Though I found information to be both useful and interesting in the entirety of this article, perhaps the most intriguing part to me was when the idea of photo recognition was explained. This concept was described with an example of an app that can recognize certain monuments when the user holds up their phone’s camera lens to a certain structure. The screen on the phone shows you the image you see through the lens (described as a window), and is accompanied by facts and information regarding that particular monument. The author of this article describes it as “augmented reality” in the fact that it “superimposes distances to points of interest, using the compass to keep track of where you are looking.” You can in turn use the same app, along with your phone, to find other nearby monuments, points of interest, and so forth.
I have not decided on my ultimate career goals yet, but apps like the one described in the article shows incredible innovation, and gives great insight into the direction the web is going. One app that I found to be particularly interesting is an Apple app called “Course Notes.” Course Notes is not the most innovative app out there, but it is interesting to those of us who are still enrolled in school, and is appealing to most, if not all, students. Course Notes allows you to not only take notes, but to share them simultaneously with friends, and seek out notes for days you are missing. The app allows for a synced calendar with a To Do list, and it also allows the user to print notes, and connect to friends in class via Facebook. A lexicon can be kept for certain terms, and assignments can be tracked. Here’s a link that better explains the Course Notes application.
The whole “augmented reality” idea sounded pretty neat to me too. It sort of makes you wonder how much longer it will be until everyone will be able to access a treasure trove of information wherever and whenever, with as much effort as it takes to hold up a phone. Anywhere you went you could find out information about the area and where you could go next. In many ways it seems like we’re already there, especially when you consider that this sort of application is already available. I wonder how it will change society and how we interact with the world when it becomes ubiquitous rather than new and amazing.
ReplyDeleteThe “Course Notes” app was interesting too. It doesn’t have any one unique feature, but it bundles a lot of useful stuff together and it provides an easy way to link your stuff up with friends and classmates.
Augmented reality is pretty exciting, even once you get past the "Gadget factor" where you're more or less using it like a toy - if the "wearable computers" people ever manage to come up with a platform that isn't too nerdy and unwieldy for use, you could get an idea of what's on sale at various places while just walking down the street, right after you step out your door your computer could warn you that it's going to rain graphically so you think to grab a coat, etc.
ReplyDeleteAnd the information shadow concept means that the more people participating, the better the quality of the data and the more inferences these connected apps can make about the world around you.
Along with Angela and Tom, Augmented Reality is one of the latest technological advancements that I have been most excited about. I do not think that we are too far away from lenses similar to what the Terminator sees through. Imagine the possibilities of putting in contacts that are loaded with identity technology that can not only spot and circle an object, but return information back to the user about that object. Very cool stuff coming soon.
ReplyDeleteaugmented reality, or photo recognition of a place, is going to be a very intriguing notion in the future. It has the potential to change the way we educate ourselves in our communities as well as abroad. Imagine a friend brings back a photo album filled with pictures of a recent trip, you give your nephew, sister, brother, kid the phone and let them teach themselves about the place they are looking at. For some, this is going to match their self-taught learning styles well, for others they may still need the hands on lecture format. For classrooms, it has the potential to modify the need for books and the printed word.
ReplyDeleteAfter reading the post by Katie I began to think much more on the potential progression of web apps, and what could be in the future. Our apps now seem to be doing things that may have seemed impossible a couple years ago. Thats the beauty of technology as soon as you wrap your mind around what is out there it changes. I think this is why a digital divide exists. The unfamiliarity of change. Those afraid to try new innovations are simply inhibited by their own uncertainties.
ReplyDeleteDecent post Katie. Next time work on making sure to tease out the key point a bit more clearly (in this case, making sure to explain why information shadows are part, but not all, of web squared). I totally agree with you on how completely amazing photo recognition is. There are so many things (for good and evil) that can be done with this.
ReplyDeleteThe photo app you talk about is pretty much amazing. There is this new app that allows your phone to share the picture you take with anyone that has that same app in their phones. What this does is that if i am in a particular site of interest i can see not only the pictures i have taken, but the pictures others have taken in the same vicinity. While this seems like invasion of privacy, this is what defines web 2.0: the user to user interactions, user contents, and new ways to look at information.
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