlaid on real. The speed of uptake of the ANW will be moderatedby the speed at which useful applications are developed, the speed with which the necessary hardware becomes pervasive (and usually cheap) and the unpredictable development of a "killer application" that will take
the market by storm. Like any technological revolution it requires advances in a wide range of engineering, from software to hardware through to manufacturing technology and intelligent algorithms capable of applying the new data usefully.

The certainty of uptake, in my opinion, is without doubt. Its inexorable.

The pieces to the Articulated Naturality (AN) revolution are already in place. Smartphones will continue to improve on the basic features required for augmented reality and they will soon have the specification for accessing the ANW. AN will mean users will be closer to the information they want, when they want it and that's a strong selling point for people living in a the modern, information-empowered environment. AR navigation is a simple, useful way to get around though it will take a change in user behaviour to see people walking around viewing the world through their phone. Its likely that an audio-AR browser such as Toozla will be successful with people who prefer to be discrete or are sensitive to the risk of theft. The browser wars are really hotting up in early 2010. Layar is the most popular and is now preinstalled on Samsung's latest smartphone and other Android devices. Sites like Wikitude are offering geotagging to the mass market. Consumer digital cameras have GPS built in. The modern smartphone is capable of basic AR.

Its an exciting time for early adopters. Its an exciting time for businesses ready to access the new medium of AR and ANW marketing. Entertainment and social venues are likely to benefit from the potential of proximity-based electronic marketing. Magazines like Esquire have
already produced AR editions. New AR games are being released and it won't belong before the market sees releases from major games manufacturers. Slowly the industry behind AR and eventually behind the ANW will grow and the AN-capable phones will become the next must-have consumer gadget.

There is no immediate threat to the new augmented reality market and ANW other than a totally unheard of technology being developed that rapidly achieves the benefits and uptake. The consumer consciousness is fickle as always looks for the next fad and its likely that this factor may divert its attention away from the new ANW however it is merely a blank canvas for the architects and artists to create exciting and innovative ways to apply the potential of the invisible information world to every day life.