We do love Augmented reality a lot. As emerging technologies go, it's probably one of the sexier ones, with the strong visuals and the general feeling that you're in a computer game making it a bit more exciting than say the structured data web, another hotly tipped trend.

However Augmented Reality is still a little awkward in some respects. In terms of the AR technology - there are hurdles to overcome. We talked a bit to our favourite AR developer Howard Ogden of mobilistar and augmentreality and he mentioned a couple of the issues Augmented Reality has to overcome to go mainstream...

• Accuracy
- currently the margin of error is large. It's 10 meters on today's GPS systems and when you're trying to superimpose an image on another at close range, that is not accurate enough. Techniques like skyhook and image recognition can be used today to mitigate this - in 2014 a new GPS satellite network will be launched giving a much higher degree of accuracy.

• Standards
- there are no open standards amongst the current crop of AR browsers which means you have to make a judgement call on the platform of choice. As in other walled garden scenarios, that means data can't be shared between platforms

• Availability of AR capable devices
- AR is currently limited to smartphones right now as the complexity of displaying AR content requires numerous bits of smartphone hardware such as GPS,Camera, Gyroscope or Accelerometer + compass, 3D rendering capability and so on. This is found in only the latest handsets right now but the technology will filter down throughout the mobile landscape.

I'm looking forward to headpieces, head-up displays in cars and of course, AR-enabled contact lenses, but realise I may have to wait for a while....

Related: Top AR Developer Howard Ogden on the big names interested in AR and those damn limited internet deals

Location, location, location. Augmented Reality on mobile phones has always been about location. What with all the other whizzy stuff involved that sometimes gets forgotten, but it is mostly used as a really visual and simple way of telling you more about where you are.
With Facebook launching Places last week, location is now red hot. Facebook Places isn't Augmented Reality since it doesn't overlay an image of the real world with computer generated information... but it's not hard to see them introducing it at some point in the future.

The big player at the minute is Layar, a Dutch company that have a created a platform also called Layar for Augmented Reality apps(or layers as it calls them). Layar comes pre-installed in most Android phones and is available on iPhone 3Gs and 4. It's still the most advanced platform out there (see our article here) though lots of other big names are making moves in that direction... Foursquare is one. Facebook & Google are both potentially interested.

Anyway, before we get carried away with all this talk of the future - here are ten great Augmented Reality apps out now. Most of them are doing interesting things with the medium. Some are just a bit bonkers.

[A lot of the links are to the iPhone store, but most apps will be on Android as well ]

Related: Interview with Howard Ogden, Britain's leading Augmented Reality Specialist

Control computers with your brain? Yup. A consumer version of those electrode headsets that doctors use to measure brain waves in patients, the Epoc from Emotiv can read your mind. And then help you lift things up and down in computer games

The technology seems to be at quite an elementary level, with the signal detected serving only to let you do quite simple tasks like move objects on screens, sort through pictures or rotate a cube.

But Emotiv are predicting some great uses for the technology when it becomes more advanced. Their CEO Tan Le gave a speech at the TED conference - worth checking out if you're interested.

With the help of software developers, they hope to make a range of apps for the headset which will let you do a lot more with it. For example, if it were linked to a mobile phone you could call someone by thinking about calling them instead of picking up your handset and pressing buttons. These are the uses they've flagged up:

Artistic and creative expression - Use your thoughts, feeling, and emotion to dynamically create color, music, and art.

Life changing applications for disabled patients, such as controlling an electric wheelchair, mind-keyboard, or playing a hands-free game.

Games & Virtual Worlds - Experience the fantasy of controlling and influencing the virtual environment with your mind. Play games developed specifically for the EPOC, or use the EmoKey to connect to current PC games and experience them in a completely new way.

Market Research & Advertising - get true insight about how people respond and feel about material presented to them. Get real-time feedback on user enjoyment and engagement.

However, it's all rather fledging so far. Problems seem to include having hair - it gets in the way of the electrodes which are supposed to make direct contact with your skin, and the fact that it is hard to train the device to respond to your particular thoughts.

See a forum where those issues are raised here.

It packs with a device called EmoKey - this links your thoughts or emotions to strokes on the keyboard. For example, if you smile during an instant chat conversation, then smile recognition software will insert a smiley :) into the text you are typing.

Geek and sci-fi writer Greg Dawe got all excited about the possibilities for this, something we covered in a blog post here.

I mean we're pretty excited too, we're just not going to spend $299 on it yet...

We asked Howard Odgen about some of the other people getting interested in Augmented Reality, Foursquare for example who recently released "layers" of their own. Though he remained a little tight-lipped about that, he did agree that it would be a big deal. Howard also described a little piece of work he did for Google and how he ended up demonstrating one of his apps to Google CEO and Larry Page. Let's just say that if Google are interested in anything it's pretty big.

Oh and we also asked Howard about a topic close to all our hearts - limited mobile internet deals. They suck. But will they affect people's use of AR?

On Foursquare
[Foursquare recently introduced branded location layers - taken up so far by the Huffington Post, Shiny story here]
When they open that up to third party developers it's going to be a really big deal.

On limited internet deals becoming the norm
It's a shame. The carriers got greedy. Since they set up the networks it doesn't cost them so much to run them. Lots of people don't use their full allowance but it will hit a small number of hardcore users: I ran up a 700 euro bill from O2 from 2 days internet usage in Amsterdam. You hear lots of stories like mine, sometimes worse.
The EU have capped carrier spend - with just Three being the only UK carrier who pushed for the cap. This is a good thing for the average users, but is probably the catalyst for the disappearance of true unlimited data. I don't think it will have a huge impact on Layar, because it's generally a small amount of data used, maybe user habits will have to change a little. People may start seeking out wifi hot spots more and monitoring their usage.They've got 4G in parts of America and South East Asia, and Google put a whole town on super fast wifi - it just shows it can be done. But there's a lot of investment required for the networks to upgrade to 4G and here in Europe there's not too much incentive right now. They are still trying to recoup the huge amounts spent on 3G licenses.

On giving a demo of Layar to Larry Page, Google CEO
I'd developed a Layar for Google for their Zeitgeist conference, always a good company to have on your client list. At the conference, someone tapped me on the shoulder and said, "Could you give Larry a demo?" There he was drinking a green tea, looking very zen. I ran through a demo of Layar, including our FindAProperty layer, and he said "Oh, very cool" at the end. It was inspirational to meet him.

Howard's Layar development company is called Augment Reality

Here at Shiny Shiny we really like Augmented Reality - the technology that overlays reality with computer data and makes pictures, icons and tweets float over an image of the real world. We are soo into it. Layar is the platform that has brought Augmented Reality to mobile phones [by 2012, it will be on 3/4 of all smartphones sold] and developer Howard Ogden, maker of the Beatles Augmented Reality app and realestate app FindAProperty is one of their top developers. And a man with a lot of ideas.

He was in London last week and we had a little chat about augmenting reality. This was what he had to say about the changes in Layar and why the platform (available on iPhone 3Gs, 4 and Android) is still the best one going.

===

On Layar 3.5 and how it will force developers to up their game

This introduces Stream, their search engine for points of interest, it's a big achievement. Because Stream will index points of interest from all layers, it means that users will spend more time on the search engine and less time on individual layers. They'll need an incentive to click through to the layer, which is a challenge for developers. They'll need to make their layers more engaging and interactive to persuade people onto them; by attaching a video or an online coupon to make it more interesting. I think that's a good thing.

On Layar 4

This brings in the social aspects, the floaticons. You can interact with the floaticons, feed them cookies, leave messages.. they'll be like 3D characters. In terms of monetising, Layar are offering premium floaticons and the opportunity to leave gifts for people.

Why Layar is still in the lead

Technically, they're very advanced. That search engine technology - no-one else has got that. It's widespread and it's very international: Layar will be installed in 1/3 smartphones sold this year, next year 2/3 and by 2012, it will be in three quarters of phones shipped.

Layar have a deal with Samsung and with the largest Chinese phone manufacturer. They get a lot of usage in South Korea - of course America is still the biggest market - but they have got a strong international base. Layar 4 is very geared to the international audience, I think they'll really get the Floaticons in South East Asia.

See also: Changes to Layar bring social features, gaming & Floaticons to Augmented Reality

Howard's Layar development company is called Augment Reality

It's not a big secret that the music industry got caught napping by the internet. A few years of ignoring it have cost them dear and suddenly they have an industry-crushing crisis on their hands.

Mick Jagger gave a bleak little assessement of it all on the BBC today, claiming that the golden age was over and that no-one was likely to make any money out of music for the forseeable future.

Anyway, whatever the long-term holds, now the music industry has woken up to tech trends and are staring at tech crystal balls with the ferocious alertness waiting to leap on new opportunities. That's one of the reasons why they've picked up on Augmented Reality with a vengeance.

I say "with a vengeance" - there have been two Augmented Reality apps made recently,the Beatles AR app and now the Rolling Stones AR app both on the Layar platform. But considering that the platform is very young - that's quite significant.

Other companies making AR apps include a forward thinking estate agent - Trulia - and Yellow Pages who have commissioned significant apps. But those companies are more obvious matches with Augmented Reality because a lot of their information is location-based.

Anyway, looks like the music industry are harnessing some creative brains into this AR app thing and while the Beatles app released on Layar (Dec 09) was an experiment it certainly caught the music industry's attention. Polydor's Rolling Stones app Exile on My Street is perhaps a sign of the future - an AR app that lets you leave band posters and songs pinned to certain areas and visible to other people with the Layar app.

Can they do interesting things there? Well it's early days for AR, but given the new social aspects in Layar and the fact that 1/3 smartphones sold this year now ship with Layar on board, it's certainly a big space to be exploited.

Whether the music industry find great uses for it or get too tied up in licensing arrangements remains to be seen.

M

It set them all cooing at CES this year, and now the iPhone-controlled toy helicopter will be available for sale in the UK from the middle of August.

The AR Parrot Drone is a foam and plastic toy helicopter with built-in cameras that you can operate from an app on your phone. It connects to your iPhone over wifi, and can be steered (pretty intuitively) by tilting your phone to the direction you want it to go. The Parrot drone is a steady flier capable of hovering, lifting and flying pretty high (within it's wifi range).

The Parrot Drone was launched last night in London by its French makers in a pretty neo-classical church. The effect of this thing zooming around in front of paintings of the last supper made it look a little bit like the Holy Spirit gone wrong, however the space was ideal for showing off the strengths of the Drone. Though it comes with an extra plastic shield for outdoor use, I think it is going to do better inside than outside where the wind is a problem and the wifi signal weaker.

The French CEO explained what happens when the drone leaves the range of wifi: "when he moves out of wifi, he drops himself". And this was demonstrated by one of the journalists who flew his drone too far and it sort of fell out of the sky in an undignified crash landing. We were told that the wifi range in open field was 15m, and in an office or indoor situation it would be 20m. The Drone acts a bit like a rerouter amplifying the signal that it gets.

But the point of the helicopter is not ranging far and wide and taking surveillance footage of the surrounding areas, it's more about using the nifty controls at close-range to play games. Augmented Reality games (hence the AR of the title).

On the screen of your phone you can see live footage from the cameras in the Drone (played at 10fps). And, superimposed on the image are targets and gunfire and bomb-blasts, letting you play little games if you have a friend with a drone.

The gaming aspect looks pretty exciting, though still slightly underdeveloped. As the CEO told us, the API for the drone is available online so they're clearly looking for people to design new games, perhaps ones that could be played by yourself. There's no Android app yet, but again the API is open and ripe for someone to make one.

It's a toy, the CEO said, and watching the things zooming around inside, they sure looked pretty fun: landing on people's heads and knocking over beer bottles. It would a laugh around the office, that's for sure.

The AR Parrot Drone will be on sale in HMV for £299 from 18th August
See more on AR.Drone.com

Mobile-based augmented reality will get more social and gaming features and cute little bouncing Floaticons it was announced today.

At a conference a few hours ago marking its first birthday, Layar the augmented reality app platform announced some interesting changes that amount to a Layar 4. With fans billing the budding technology of Augmented Reality as just as exciting as the birth of the internet... these are definitely developments to keep an eye on. Check out the quick video from Layar below for a whip-round guide to the new features.

Key developments are:

1) Floaticons- building on the core Layar function of Points Of Interest - they've developed cute little Floaticons which replace the less distinctive pegs, showing people where places are. Ratings and friends pop up as 3d images as well, and you can comment and interact with them.

2) A past and future viewer - more emphasis on the amazing ability of Layar to show current scenes as they were and as they will be. In the video the example is architectural, letting you see a building that used to stand on a particular spot and flipping into future view - a future building development not yet built. The same could apply to say, meetings with friends - where you met your friends last week picked up from public photo galleries, where you've planned to meet them next week picked up from your calendar. This is a really interesting function.

3) Games! pick up virtual stuff in real places, score points and social game virtually by doing things in the real world. Can you imagine it? It's like Foursquare gone 3D! We love it.

4) Get a feel for the vibe.. this sounds sort of fuzzy, but I guess in the way that Twitter manages to create and show hype around topics and keywords, this would show hype and activity around places and venues.

If Augmented Reality still gives you a brain ache, take a look back at one of our earlier articles on the the medium to get a quick explanation:

Interview with Britain's top Augmented Reality Specialist: Howard Ogden talks the Beatles app and the future
My augmented reality wishlist... Or how Layar will become this year's hottest mobile app

Here's some news we have been waiting for. The Parrot AR Drone Augmented Reality iPhone remote controlled Quadricopter, which was such a hit at CES this year, is going to reach the UK very soon. There's a launch event scheduled for the end of the month and we guess it will be in the stores by the end of the summer. In case you missed the CES hype...

The AR Drone Quadricopter (that's a four propeller helicopter to you and me) is a very cool device that is sure to be one of the year's hottest gadgets. It is controlled by either an iPhone or an iPod touch and boasts two cameras - one for controlling the device and another which streams images back to the iPhone/touch. Basically if you tilt the phone then the Quadricopter tilts, raise the iPhone and the copter rises etc.

It is going to be available in the second half of 2010 in both the US and the UK and works as either standalone remote control toy or as part of game.

Layar has just introduced a partnership with PayPal which will let publishers and creators on Layar charge for their online experiences.

They've set up a store where customers can buy Augmented Reality layers and publishers can sell them. Layar announced the change on ablog post.

Berlitz Guides, the City Guides company, have already leapt on board and now Android phone users can buy access to the Berlitz city guides layer and get an Augmented Reality city guide delivered through their phones.

The promise of money should give developers an incentive to create more content for Layar and gives publishers of content like the Berlitz city guides a reason to get into making Augmented Reality content.

Layar acts a bit like an app store in an app - providing a platform for Augmented Reality apps. We explain Layar in a bit more detail here in an interview with top UK AR developer.

The companies that have already got on board include: Berlitz City Guides; Mouse Reality for Disney World and Disneyland (which provides a virtual guide for Disneyland's attractions); and UK sold prices which lets you check the latest UK residential Sold Price information as recorded by the Land Registry while on the move.

The free Layar Reality Browser is available on Android devices and iPhone 3GS. The Layar Platform is available for anyone to create their own Augmented Reality experiences on.

Publishers interested in making AR layers for their content can find out more here

Augmented reality is everybody's favourite toy this year. British fashion magazine Grazia have launched right in with an Augmented Reality cover starring pop icon Florence and the Machine.

Present the cover to a webcam while on the Grazia site and a virtual Florence pops up on the screen doing a little dance and singing You Got the Love. You can also see 3d models of this year's Spring/Summer collections.

Disappointingly, it is not as incredible as it sounds, but an iPhone app that lets you unlock further special features, including the ability to "spin Florence around by blowing into your iPhone and take a picture of her in any location", is, according to Twitter, pretty fun.

Is it adding much to the mag? - a lot of novelty value that's for sure. Fashion has been quick at picking up AR and 3D with London Fashion show featuring some prominent techie innovations. We'll see where the partnership takes us...

The Florence and the Machine edition is out today, more info at Grazia Daily

I thought it was time to do a little round up of ten social media apps and sites that may just become the next big thing. It is interesting that while the first wave of social media sites focused on networking, these have a slightly different approach. Many have strong networking elements, but they also incorporate a lot of mobile technology and the companies behind them are perhaps much more focused on developing business models that generate revenue from day one than their predecessors.

For me then the hot areas are...

Location based services
Group shopping
Instant blogging
Augmented Reality
Video networking
Ereading

Here then is my top ten for now (in no particular order)

1 Groupon

This is without a doubt the hottest property in the US web scene at the moment. It has the backing of some serious investors and is starting to gain a very large following who are spending real money on the site. So why haven't you heard of it? Well Groupon works by offering discount deals on goods and services in specific cities. And so far the company has focused on the US - the London launch is apparently months away. The really clever bit is that the day's offer is only activated if enough people get together in a group and agree to go for it. So, for example, to get a 70% off deal from a hairdressers you might need to get 100 people to sign up for the deal. And you do this by spamming/sharing the offer with all your mates on Twitter and Facebook and via email. Businesses love it as they can guarantee a certain amount of business while getting a huge dollop of social media PR at the same time.

With a very obvious hole in the market a host of UK companies have launched their own Groupon rivals. The most noteworthy are Snippa and Groupola. Neither though has so far delivered enough really cool offers to turn heads. The good news for them is that if they can get it right there is more than enough room in the market for several of these services. There are also a lot of cities in the UK. Northern entrepreneurs really ought to be on the case here. The concept could even go hyper local with smaller communities in large cities having their own offerings. This will be very, very big.

2 Appmakr

There are a lot media companies and indeed bloggers with large followers, who would love to have a presence on the iPhone and the iPad. That's where Appmakr steps in. This controversial US company enables anyone with content to easily create an iPhone app. Think of its as the Wordpress of iPhone apps. There are however several catches. Firstly you still have to pay a fee - the entry level basic service is $199. Secondly there are rumours that Apple is about to crack down on RSS content only apps in the near future. The argument runs that the apps don't ofter anything than the websites/blog, which is easily accessible via the iPhone anyhow.

Conspiracy theorists point to Apple's cosy relationship with big publishing houses as being the real reason it is slightly sniffy about content driven apps. After all how many dreadful games are there on the platform? This however might prove to be Appmakr's big opportunity. If it can develop basic apps that cost little yet add features such as retail or location based services as well as content it might keep Apple happy and generate a whole new way for smaller media companies to make money.

3 Chatroulette

In many ways this has already gone mainstream with features in the media as well as an odd marketing campaigns from French Connection. However I think Chatroulettte could mature in 2010 from being a service that is the preserve of exhibitionists through to one that enables people to make real connections. In case you missed the hype Chatroulette is little like video Skype but with a genius twist. You switch your webcam on and start having a video conversation. What makes it interesting is that the person you speak to is chosen at random.

What has made Chatroulette notorious is that some users say that as many as one in ten of the people they encounter are naked men. Ever the optimist I believe that people will get bored with this, or maybe even Chatroulette's developers will work out a way of weeding nakedness out. Then it is very likely that people will find real uses for the services. Think speed dating. Or even niches. I might be want to speak to a group of Arsenal fans after a game and if I specify that request I could be chatting to Mikhail from Moscow about the Russian Gooners appreciation society. Think too how it might work if it were incorporated into a TV and you could talk with randoms about live events.

4 Stickybits

There's a full review here but the gist of Stickybits is that it allows you attach any kind of content - images, words etc to a barcode. So now if you scan the barcode of the Crunchy Nut Flakes in our kitchen you get to see a pic of my daughter along with an audio message telling her father that the CNFs are hers and I need to open the Bran Flakes instead. Where it might score in the future is that you can buy a kit to add your own barcodes to things. At the moment these are a bit pricey. But imagine if you could leave barcodes in public places where you could then access information or cheeky messages - that would be fun.

For me though the optimum use would be having a barcode in a business card. When the users accessed it they could then get an audio message, some video, and some text which explain in much more detail about who I am and what I do. Stickybits is clearly great fun and there are loads of features to explore, but it does strike me as an app in search of a killer feature. Cleverly Stickybits are using the community to come up with ideas which strikes me as a very sensible idea.

5 Siri

Siri is an amazing free app for the iPhone that basically acts as a voice-driven personal assistant. You ask it what's the weather going to be like? and it delivers a forecast for you. It can do loads more cool things, read the review here. The future it portrays sounds amazing. Here's what the makers say. "You will soon pick up your phone and start asking your assistant things like "take me to live CNN news," "send my dad the latest John Grisham book," or "tell Adam I am running 20 minutes late," and you will then watch it all happen. This evolution towards simplicity of interaction will reduce the barrier to almost everything you use your mobile device to do."

The annoying thing though is that it is so far only available in the US. I guess they have to work on voice translations for the UK which means it may never come here. Which would be a tragedy! Anyway if this sounds good join the Siri to the UK Facebook group here

6 Foursquare

Out of the top ten Foursquare is perhaps the best known and most popular in the UK largely because it is already been championed by a significant section of the British social media Twitterati. The one thing it doesn't have in its favour is that it is not that easy to explain. In fact in many ways until you use the service you probably think it sounds a little well, rubbish. It is built around an app which is available on many mobile platforms. When you fire up the app you get the opportunity to check into the place where you are. So if I an in cafe I check in and I get awarded some virtual points by Foursquare. I then compete with my friends to see who can get the most Foursquare points during a week. It does sound dreadfully sad (like a weak mobile version of Top Trumps), but believe me it is very addictive. The game also has lot of social features, so you can add comments about the places you visit. It also hooks up nicely with Twitter so you tweet about where you are and what you are up to.

However in spite of geekiness Foursquare is growing very quickly. Brands have also started to take it seriously. Soon it will be commoun to check in at places using Foursquare and get free offers etc. Some far sighted UK brands have been doing this already. I can't quite see Foursquare ever really emerging as a social network to rival Facebook or as a serious reviews site either. It is however lots of fun.

7 Posterous

Given my passion for blogging I had to include one content platform in the top ten and inevitably it goes to Posterous as I use it almost every day. This service, which began nearly two years ago now, enables users to blog very quickly and easily either by sending an email with the post and the picture included, or by using a very clever bookmarklet that lets users instantly grab an image on a page and then opens up a text box for them to get typing. The other clever bit is that once our post is up Posterous can send a link to any number of social sites including Twitter and Facebook to entice readers.

Posterous also has a very simple to use iPhone app too and quite a few high profile US bloggers are very vocal about the format. It also has a rival called Tumblr, which is aso excellent and works in a similar though slightly more complicated way. Unluckily for Posterous several of its key features have now been incorporated in mainstream blogging platforms like Wordpress and Typepad, but Posterous is still growing very nicely and I would put money on the developers once again delivering some killer new unique features in the not too distant future.

8 Layar

One of the most talked up technologies of 2010 is Augmented Reality. AR browser Layar lets you overlay a layer of digital content over external reality as seen through your phone's camera. Point your phone's camera at a street/building/person, and on the screen, information about what you're seeing is overlaid onto your view of it. With Layar any developer with a bright idea can add their own layer of content. There's a Wikipedia layer for location-tagged Wikipedia entries, a find-an-available-house layer called Funda set up by an entrepreneurial Irish developer with an interest in property, and a bank has done one marking all nearby ATMs.

There are also some fun apps including one that offers a very cool Beatles virtual tour of London. A lot of developers are working with Layar now and there are apparently over 400 apps for it. A lot of brands have taken notice too, so expect to see a rush of AR apps in the not too distant future.

9 Twitcasting

There are lots of apps that enable you to stream video from your mobile, Qik, for example, has been around several years.Twitcasting uses social media to take live streaming onto another level. After downloading the app, link your Twitter account to Twitcast site by signing in here and then shoot away. The screen on the Twitcasting app is split into a video recording screen and a twitter feed. Hit "Go Live" to go live and as you shoot the video a text box pops up suggesting you post a link to livecast to twitter. Any of your followers can then click on the link and go over to your video channel on the Twitcasting site - just the same way that TwitPic works. The livecast switches off if you receive a phone call.

The website grabs @replies on Twitter and posts them as comments under the video - it's pretty cool, it also archives your videos just like Twitpic does with pictures. Twitcasting might not be a huge mainstream success but some of its features are sure to be incorporated into other video sites very quickly.

10 Kobo

Kobo is a really good idea that makes a lot of sense for those who love electronic books. Unlike rival services Kobo sets itself apart from other digital book stores by offering a synchronised eBook library across a number of gadgets, from smartphones to netbooks.

For instance, if you're lucky enough to own an iPhone, an e-reader, a tablet PC and a desktop PC, Kobo will use cloud storage to sync your library across multiple devices, meaning your page is kept whatever you're reading the eBook on, as well as giving you access to all your novels at any time. It has just launched in the UK, boasts a huge library of titles and best of all has a lot of the classics for free.

Layar - the app that brings augmented reality to smartphones has made it back onto the iPhone and is in the app store from now.

The latest version of Layar - 3.0 (with support for 3D models) was released on 5th December but had to be withdrawn from the Apple app store due to crashes on unlocked iPhones.

Three months later, a limited beta perid and crashes fixed, Layar is back and with it the whole platform of "layers" that it hosts. The layers include everything from The AR Beatles tour to Trulia, an estate agents app that lets you find new properties by looking through your phone's camera. Layar promise us almost 400 different layers compatible with version 3.0. I'm salivating slightly already.

You need an iPhone 3Gs for this to work - that video camera is essential. Layar 3.0 has continued to run fine on Android phones since its launch.

See also:
Interview with Britain's top Augmented Reality Specialist: Howard Ogden talks the Beatles app and the future and Augmented Reality shoes from Adidas

Just when you notice one company has started using augmented reality to let you "try on" fashion accessories remotely, you suddenly see a whole heap more too.

Nooka watches have created a fun little video site where they let you try out their watches. It's a little more complicated than our previous example though, because you need a strip of Nooka watch-representing paper to make this work. You can find such a strip in magazine adverts. Watch the video below it all becomes clear. Anyway once you present your skelton paper watch to your webcam while on the Nooka site, it transforms it into any Nooka watch you select. Wave it around and you can see yourself with your imaginary watch on the video cam. It's pretty cool.

Apparently to Nooka's PR agency it has boosted sales as well. That's the charm of AR for you...

Nooka Watches here

Augmented Reality app Layar may not work on the iPhone for a few months to come, but in the meantime try out AR iPhone app World Surfer 2.

Made by San Fran company Geovector, World Surfer 2 is an augmented reality app that, like Layar, lets you point your phone's video camera at the world and see it enhanced by graphics showing points of interest.

In the case of World Surfer, it's about straightforward Yellow Pages-cum-Time Out points of interest: retailers and restaurants etc mashed in with Wikipedia entries for parks and monuments and suchlike.

You can bookmark locations you like - it suggests clean public toilets or text search for stuff nearby which is then shown up in either or "reality view".

A nice feature about this app is that though it works best with the video camera and compass-ennabled iPhone 3Gs, it will also work (sort of) with any iPhone or iPod with the 3.0 operating system.

World Surfer 2 is free on iTunes

Developer and entrepreneur Howard Ogden is one of Britain's leaders in the field of Augmented Reality. Through his business augmentreality.co.uk Howard develops Augmented Reality apps for phones on a platform called Layar - available on Google Android phones and on the iPhone 3GS (soon). He is the man behind the Augmented Reality Beatles tour. We talked to him.

Layar chose him as one of 30 developers in the world who got to try out Layar 3.0 before its launch. He was one of five who made it to the Layar showcase by Dec 5 when the new version launched.

He mentions the 3D modelling now available in version 3 of Layar, how you can get your picture taken with the Beatles on your mobile phone, that the music industry and car makers are interested in augmented reality, and why Layar doesn't currently work on iPhone.

SS: Tell us about Layar.

H:Our applications are apps within an app - using Layar as a platform, which is a new concept really. They've spent a lot of time developing their platform and then opened up the API to allow third-party developers to create apps. It's free to apply for a key to make layers and you can make as many layers as you like as well - no developer charge.

SS: So is it hard to build a Layar app?

H: You'd have to be a programmer, though there are a couple of online services out there which let the user upload points of interest. It's not relevant to every situation, though I've been doing several corporate projects including a layer for the Yellow Pages directory in Czech Republic, Slovakia and Poland.

In the layer the user is presented with a screen with a script box and they can search for a residential or business listing or or browse by the map. There are 4.5 million points of interest in the three apps.

SS: That's a lot. If the basic principle of Layar is putting points of interest on a map and letting them show in a "reality view" is there new stuff out there too?

H: Yes so that's the basic functionality of Layar. The more advanced stuff comes with Layar 3 which launched on Dec 5 2009 on Android and will launch on iPhone in February [see the iPhone stuff below] There's a whole raft of really exciting new features with that.

For example, 3d models in the reality view.. For the launch of Layar 3.0, Layar gave the developers kit to 30 developers to try out, but only five managed to get something done by the time of the launch.

I did the AR Beatles tour: the concept of that is that there are 42 points of interest in London and Liverpool and seventeen videos that auto-trigger when you get within 30 metres of a POI. Along the route there's many 3D models, including of a yellow submarine and a model of the Beatles crossing the road at Abbey Road.

I'm working on some other projects, commercial applications for 3D, for example building models of buildings in 3D that can be used in environmental consultations.

SS: So that's when you look up at a half-finished building through your mobile screen or viewfinder and see it as it would look fully completed?

H: Yes that's right, the UAE and the Netherlands are two of the places interested in that. There's a lot of interest in the 3D models.. the music industry is looking at this, even the automotive industry, I can't talk too much about this but there are some really interesting projects under development.

SS: That's a shame, sounds really interesting. How many developers are there using Layar at the minute?

H:There are currently 1500 active Layar developers to the best of my knowledge.

SS: How did you get into developing for Layar? Were you an app developer before?

H: Developing for Layar is now my full-time job. I was running a travel company but set up the AR business as my full-time job. I wrote my first website when I was 15, but I'm not a classic programmer and developer because I'm also keenly aware of how best to use a site or service to increase sales. As soon as I saw this technology I just got it - I saw how it could be used.

I had a hunch about it, just like I did about the internet back in 1994 - and that worked out. The technology will one day grow out of mobile phones into other devices, Vuzix are making AR visors for example... The technology is in its infancy in terms of everyday use by - though of course it's been around in the military for years.

SS: Why did you think the Beatles made a good subject for an app?

H: I lived very close to Abbey Road growing up and I'd always see people going there and taking pictures. One feature of the app is that you can have your photo taken with the 3D models of the Beatles walking across the road so it looks like you're there with them.. I hope no-one's going to get run-over doing this, but I haven't had any complaints so far.

SS: There have been problems with Layar on the iPhone - currently you can't get either Layar 2.0 or 3.0 on the iPhone 3GS. What's happening with Layar on iPhone? When's it coming back?

H: Layar 3.0 came out on both Android and iPhone before Christmas but there were problems with the iPhone version.

There were reported crashes on about 15% of uses so Layar pulled it completely rather than keeping up a faulty app or reverting to Layar 2.0. It was on jail-broken iPhones only that the app crashed, but it wasn't good for the reputation so Layar have rebuilt it from scratch and are releasing it to a closed beta testing group in February , then, following the Apple approval it will be released properly.

SS: Looking forward to it...

See Howard's site: augmentreality.co.uk
See Layar's site: layar.com

Related:
CES 2010: the Vuzix Augmented Reality visor - w00t!
Augmented Reality shoes from Adidas
My Augmented Reality wish-list

Augmented reality cameras and apps we can understand, spectacles yes, and even those augmented reality greetings cards from Hallmark. But shoes? There's no screen, no visual interface.. shoes are just plastic and leather things you put your feet in. But not for much longer. Adidas have promised an augmented reality shoe...

The Originals AR Game Pack is a range of five shoes in different colours and styles that will have an AR code built in to the tongue. When held in front of a webcam, the code will unlock access to an area on Adidas's website with a series of interactive games in which your shoe actually becomes the game controller.

So it's like having a Wii remote strapped to your trainers. Of course we don't know how much fun that's going to be. Will it really translate well into a game setting? I guess we'll find out... Watch the advert below. Not heavy on specifications, but it sure looks interesting..