Tokyo Shoseki launches line of augmented reality textbooks for New Horizon brand

Augmented reality education   Japanese publishing firm Tokyo Shoseki is taking a bold approach to education with a new line of augmented reality textbooks. The books are part of the company’s English course called New Horizon. The series is meant to help adults study the English language and the company believes that augmented reality will make the process more intuitive and effective. There has been some experimentation with the use of mobile technology in Japan, such as using iPads in classrooms, but Tokyo Shoseki believes that a simple smart phone…

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Google files for patent for mobile ad sensitive to light, sound, and temperature

Google mobile ads

Google has been making several moves to prepare for the predicted spike in mobile marketing this year and to continue to deliver highly effective mobile advertising options, such as its recent patenting of mobile ads that are temperature, noise, and light sensitive. This effort has been made to help Google to better deliver its ads based on the specific environment of a smartphone user, when combined with his or her behavioral profile. Its filing was granted through US patent 8,138,930 and allows a mobile device such as a smartphone to…

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Microsoft files patent for new augmented reality project

Augmented Reality Glasses

Microsoft is the latest addition to technology companies working on developing head-mounted augmented reality devices. The company has recently filed a patent for a new AR headset. The company has been very selective about the information it is sharing regarding its new project, but the device may be used for next generation gaming platforms. Early this year, news arose of Microsoft working on the Xbox 720, the successor to the massively successful Xbox 360. Given the company’s latest patent filing, the possibility of a new Xbox console may not be…

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What impact with the New iPad have on online retailers?

mobile commerce ipad 3 retail

It should come as no surprise to retailers that mobile commerce is now becoming a vital part of remaining competitive, but what many people are wondering is what sort of difference the New iPad will be making in this marketplace and what that will mean to the holiday shopping season for this year. There are already over 82.2 million Americans who use smartphones, and online retailers are making certain that they optimize their websites in order to cater to these consumers. That said, the release of the “iPad 3” is…

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Microsoft Research’s Beamatron hints at the possible future of augmented reality

Beamatron

Developers from Microsoft Research, the development wing of Microsoft that focuses on emerging technologies, have been experimenting with a new system they call Beamatron. The system uses the Xbox 360 Kinect motion-capture camera to help generate digital images that are projected onto a physical surface using augmented reality. In this sense, the Beamatron system lives up to its name. Developers believe that the system could have significant implications for a variety of industries, especially communications, where the system could be used to facilitate holographic communications between people. Currently, the Beamatron…

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