In a TV near you, there is an upcoming TV show, National Geographic Expedition Week. Far, far away in a room… there is a tiny train track - that goes through the Himalayas, London, Ancient Rome, and Papa New Guinea… and on this track, is a tiny train… with a tiny camera. A camera that YOU control through the internet. And when you find artifacts while driving this tiny far away train… you can take pictures. Then a person in the far away room with the tiny train looks at your picture, and decides if you found something. And he tells you through the internet, and if you DID… he pulls a REAL life-sized artifact off the shelf, and packages it up, and it appears on your REAL doorstep. Where you might be sitting on the couch, watching National Geographic Expedition Week.

PHEW ~ did you follow that? so that’s… digital - physical - digital - physical - digital - physical - digital? How many layers of real world/digital interaction is that? I love Deeplocal. Oh, and if you do win a real world artifact, and then proceed to photograph it, and feed it back to the internet… bonus interaction layers?

So, to recap, National Geographic Channel and Deeplocal, the team behind GAP’s Project Reindeer, have teamed up to create Mission Expedition where viewers can go on a photo safari using telepresence cameras to explore miniature sets… and it’s AWESOMEly fun! See more about the project, the artifacts, and behind the scenes on the next page.

p.s. OH, and to know its real, when i had a call with them this morning pre-launch ~ they even waved their giant hand at me via the tiny train’s tiny camera while we were talking!

TO PAGE 2 of "Deeplocal/NatGeo Mission Expedition"! ----->

Tags: advertising - augmented reality - technology - television - video

While wandering the fiera during Milan design week ~ there were a LOT of chairs. And tables. And objects calling for your attention. Few booths made me feel ready to curl up in to bed, kick back on the couch… and just move in. LEMA did that. I walked in through the chaos, and even packed, it was a relaxing breathe of fresh air (and their flowers made it SMELL nicer than convention center too)… and then i fell in love with the bed. And the side table. and the desk. Take a peek at some of my favorite picks of their collection…

p.s. also noteworthy, they had an augmented reality aspect to their press materials! Check it out here: LEMA T030 Augmented Reality ~ you can print it and spin it around yourself even!

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Tags: augmented reality - furniture - milan - salone

And to follow up on the last post about Lego's new Digital Boxes by Metaio ~ here's a roundup of Augmented Reality as collected up on NOTCOT.org! Most of these end up linking you to videos and picture where you can see augmented reality digital "pop up books" ~ and playful puppies who run to other card/markers that are water dishes, 3D graffiti painting in a warehouse, adorable monsters, xmas cards, and my favorite is the zoo ads you aim your cell phone at and see animals... So much potential with the technology, i'm super excited to see what people will come up with next to push the boundaries further!

Tags: art - augmented reality - roundup - technology

Augmented Reality ~ its a quickly growing trend currently ~ and honestly, i'm thrilled! It was such an art/research buzzword about 5 years ago when i was in college studying technology in the arts, and sure it's taken some time, but i've been absolutely fascinated how its been translating into commercial and more aesthetically interesting uses ~ particularly in the case where you have prints/objects you can hold up to webcams and cellphone cameras to see magicaly digital beings and objects appear which you can manipulate.

Metaio, out of Germany, seems to be leading some of the innovative commercial uses of this technology, and their latest project is a very fun one for LEGO! From the press release: "Munich, December 2008 - From November, the Danish toy manufacturer will test launch its "DIGITAL BOX" in selected toyshops and LEGO® stores worldwide. This interactive terminal will utilize innovative technology supplied by metaio in the form of a software program specially-developed for the LEGO Group by the Munich-based experts in
augmented reality solutions. Together with a camera and display screen, the software lets LEGO packaging reveal its contents fully-assembled within live 3D animated scenes." How much more fun does that make going to the toy store? Of course even cooler would be watching it build up in your hands piece by piece in full rotatable 3D when you hold it up ~ but i know, baby steps... See more preview pics of these new Digital Boxes on the next page!

TO PAGE 2 of "Lego's Digital Box"! ----->

Tags: augmented reality - kids - lego - packaging - technology - toys