Layar recently announced their Layar 3.0 publishing platform for developers to create applications. As reported earlier here on AugmentPro, Layar secured $1 million in VC funding and with this new 3.0 version of their publishing platform they are gaining more exposure to the development community to use their platform as the foundation for augmented reality.
Tom Carpenter first posted the announcement on his blog The Future Digital Life then large blog and news sites began to report on this announcement as well. TechCrunch, ReadWriteWeb, Engadget, and even The Washington Post aggregated the TechCrunch post.
Photo Source - Layar.com
On the Layar blog they demonstrate a few use cases of how developers are creating certain applications such as the applying an architectural building on top of a construction site to demonstrate how that building will appear in reality once the structure is complete.
Another example is that of “Historical Storytelling” where users are able to go through the streets of London and point their mobile device on Abbey Road and see the infamous Beatles walking across the street.
Also showcased is the possibility of creating an application on top of Layar which allows the user to place images, artwork, etc. on top of a certain POI where users can then view. This is similar to the independent MagiCam iPhone application.
The most interesting use case is the B2B and Personalization applications that can be developed. Layar v3.0 features easy login through cookie support, which enables personalization of your layer. This allows a company to showcase certain POI/elements only to employees. Also, it further enables Twitter and Foursquare type layers to evolve even more.
Layar v3.0 can now be downloaded free of charge from the Android Market and is available for all Android 1.5 and 1.6 devices. We will release a compatible version for the Droid as soon as possible. To date Layar has almost finished testing for Android 2.0.
A version for the iPhone 3GS is to follow after Apple approves that updated application.
Its great to see Layar taking a page from Apple in trying to create the “iTunes” of augmented reality by creating an platform which developers can easily tap into AR to provide to their clients and users.
Johannes la Poutre
9 months ago
A small correction: the twitter link mentioned in the article is not related to Layar, the Layar based app is Tweeps Around for Layar 3D.
This updated version for Layar 3D features shows tweeting people's images and lets you post geotagged updates and replies to other people. This way you can now experience twitter in a real 3D, location based way.
It’s really exciting to see where this can go, for sure we are currently only scratching the surface of a whole new experience which will further mature in 2010 and the years to follow!
augmentpro
9 months ago
Johannes – you are correct. thank you for the correction. I will update it immediately.
Johannes la Poutre
9 months ago
A small correction: the twitter link mentioned in the article is not related to Layar, the Layar based app is Tweeps Around for Layar 3D.
This updated version for Layar 3D features shows tweeting people's images and lets you post geotagged updates and replies to other people. This way you can now experience twitter in a real 3D, location based way.
It’s really exciting to see where this can go, for sure we are currently only scratching the surface of a whole new experience which will further mature in 2010 and the years to follow!
augmentpro
9 months ago
Johannes – you are correct. thank you for the correction. I will update it immediately.