Experimenting With 'Augmented Reality'

April 15, 2002 -- This week's Cybershake explores how computers may one day clue us in about the real world; analyzes the Web's move toward more fees; and discovers how an old video game system has learned a new trick.

Clued In to the Real World by Computer?

Forget about virtual reality where computers create an artificial world that people can wander through. The next big thing may be so-called augmented reality — in which portable computers supply users with information about the real world around them.

The setup uses a small, wearable computer with special goggles and a global positioning satellite receiver. The computer uses the GPS receiver to pinpoint a person's location. Once it's figured out where a person is, it can pull up relevant information about nearby landmarks or objects from a database. The information is then displayed on the transparent goggles so it appears suspended over the object the person is looking at.

"You could look at a building and get all the history and information about that building," says Bill Phillips of Popular Science magazine. "Or you could look at a restaurant and find out what today's specials are."

Sound farfetched? Perhaps. But Phillips says the military is already playing with prototypes that are connected via a wireless computer network. By tying in additional computers and other sources of data — spy satellites, reconnaissance planes, thermal cameras — the soldiers of tomorrow could have a real fighting edge.

For example, such a system could alert soldiers of a friendly helicopter by displaying it in green on the soldier's eye-level display. And by pulling in additional data — say, from an airborne unmanned aerial vehicle — it may even pinpoint and warn the soldier of an nearby enemy sniper.

Such augmented reality systems aren't just the work of the military. Researchers at Columbia University in New York have been experimenting with a system calls MARS. "It's a fancy term for what is kind of a makeshift augmented reality system that uses a Dell [laptop] computer, a GPS hookup and a cell phone and goggles," says Phillips.

However, that system fills an entire backpack and "it's a bit cumbersome for now," says Phillips. "[Users] certainly wouldn't want to wear it on the subway."

— Larry Jacobs, ABCNEWS

From Free to Fee?

With online advertising in a slump, filmmakers, TV networks and record companies are stepping up their efforts to get consumers to pay for games, films, and music on the Internet.

"Getting consumers to pay for content is the business model du jour," says David Card, a senior analyst with Jupiter Media Metrix. But he says consumers are resistant to the idea — mainly because there's not much worth paying for online.

"We did a survey where we asked people if they agreed with the statement, 'I cannot understand why anyone would pay for content online,'" says Card. "And about 70 percent of the people online agreed with that statement."

As such, Card says: "We're looking at paid content delivered online in a subscription service or in a pay-per-view model as a fairly small market in the near term."

By Jupiter's analysis, online subscription will generate roughly $1 billion by the end of next year and grow to about $6 billion by 2006. "When you think about it, that's pretty small potatoes when compared to magazine and news subscriptions, which is a $24 billion business today," says Card.

— Richard Davies, ABCNEWS

An Old Game System Hits the Road — Literally

Old video game systems don't just die and fade away. They just hit the road. At least, that's the case with Sony's original Playstation system, a platform that was originally introduced to U.S. game players in 1995.

When Sony introduced the more powerful Playstation 2 in 2000, it didn't completely abandon the older predecessor. Instead, the company revamped it to be much smaller. "[It's] much like the size of a [portable] CD player, something you could put in your back pocket," says Ryan Bowling, a spokesman for Sony Computer Entertainment America.

But recently, the revamped Playstation — now dubbed PS1 — got another new snazzy feature: a 5-inch LCD screen with tiny built-in speakers. Bowling says the new add-on turns the PS1 into a mobile entertainment center.

"You can take it over for sleepovers, over to your grandparents', or bring it in the car," says Bowling. "And you don't have to hook it up to your TV because you have your own little screen with it."

The redesigned unit can play any of the 1,200 games developed for the original Playstation as well as audio CDs. And while the PS1 might not have the graphical horsepower of newer game systems such as Sony's Playstation 2 or Microsoft's Xbox, the price is about right. A new PS1 with the screen costs less than $200 — about $160 cheaper than the latest home video game systems.

But the new mobile PS1 isn't truly a portable game system. It still requires an electrical outlet for power. And to use it in a car, players will have to spring an additional $30 for a separate power adapter.

Still, it may be worth the money if it keeps the kids entertained on long summer vacation road trips.

— Michael Barr, ABCNEWS

Cybershake is produced for ABCNEWS Radio by Andrea J. Smith.