Augmented Reality has become more than a buzzword. It represents the next step in human/computer interaction. Interfaces that were once solid have become liquid. With the iPhone, we have the ability to download software from the air. With augmented reality, the interface evaporates from the liquid state into the air as well. Bruce Sterling’s keynote at Layar is a helpful introduction to this field.

There have been a number of applications developed by various companies and individuals, but what’s being done in Portland? As it turns out, quite a lot. I’ve been running an unadvertised Augmented Reality meetup for the past few months (if you’re a developer or Interaction Designer interested in attending this group, comment below), and have found the Portland tech community to be a fertile ground or AR development.

Mobile Portland brings Augmented Reality to you

Starting Monday, you can learn more about what’s going on in Portland AR as well. There will be a meetup at AboutUs.org with two of Portland top AR developers. They’re great people and I highly recommend meeting them. The meeting starts at 6pm at AboutUs.org.

Event Overview

Imagine being able to use your phone to see what that IKEA couch you’ve been considering will look like in your living room. A far-fetched science fiction scenario? No, IKEA has already released an application like that in Europe.

Augmented reality is an exciting and emerging technology. Augmented reality take real life information–typically the video display of a phone–and overlays it with computer information. Augmented reality is something that is completely unique to mobile.

This month at Mobile Portland, we’re lucky to have two speakers who are early innovators in augmented reality. P. Mark Anderson is platform architect for Spot Metrix which provides an augmented reality library for iPhone called 3DAR. Tim Sears created Robotvision, one of the first augmented reality applications for iPhone.

Mark and Tim will share how people are using augmented reality, their experiences using augmented reality, and what the future holds for this new technology.

About the Speakers

P. Mark Anderson

P. Mark Anderson has 13 years experience developing interactive applications. After receiving a degree in Computer Science from University of Colorado in 1999 he started his career as a developer for Sun Microsystems.

In addition to creating several iPhone applications, Mr. Anderson moderates the Helpful iPhone Utilities open source project, as well as My Maps, an augmented reality iPhone app built on top of Google’s personalized mapping system.

Mr. Anderson is platform architect for the 3DAR augmented reality SDK. He enjoys working with both artists and developers, and occupies his spare time with watercolor painting, mountain biking, disc golf and mentoring.

Tim Sears

Tim Sears is a software engineer who works for PR firm Waggener Edstrom by day building web applications, by night creating location-based augmented reality experiences for the iPhone. He created Robotvision, a popular augmented reality browser, for the iPhone in 2009 and currently works with clients to build out mobile geolocation experiences in augmented reality.

His work in augmented reality and social media analytics has been featured in major publications such as ReadWriteWeb, TechCrunch and CNET, and has won several awards, including the International Business Awards Best New Product/Service of 2009 for twendz, a real-time Twitter sentiment analysis application.

Date

Monday, January 25, 2010 at 6:00pm

Location

AboutUs Offices
107 SE Washington St., Suite 520,
Portland, Oregon 97214

RSVP on Upcoming.org

Mobile Portland: Augmented Reality on Upcoming.org

Website:

MobilePortland.com

On Wednesday, July 16th, Bram Pitoyo and I realized that we both had three tech events scheduled on our calendars. There was Lunch 2.0 at SOUK from 12-2Pm, pdxMindShare from 5:30-8:00Pm at Paddy’s, and a surprise Tweetup with Charlene Li, author of Groundswell (note: this event was later canceled, due to the fact that Li’s flight was delayed! We were all very sad).

But wait! There’s one more!

There was an extra event on my calendar. It was a Meetup for novice, intermediate and advanced bloggers to provide each other writing advice. It started at 6:00 Pm at the Kennedy School in NE. Bram and I realized that between biking and networking, it was going to be an extremely intense day.

In addition to 4 networking events, I also had an entire day of work to do. With only a 1 hour lunch break in the middle, I’d only be able to attend Lunch 2.0 for 30 minutes. I started my morning at 7Am, ate breakfast and got ready for a day of work, networking, and hardcore biking.

Below is a recap of the three events. Bram Pitoyo reviewed the series of events in separate posts and they are available on Link en Fuego. Jake Kuramoto also expertly reviewed Lunch 2.0 at Silicon Florist from a distance, hence the title Bot Recap of Lunch 2.0 at SOUK. Doug Coleman attended and blogged about Lunch 2.0 and Writing for the Web, and his reviews are here.

Event #1: Lunch 2.0 at SOUK

I arrived at the Portland Business Accelerator early and set myself to work. Before long it was time for Lunch 2.0! I rushed down the stairs and out the door, to my bike, which I strategically parked directly outside the PBA the night before.

I careened down the steep hill that led from the building and to the waterfront, where I zoomed by other bikers and lunchtime wanderers. I went under the Morrison and the Hawthorne bridge, and then headed into the heart of the Pearl District, and arrived at SOUK at exactly 12:01. I thanked myself that I’d beta tested the space before, else it would’ve been quite difficult to find. It’s sort of a secret space, but one well work the look. A coworking/rental space doesn’t really get better than this.

The place was packed! Tons of new faces! Exceedingly delicious Thai food from a block away. I saw @donpdonp, my friend from high school (who is an iPhone app developer), @xolotol, Melissa Lyon and her partner, founders of PDX BackFence, @ahockley, @geekygirldawn, @tisque, @bobuva, @selenamarie, @ekki, and @julsd, the founder of SOUK.

I only had time to talk to a few people, but the discussions were excellent, and everyone seemed to have an very engaging experience. Before long, it was 12:50, and I leaped downstairs to my bike for the ride back to the office.

I careened down to the waterfront as fast as I could while avoiding end-of-lunchtime vehicles. When I made it back to the office, I was drenched in sweat, but was very happy.

Event #2: pdxMindShare, 5:30Pm, Paddy’s Bar. Downtown Portland

At 5:00Pm I cleaned up my desk and wrote the tasks I had to do for Monday on notecards. Then I ran to my bike and rode back downtown to Paddy’s, where the monthly SEMPDX pdxMindShare event was going to occur.

I first attended pdxMindShare back in January when I was finishing up my last year of college. I’d just been introduced into the world of search engine optimization, marketing, Google Adwords and Analytics. My mind only knew Anthropology and Sociology then, and I’d just finished writing my thesis on “Cell Phones and Their Technosocial Sites of Being”. The event left a big impression on me, though, and I was excited to show up again, this time as more of an expert than a novice.

I arrived early enough to see that Kent Lewis, President of Anvil Media was still in a meeting, so I grabbed my computer and begin doing some Analytics work. Presently, Kent warmly welcomed me to the event, and a lot of people began to arrive. A women who used to be in the translation business but who wanted to enter into the advertising world sat down with me, and I mailed her a list of Portland networking events that could help her with her job search. She was very kind, and a little nervous to meet so many new people. I introduced her to a few people, and she began to really enjoy herself. Yay!

8 out of 10 Collaboratory Members Made an Appearance

Bram and I spotted Allison McKeever, Brian Davidson, Christine Vo, Heather Schwartz, Mary McPherson, Megan Nuttall, Whitney Bard, and Kim Karalekas. This was awesome, because they were able to see a really vibrant part of Portland’s networking community. According to their blogs and Twitter writings, the members really enjoyed the event!

While waiting for my drink bill, I had a fantastic discussion with an Ajax/Flash developer about Usability. He didn’t have a card, which made me sad, but I’m sure we’ll meet again at another event.

Event #3: Writing for the Web Meetup Event at the Kennedy School

Bram and I realized the time. It was getting really late, and we still had to bike all the way up to NE Portland to NE 33rd for the next event! We made a hasty exit and got to the Yellow Line Max right as it arrived at the station near Paddy’s. The ride was fast, but we still had 40 blocks to ride to get to the School, and the details of its actual location were rather fuzzy.

We dashed those 40 blocks and arrived at the event a full hour late. But it was still going on! And during the middle of it, we were notified by Twitter that the Charlene Li Tweetup had been canceled due to a flight delay! Darn! We ended up ordering food. We were about to pass out from exhaustion and starvation.

Marilyn Schwader. the Meetup host, gave great tips on blogging and writing copy. She taught me a lot about considering demographics, and keeping things simple. @dariusmonsef of Colourlovers was there, as well as @dougcoleman. It was a great time, and a good source of inspiration to the aspiring and advanced bloggers present. Doug Coleman showed us his awesome recording equipment too, and we talked about Podcasts.

When the event was over, Bram and I explored the amazing hallways of the Kennedy School. Vintage photos and detailed paintings lined the walls. After viewing the dipping pool, we regretted not bringing swimming suits. Then we discussed the idea of a hot tubbing bike/tweetup! Hooray! This should happen soon.

Conclusion

We biked back from the Kennedy school to SW Portland, where we split paths at the waterfront so Bram could catch the MAX, and I could head back to my car at the office.

Although exhausted, I jumped into hyperspeed on the Internet when I got home. As usual, Twitter and Analytics consumed my time. I set my alarm for 6Am so I could get ready to attend the Internet Strategy Forum in the morning, and fell asleep listening to a Sci-Fi podcast. Intense Day in Tech #1…Complete. Tomorrow would be twice as intense, but I didn’t know it yet. A review of Thursday, July 17th to come soon.

 

 Hazelnut Tech Talk Episode 2 [17:30m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download (402)

Hazelnut Tech Talk is a collaboration between Amber Case and Bram Pitoyo, wherein Derrek Wayne kindly contributed a fifteen-second introduction piece.

Our second episode features Nate Angell or @xolotl, a name that’s hard to remember completely, but one that we will always remember. There’s development talk later as he demonstrates his shiny, new iPhone app called iToony.

But first, we chatted about Drupal for large organizations and the relative livability of various European cities—all accompanied by extremely loud (but pleasant) French songs, one of which may or may not be a rendition of Cole Porter’s Night And Day.

The image Nate made of Bram Pitoyo using the iToony app is here.

Click to Subscribe

When compared to the lines in New York for the iPhone, the Downtown Portland Mac store line was pretty manageable. While I didn’t get a phone myself, I wanted to provide some highlights.

dannysullivan Lines are funny. remember how in russia they were a symbol of failure. change context and suddenly a sign of success about 17 hours ago from mobile web

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iPhone App Roundup

Thanks to WebMonkey - The Developers Resource for an overview of the various iPhone applications available. I’ll be attaching a truncated overview of Michael’s article here, but please read his article if you’d like to learn more.

iPhone Flashlight
Ever use your cell phone in the dark to find things?
Lightenhances your ability to do this by turning your iPhone or iPod’s screen into a flashlight by generating a bright white screen. A webapp version is here: vFlashlight.

Price-matching

Checkout Smartshop ($5) has bar code reader software. Take a pic of any UPC and the app will find the best deal online instantly. Shop owners who claim to “match any price” will hate it. It pulls up reviews, too, for on-the-spot purchase decisions.

On-the-go Paypal Integration
Use iPhone’s

PayPal integration to send money to anyone with a few taps of the screen. It’s great for iPhone-enabled Craigslist purchases — hook up online, meet up in meatspace to check out the merchandise, then seal the deal electronically on the spot.

Resource/Food Detection

Point your iPhone in any direction within WhereTo’s ($3) circular interface. The application pings the phone’s GPS to find nearby restaurants, pubs, auto repair shops, hospitals, shopping centers and airports.

Capture Anything

Evernote comes with the iPhone. Yeah, the software that you can use like a cookie cutter to cut reality. Business cards, signs and notes on napkins can be converted to text.

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ravenzachary: Guy from Brazil desperately wanting to pay me cash to buy him a phone and break contract. Nope. (From the Portland, Oregon iPhone line).· Reply · View Tweet

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Conclusion:

Expect an entire suite of iPhone apps from sincere and money-dazed people. I was told that some people in the line were taking notes as to the iPhone’s app offerings in an attempt to find the holes and fill them with their own products. Will they charge for this service, or will some be free? I suppose it depends on the developers.