Tag: ar technology

The new Fusion series will not only feature the highly popular Lego kits, but they will be in digital form.

When the fall arrives, this year, a completely new Lego kits series will have been released and it will use augmented reality to move the designs and constructions of a creator – young or not so young – out of the physical world and into the digital one.

This new series will be called Lego Fusion and it is already generating massive hype.

Simply said, the augmented reality Lego looks extremely cool! While the actual use of AR technology for a game is nothing new, particularly for children, mobile app developers are always coming up with new and unique ways to produce an interesting and attractive experience. Another example of a game that combines the real and digital worlds for a children’s toy experience is with Hot Wheels. They use a tablet to be able to enhance their racetracks with some spectacular visual effects to go along with the racing experience of the toy vehicles.

It isn’t just toy companies releasing augmented reality apps for a new entertainment experience.

For example, McDonald’s – the fast food chain – has previously launched their own AR game, alongside their new mascot (often labeled as creepy or even terrifying). However, when it comes to the game experience as a whole, it looks as though Lego has seriously stepped things up from its predecessors.

The Lego Fusion series will be making its way to stores in August and in September. It is iPad compatible and gives the user the ability to create a three dimensional building out of a single wall, and to allow players to be able to bring their characters and their environments to life in massive battle scenes on their living room floors.

So far, there are four games that have been confirmed as a part of the upcoming Lego Fusion series. They are Create and Race, Battle Towers, Town Master, and Resort Designer. Though there hasn’t been a great deal of detail provided regarding each specific game, the names do make it clear what their themes will be.

These augmented reality games will rely on special cards for positioning the camera, and then the user can simply begin building and playing.

The company is hoping that Tel Aviv will provide applications for its AR wearables.

Epson, a company that is best known for its printer tech, has now started an Israel based marketing campaign for its augmented reality glasses only one week after those wearable devices experienced their European and American debuts.

These AR based wearable technology devices are somewhat similar in idea to Google Glass.

Their augmented reality glasses are called the Epson Moverio BT-200. They include sensors, cameras, projects, as well as Bluetooth connection, which allows an Android smartphone or tablet to be displayed and projected onto the glasses so it can be seen by the wearer. Elements of the device’s software were originally developed in Israel, according to the executive vice president in charge of marketing the Movero BT-200, from Epson Europe, Valerie Riffaud-Cangelos.

These augmented reality glasses now need a broader range of apps and Epson is turning back to Israel for them.

The wearables weigh only 88 grams and are filled with various sensor and imaging components that allow wearers to be able to view what they would otherwise see on the screen of the Android device. In this, they are comparable to the idea behind Google Glass. They can see their emails on the glasses or check out the latest social media posts. It is even possible to watch YouTube videos or browse through web content.

Riffaud-Cangelos explained that the whole idea of the Moverio is that it should be used with augmented reality apps. “For example, you could have an app where a person would see an overlay of how to change a tire while they are actually doing it.” In theory, they would be able to save time, frustration, and money because they could follow a pattern that was being shown to them over top of their view of the real world jack and bolts.

Equally, the augmented reality glasses could also be used for fitness activities and for entertainment games. It could demonstrate the right moves for a specific type of physical activity, such as yoga, or show students how something would have looked if they were seeing it hundreds of years ago.