Augmented reality goes mainstream at last - Nearest Tube (acrossair)
I don't know about you, but it seems that a solid augmented reality offering has been a long time coming. Layar (http://layar.com/) looks cool, though it's more of a platform than an actually fully-rounded service as of yet and, lets face it, it doesn't look great.
In walks developer acrossair, using AR technology to deliver something not only useful, but downright cool - a sleek camera overlay displaying where the nearest London Underground stations are anywhere in the city.
After you load the app, holding it flat (facing the floor), all 13 lines of the London Underground are displayed in coloured arrows, showing the path to the nearest station for each. When you tilt the phone upwards, you see your nearest stations: what direction they are in relation to your location, how many kilometres and miles away they are and what tube lines they sit on (see video).
If timetabling and journey planning functionality were built into this, it would be even cooler - imagine how great it will be when tech like this is built into navigational/informational mobile applications as standard.
UPDATE:
Tim Sears (@u2elan) just pointed me to Robotvision, his own brainchild, which seems to incorporate additional functionality to that used by Nearest Tube. Navigates pretty much anything; cafés, restaurants, train stations. Seems US-focused at the moment, but looks pretty damn cool to say the least (and based on Bing, no less)! See below for the official details:
Key Features:
Type in anything with Open-ended Search
Get a birds-eye view from Google Maps by looking down
Quickly select from popular location categories like Coffee Shops and Tourist Attractions
Discover rich, social content like Flickr and Twitter, with more on the way!
Easily jump to more info on Bing like restaurant reviews, call a location or get driving directions
Touch to select and navigate through items around you
Set your range with an Adjustable Radius
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