Archangel
01-21-2011, 04:57 PM
So anyone who's been here a whiles and has had the patience and ability to read through some of my absurdly long geekgasms in regards to things like Google Android will know that, well... I like Android. And Android Phones. And most of all, Google.
For anyone who hasn't... Google are pretty awesome. They support open-source development, have a pretty darn awesome map service, and have brought about the Android platform for mobile devices, which is also opensource.
Whilst there are doubtlessly dozens of other awesome things under works, right now what I know of is an in-development translating program and AR technology that's being applied to, well... lots of stuff. And it's cool.
So first order, Universal Translator (http://www.pcworld.com/article/216831/googles_working_towards_a_universal_translator_no_ klingontoenglish_modeyet.html?tk=rss_main). Right now, it's only got English and Spanish (that's what I've heard, anyhow), but the functionality is all there, it just needs a bunch of people to add the remaining language libraries. Much like the oft-dreamed of tech in things like Star Trek, Google makes this one a reality as you (will) get to speak whatever language you feel like into your Android device's microphone, and boom, it's been translated. Not only that, but it can even read it out for you, providing you with on-the-fly realtime voice translation. Your conversations with foreigners will still be awkward, but substantially less so. Give 'er some time, and dayum will she be sweet.
Second order, and possibly even cooler, is Augmented Reality (http://www.pcworld.com/article/216744/smart_contact_lenses_could_bring_augmented_reality _to_the_next_level.html?tk=rss_main) (though, no, that video isn't for any of the Android apps around; it's for contact lenses being developed, but still gives you a picture of what AR is all about). What this essentially lets you do is identify objects through a camera in your Android device and, depending on what AR app you're running, you can either use that scene as the field of battle for your brutal combat arena (http://androidandme.com/2010/07/news/rockem-sockem-augmented-reality-bots-on-android/), or get even more high-tech and have your phone ID your surroundings and mark notable buildings or landmarks, and pretty much give you your own personal Heads Up Display (HUD). It's not perfect, but can you imagine the potential in a few years? You know how it's easy to find places in a game because you get a quest marker for where you wanna go? You could have your own quest marker. Not to mention you could implement facial recognition and get IDs of notable people (hell, you could integrate Facebook with it so it recognises all your friends in the street and shows you their status updates or some such nonsense), or it could correlate the ID'd landmarks around you with a map and provide you with your very own minimap.
As I said, you basically get a HUD. And it's pretty cool.
And now, once again, I want an Android phone.
For anyone who hasn't... Google are pretty awesome. They support open-source development, have a pretty darn awesome map service, and have brought about the Android platform for mobile devices, which is also opensource.
Whilst there are doubtlessly dozens of other awesome things under works, right now what I know of is an in-development translating program and AR technology that's being applied to, well... lots of stuff. And it's cool.
So first order, Universal Translator (http://www.pcworld.com/article/216831/googles_working_towards_a_universal_translator_no_ klingontoenglish_modeyet.html?tk=rss_main). Right now, it's only got English and Spanish (that's what I've heard, anyhow), but the functionality is all there, it just needs a bunch of people to add the remaining language libraries. Much like the oft-dreamed of tech in things like Star Trek, Google makes this one a reality as you (will) get to speak whatever language you feel like into your Android device's microphone, and boom, it's been translated. Not only that, but it can even read it out for you, providing you with on-the-fly realtime voice translation. Your conversations with foreigners will still be awkward, but substantially less so. Give 'er some time, and dayum will she be sweet.
Second order, and possibly even cooler, is Augmented Reality (http://www.pcworld.com/article/216744/smart_contact_lenses_could_bring_augmented_reality _to_the_next_level.html?tk=rss_main) (though, no, that video isn't for any of the Android apps around; it's for contact lenses being developed, but still gives you a picture of what AR is all about). What this essentially lets you do is identify objects through a camera in your Android device and, depending on what AR app you're running, you can either use that scene as the field of battle for your brutal combat arena (http://androidandme.com/2010/07/news/rockem-sockem-augmented-reality-bots-on-android/), or get even more high-tech and have your phone ID your surroundings and mark notable buildings or landmarks, and pretty much give you your own personal Heads Up Display (HUD). It's not perfect, but can you imagine the potential in a few years? You know how it's easy to find places in a game because you get a quest marker for where you wanna go? You could have your own quest marker. Not to mention you could implement facial recognition and get IDs of notable people (hell, you could integrate Facebook with it so it recognises all your friends in the street and shows you their status updates or some such nonsense), or it could correlate the ID'd landmarks around you with a map and provide you with your very own minimap.
As I said, you basically get a HUD. And it's pretty cool.
And now, once again, I want an Android phone.