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Augmented reality browser Junaio offers less 'clunky' apps, new API for developers (video)
Remember Metaio? Back in February we reported on the company's rather neat brand of markerless augmented reality, and now it has some fresh news: a major revamp to its Junaio AR browser for iOS and Android, which incorporates the markerless algorithms and a lot more besides. The browser is an open platform for a myriad of smaller AR apps coded by independent developers, and the new version includes both a new UI and API to give those devs additional tools in HTML5 and JavaScript. Right now, the app is worth a peek for the various curiosities demo'd after the break -- such as the ability to see other people's Instagram photos overlaid on the view from your rear camera, showing the direction and distance to the point where they were snapped. In time, though, we're really hoping that developers will latch on to platforms like this and take AR to where it needs to be: something that let's us recognize and augment people and objects naturally and instantaneously, without pre-conceived markers. In fact, Junaio really needs to have coffee with Project Glass. Update: looks like the Android version has jammed in a pipe somewhere and won't hit Google Play til June 25th.
iPhone augmented reality browser Junaio used to "block" billboards in NYC
PublicAdCampaign and The Heavy Projects worked together to include an ad-scrubbing feature in the augmented reality browser Junaio. This trial feature lets NYC residents replace outdoor advertisements in a handful of locations including Times Square with art from indie artists/activists. This is a beta test of what may become a larger project to digital remove outdoor ads from our environment. They hope to compile enough art work "so you never have to look at an ad in public space again." PublicAdCampaign and the artists involved in this project believe public space belongs to the public and they take a strong stance against outdoor advertising. This AR app is their way or legally removing these ads from the public view.
Junaio's augmented reality app for iPhone and Android can add cartoons to your otherwise-boring existence
As an augmented reality navigator that you want to use for finding pizza joints and friends on Foursquare and Twitter, you've got more polished options than Junaio's new 2.0 release -- Layar and Yelp, just to name a couple -- but Junaio has at least one interesting differentiator with a feature it calls "Glue." Basically, independent content providers can develop their own Junaio "channels," which function in the same way as a Layar layer -- it's a particular set of points of interest that'll be displayed in the current view. With Glue, though, Junaio isn't just using your positional information as a point of reference, it can also scan the image for specific objects that developers have programmed their channel to look for, and when such an object is found, crazy things can happen. In Junaio's demo, pointing the camera at a superhero-type cartoon dude causes a 3D representation of him to be rendered on the phone's screen; when you tap on him, he'll point his gun. It's an interesting concept that could eventually have some commercial implications, but in the short term, the company just needs to improve the app -- it crashed several times for us, and its support for changing orientation is a little wonky. If you want to check it out, it's a free download for both the iPhone and Android; while you wait for the install, check out our quick video demo after the break.
