Tagging the real world!

By Daniel Dietrich | Published: February 18, 2009

Alle Technikbegeisterten aufgepasst! Die japanische Firma Tonchidot präsentiert den ersten Prototyp von Sekai Camera. Die Software benutzt ein Verfahren mit dem sich Informationen wie Text, Audio und Fotos auf einem Layer über die Aufnahme der Videokamera eines iPhone legen. Die Software wurde erstmals auf der TechCrunch 50 Conferenz im September vorgestellt. Hier das Video von der Präsentation auf der TechCrunch50.

Hier ist nun die erste Präsentation das Prototyp. Tagging The Real World: Sekai Camera For The iPhone Is Alive And Very Cool

Japan-based Tonchidot’s Sekai Camera, an iPhone app that presents tagged information in the form of a graphical layer over images in the iPhone camera.

Use the iPhone camera to overlay tags and information onto any object in the real world. Users then need to look through the camera to see icons pop up that contain information on buildings, stores, sightseeing spots or objects.

The prototype I tried out today was a bit buggy but worked as promised, showing tags with information (sounds, pictures and text) on other booths installed in the exhibition hall. Many people speculated how Sekai Camera works technically. The answer is simple: The user’s location is identified through GPS (no cell-tower triangulation or image recognition technology is being used). As the iPhone doesn’t have an internal compass, the direction of where the viewfinder is pointed at can’t be measured: Users need to flick fingers left or right to find relevant tags that are around them (as demonstrated in the video I took below). Tap a tag and the information it contains appears in the form of a window, for example a picture with a comment box below it or a voice message someone left earlier.