Namanh Hoang
| 19 July 2010
For the last 2 months I've been going through a white phase. It all started out with my white Pearl Jawbone headset and was the followed by my new white Toyota Prius. Soon enough my all white trend was in full effect, having purchased a number of all white outfits including a full white linen suit and a number of white denim pants from H&M, a couple of white shoes from Aldo Shoes. Here are a couple of notes about going all white, first of all is that you need to feel confident in it. I find it odd that when I wear all white people will say that I can make it work and they aren't sure why. Well it's because I feel like I can make it work, thus it does work. Much in the same way that Cedric the Entertainer and Steve Harvey can make Fur Coats and Zuit suits work or the way Robert Downey Jr. and Kanye can make bow ties work (which coincidentally) I do as well.
One of my favorite blogs to read is stuckincustoms.com which displays some of the most beautiful HDR (High Dynamic Range) Photography. Basically the process of HDR involves taking 3 images in quick succession at different exposure levels and then merging these 3 together in a special way that basically brings out both the details in low and high lights. The signature of HDR photography can usually be identified in images of the sky because the clouds will be very sharp and defined, every individual puff is detailed and identifiable. Secondly the colors are usually brilliant and surreal.
Here are some images of the cool and new things happening in the computer and technology industries. Overall it seemed like 3D television was making a huge hit with many manufacturers introducing different types from the most common such as Active Shutter or Polarized. However, there was one new technological introduction that was making waves which was the number of 3D TVs that didn't require wearing glasses. While they were a novel ideal, the actual technology didn't work as well. In fact what it really was, was just a lenticular video screen. Much like the lenticular stickers you used to enjoy as a kid, these screens could reveal some rotation around an object if the viewer moved around the screen, but due to the nature of lenticular images, it flickers as you move which at times gave me a headache and cross-eyed.
So here at the office Matt Brechbuhler and I began experimenting with augmented reality about a month ago. We posted our original experiment which was the iphone test we conducted to show how the AR system don't rely on any proprietary code embedded into the print document, it is just simple image recognition at the simplest level. This is a continuation on our experiments exploring what we are capable of accomplishing with augmented reality and how easy it is to accomplish. 
With all this hype about twitter, one really underrated technology advancement is augmented reality. The most popular applications of this thus far has been primarily in viral campaigns and toys such as those popularized by the new Avatar Movie action figure toys which come with an i-Tag. If you don't know what augmented reality is, its basically involves overlaying digital graphics or data over real-time actions or objects. The Avatar toy example allows users to hold up the i-Tag to a webcam while on the Avatar toy site and then a 3D model of the toy appear on the card in your hands. It allows you to turn the 3D object around in real time and even interact with it such as pushing virtual buttons on the card to initiate actions such as melee or firing actions. However, augmented reality isn't a new concept, in fact it's been around for years, primarily by the military for devices such as H.U.D. or eye wear.
