When you think of retailers that are on the bleeding edge of technology, Ikea isn't usually the one that comes to mind. But then again, it did launch its first ever consumer electronics device earlier this year - an Internet-connected TV that comes with a truly-Ikea style stand to hold it. And now the company is enhancing its mobile technology arm.
Read The Full Story
- Acer Aspire R7 Hands-on: Spock’s Choice
- Verizon Samsung GALAXY S 4 Unboxing and Hands-on
- Google Glass gains ClockworkMod Recovery for future hacks: have a peek!
- Solar Impulse: interviewing a man on an 18-hour solar-powered flight
- Chrome 27 brings desktop features to Android, we go hands-on
- Verizon invites Jennifer Lopez on stage for Viva Movil team-up
- Google Glass team talks hardware principles: Lightness, Simplicity, Scalability
‘augmented reality’ Stories
Ikea augmented reality catalog becomes reality
Don’t be blind on wearable cameras insists AR genius
The augmented reality researcher at the center of allegations of assault over sporting a wearable computer in public has warned that ubiquitous cameras – and the potential for privacy incidents – are only going to increase. Professor Steve Mann, the father of wearables who claimed McDonald’s staff in Paris assaulted him and damaged his advanced EyeTap headset earlier this month, fired back at criticisms that his constantly-running camera was a provocation to the privacy-minded. ”Ironically the people most frightened of cameras seem to be the ones who are pointing cameras at us (e.g. big multinational organizations)” Mann argues.
Wearables expert releases new alleged assault image arguing McDonald’s denial
Professional cyborg Professor Steve Mann has responded to McDonald's denials that its staff physically assaulted him, releasing a new photo that reportedly shows one employee in the process of striking his wearable computer. In an update to his original report, Mann added another image captured by his EyeTap headset itself, seemingly showing the primary perpetrator accused in the assault reaching out and making contact with the gadget.
Read The Full Story
McDonald’s denies Steve Mann wearables assault
McDonald’s has denied that staff at a Paris restaurant assaulted “father of augmented reality” Professor Steve Mann, insisting that no damage to the researcher’s Google Glass-style wearable computer was caused. In a new statement provided to SlashGear, McDonald’s says that it has individually interviewed “several staff members” at the Paris restaurant, and “all independently and consistently expressed that their interaction with Dr. Mann was polite and did not involve a physical altercation.”
Wearable Worries: Glass could trigger more than just virtual violence
If you listened to the whoops and hollers at Google IO last month, you’d have thought the world was more than ready for wearable tech like Google Glass. Beyond the braying developers, though, the real world is showing every sign that the Brave New World of augmented reality headsets will cause more headaches than just transparent eyepiece strain alone. The claims by wearables researcher Professor Steve Mann that he was physically assaulted in a French McDonald’s after staff suddenly took offense at his digital eyewear highlight the shadow side of the cutting edge: it can hurt more than just your wallet if the rest of society isn’t ready for it.
Google Glass grabs developer outreach chief from Gmail
Google's Glass wearable division has poached itself a new Community Manager, with former Gmail community lead Sarah Price jumping from email to augmented reality. Price's new role, confirmed on Google+, will see her engage with bleeding-edge Glass developers, who stand to get their hands on the first Explorer Edition in early 2013, as Google attempts to encourage coders to come up with apps suitable for a wearable display.
Read The Full Story
Broken Glass: Father of wearable computing allegedly assaulted
Wearable computing pioneer Steve Mann has allegedly been attacked by employees of a French McDonald’s after sporting his own version of Google’s Glass AR headset, with the EyeTap eyepiece grabbing snapshots of those involved. Mann, who led MIT’s Wearable Computers group and has been exploring mediated reality technologies for several decades, claims that while on holiday in Paris with his family he was challenged by staff at the fast food chain, who ripped up his medical documentation about the headset and then attempted to pull it from his head. Mann’s system is “permanently attached and does not come off my skull without special tools.”
Update: Official McDonald’s statement after the cut.
Google Glass controls and Artificial Intelligence detailed
Google’s cautious approach to allowing people to play with Project Glass means the UI of the wearable computer is something of a mystery, but a new patent application could spill some of the secrets. The wordy “Head-mounted display that displays a visual representation of physical interaction with an input interface located outside of the field of view” details a system whereby a preview of the controls of a wearable – such as the side-mounted touchpad on Google Glass – are floated virtually in the user’s line of sight. The application also suggests Glass might maintain its own “self-awareness” of the environment, reacting as appropriate without instruction from the user.
Olympus MEG4.0 Google Glass rival revealed
Google’s Glass may not be headed to buyers until next year, but Olympus is wasting no time with its own alternative augmented reality display, the MEG4.0. The stem-like wearable features battery life of up to eight hours and floats a 320 x 240 virtual screen above the user’s regular eye-line, hooking up via Bluetooth to a nearby smartphone or tablet.
Forget the iPad Mini, we want Apple’s Google Glass
Apple's engineers are experimenting with wearable displays that could one day present an iOS rival to Google's Project Glass, a newly assigned patent suggests, bouncing projected light through specially created lenses. The patent, "Peripheral treatment for head-mounted displays", was filed back in 2006 and granted this week, and tackles what's perhaps the most difficult element of wearables, making displays in close-proximity to the wearer's eyes look suitably distant without causing eye-strain.
Read The Full Story
Don’t Doubt Google’s People Skills
Google IO opened with a bang last week, spilling Jelly Beans, cheap tablets, augmented reality and more, but for all the search giant knows we’re looking for, is it still out of touch? After the buzz of Google Glass and its base jumping entrance – thoroughly milked the following day by Sergey “Iron Man” Brin – attendees have been adding up what was demonstrated and questioning Google’s understanding of exactly how people use technology. Geeks getting carried away with “what can we do” rather than “why would we do it” is the common refrain, but make no mistake, everything Google showed us is rooted in solid business strategy.
Will Google Glass Help Us Remember Too Well?
When Google sent BASE jumpers hurtling from a blimp as part of the first day Google I/O Keynote presentation, I was barely impressed. The jumpers were demonstrating the Project Glass wearable computer that Google is developing, and which I and just about all of my friends are lusting over. I had seen plenty of skydivers jumping with wearable cameras strapped to them. Then the Googlers landed, and another team started riding BMX bikes on the roof of the Moscone center, where the conference is being held. Yawn. Finally, climbers rappelled down the side of the building. Ho-hum. The point seemed to be that Google Glass was real, and that the glasses would not fall off your face as you fell onto San Francisco from a zeppelin. But then Google showed something that blew my mind.
REVIEWS
![JH Audio JH16 Pro with Freqphase Custom In-Ear Monitor Review [2013]](http://cdn.slashgear.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/04/P2111170-sg-320x80.jpg)
- POPULAR STORIES THIS WEEK
- Xbox One release date "later this year"
- Verizon HTC One tipped for today's press event [UPDATE: Nope]
- Xbox 720 prototype secrets leak: TV, DVR, streaming, AR and more
- Verizon HTC One speculation returns as DROID DNA offer arrives
- Verizon HTC One Google Edition tipped for summer
- Big Xbox Dashboard update tipped to pave Xbox 720 transition
- Xbox 720: what's to be expected at tomorrow's announcement
- iOS 7 UI overhaul monochrome, flat, and tipped for iPhone first
- RECENT COMMENTS
