augmented-reality

After downloading Minecraft Reality for iOS, I channeled Queen's epic song "Bohemian Rhapsody" and asked myself, "Is this the real life? Is this just fantasy?"

Fortunately, the answer to both questions is "yes." The $1.99 app, released yesterday, gives gamers the opportunity to view their Minecraft creations in the real world -- through the lens of augmented reality. … Read more

Even if you have a dashboard display showing what's behind your car when you back up, it's hard to be 100 percent sure you won't hit something. Or someone. That's why researchers at Japan's Keio University are working on a system that makes the back seat invisible, so to speak.

From the driver's perspective, the back of a car, in this case a Prius, is transparent, thus eliminating blind spots that could conceal hazards. The system is called the "see-through Prius" and it's being showcased this month at the 2012 Digital Content Expo in Tokyo. … Read more

Owners of virtually all Nokia Lumia phones will be able to discover local businesses via the company's new City Lens augmented reality.

Shown off by Nokia last week, City Lens overlays nearby businesses on the screen when you point your phone in their direction. Tapping a specific business reveals full details, including contact information, reviews, walking distance, and directions.

Though demoed for the upcoming Windows Phone 8 Lumia 920, the new app is actually available as of yesterday for the current Lumia 900, 800, and 710 Windows Phone 7 handsets. Owners of any of those phones can download City … Read more

Nokia is touting its City Lens augmented reality app through a brief, teasing video clip.

The clip on You Tube features a woman walking down a city sidewalk as an ad for a nearby shoe store pops up, complete with ratings and recommendations from her socially networked friends. With its emphasis on a local business, the clip seems to be a clear reference to City Lens.

Dubbed an augmented reality app, City Lens displays nearby stores and other businesses when you point your phone in a certain direction. The phone's camera displays the view around you with an overlay … Read more

Imagine a future where everything is a game, from cooking to dating, thanks to pervasive augmented-reality technology.

That's the premise behind this deliciously geeky, but ultimately disturbing Israeli short film titled "Sight." This seven-minute flick takes us along for a day in the life of an engineer at a dominant AR company, from breakfast to a date that goes off the rails and has to be "reprogrammed." The concept imagines the merging of big data, social media, gamification, and augmented reality into something that ultimately doesn't seem that far-fetched, or even that far down the road.… Read more

Wouldn't it be handy if when someone was speaking a foreign language, subtitles appeared just below their face? CNET reader Will Powell thought so, so he built some glasses that make you feel like you're in an arthouse movie.

Using some 3D specs, a couple of mics, a smartphone, a few cables, and two Raspberry Pi mini-computers, Powell hacked together a working automatic translation system -- and he's made a video showing it working.

Powell, a programmer with a background is in Adobe Flex and AS3, was inspired by Google's high-concept Glass project. … Read more

Ikea has already introduced its catalog for mobile devices, but now the Swedish furniture giant is going a little more in-depth with the 2013 edition. There are more than 40 bits of extended content sprinkled throughout the catalog.

The 2013 physical catalog pairs with a special Ikea catalog app to unlock more than meets the eye on the printed page. Unlike the Moosejaw X-ray catalog peep show, expect to see furniture rather than statuesque Scandinavian models.… Read more

Hello Internet. Eileen here, Supervising Producer for Always On. Molly is on vacation, so I'm filling in to give you a little background on this week's episode!

This week we get physical! Molly is in the best shape of her life and was inspired by her road test of both the Nike+ FuelBand and Fit Bit Ultra to enter her first half-marathon! She said to me, "I think we need to stay true to the extreme nature of the show. How about I sign up for a half-marathon?!?"

At first I thought she was crazy to … Read more

Why is it that all the geeks of the universe haven't just up and relocated to Japan by now? The latest demonstration that the island nation is a nerd utopia comes in this video of one man's real-world "date" with a programmed augmented-reality girlfriend.

Using a Microsoft Kinect, AR goggles, and some other sensors, the unidentified man in the video goes to the park with a digital representation of virtual pop star Hatsune Miku. Yes, they have virtual pop idols in Japan, too -- it's kind of like if Max Headroom and Katy Perry somehow managed to get together and reproduce a singing anime hologram.… Read more