Apps & Marketing

Five From Five: Mobile Augmented Reality Apps & Face Recognition Gain Traction

5 min read

mobile AR appLester Madden is third in our series of five innovators in mobile Augmented Reality (AR) stepping up to offer 2011 predictions. Lester is a hands-on developer and executive whose work (at companies including Microsoft, Symbian and Nokia) has helped catapult AR to the top of the industry agenda. Lester is currently working at mobile operator Orange.

In addition to his role in the mobile industry, Lester also blogs about trends and developments impacting AR at Augmented Planet. Some good news for mobile developers eager to get involved in mobile AR. Lester is also working on a book on the subject, and we’ll have more on that project when it’s ready for prime time.

His five predictions:

1) Image recognition moves into the mainstream. When Apple opened up the camera API in June 2010, enabling developers to build natural feature tracking applications, I expected a glut of applications to debut in the App Store by the end of the year. This didn’t happen. The activity has shifted and I expect we’ll see developers embracing mobile natural feature tracking (real-time image recognition) in 2011. A key driver will be the way these apps help people shop for products.

2) Gaming goes big. We will remember 2011 as the year of mobile AR gaming. Many of the mobile games released in 2010 used the camera window as a simple backdrop. In late 2010 we saw other games come online that combined AR and geo-location, a trend that will continue in 2011. The question is: do we really want to travel outside to interact with mobile games?

3) Face recognition shows up in apps and Apple. Last year I predicted that a mobile face recognition app (either for Android or for the iPhone) would be released. In September 2010 Apple acquired Polar Rose, the leading face recognition company. While it killed off any hope of an app in 2010, it does open up a world of possibilities for face recognition in 2011. I won’t say the technology will be a core part of the next iPhone,  but I think we’ll start to see some of this functionality (and Apple’s intentions) come through in its operating system iOS 5.

4) Navigation advances thanks to AR. With Wikitude gearing up to release an augmented reality navigation product for Android I’m fairly confident that 2011 will see a lot of me-too products/services in the navigation space. Look for this to spread beyond smartphones and take the shape of dedicated units from companies including TomTom and Garmin.

5) Marketing and advertising wakes up to AR. In 2010 we saw AR show up in a variety of marketing pitches ranging from chocolate wrappers to breakfast cereal boxes. This year will see AR pop up in some crazy places.

lester maddenOverall, Lester believes 2011 will be the year many people have their first experience with AR on their mobile device. And the impact on the industry will be tremendous. We’ll see more start-ups creating solutions and even more advertising agencies embracing the results to promote products and engage with people.

But keep in mind that many apps in the app stores claim to be AR. Against this backdrop, Lester is not convinced 2011 will be a huge year for innovation. “Instead it will be a year that sees refinement of the technologies and how they are used to build solutions.”

The one to watch: Metaio and the junaio browser will “lead the way in mobile augmented reality, especially with companies looking to build compelling advertising solutions.”