What is that, you ask? First of all, it involves augmented reality, combined with the use of camera, sensors and location based services and you have the Around Project, a new exciting application currently being developed by Seqpoint Software.
Currently it only works with the N97 due to the different sensors in this particular handset, but the application will soon support other handsets such as the N86. The application works by simply pointing your camera in a direction to see if there are notable buildings in your area. To do that it uses a combination of the built in GPS and compass in the N97 in harmony with the camera, all of which happens in the background. You could compare it to Nokia’s Point and Find service.
Unfortunately when testing on the N97 it took a while to get a GPS fix, after which additional minutes had to be spent to calibrate the camera. Luckily when you have gone through this bothersome process the reward is worth it.
The camera is used as a viewfinder and there is a status bar which shows how many notable buildings are near you. Theses appear as small blue circles which turn red when clicked showing more information about the building or location. Really handy as a tourist guide.
In some locations you can even press the “more options” in the application which will then launch the Web browser and head to the English version of Wikipedia to search for information about the location. While I was able to do this once, it did however not show up any article (most likely because there weren’t any English articles about that particular building).
The ARound Project allows you to select from two main “data providers”. The first one is “Landmarks” and uses the locations and favorites in OVI Maps which doesn’t require an internet access. The second one is Geonames where the application will prompt you to accesss the internet to get information about buildings in your surroundings. Depending on which data provider you choose, the same buildings around you will either show up or not.
Being a beta, the application of course has some small glitches and the most noticeable one is when you switch modes in settings, the application feels like it’s cold restarting . This basically means that you have to wait for a GPS fix again and then recalibrate the camera. I believe this is due to the system of the N97 itself and that it has nothing to do with the application itself. Anyway my suggestion is to cache the GPS position, which is something that has been done in many of Nokias other handsets in the N-series portfolio.
Due to this fiddling around, the application is a real battery killer. Leaving home with full bar and using it for about 20 minutes, switching modes two or three times made my phone freeze once. After a restart my battery level had gone down to 2 bars. This is an issue that should be addressed immediately. Because the application really has great potential and can really enrich your life when you’re out in new surroundings.
If you own the N97 you can download a copy and test the software for yourself from Seqpoint. Do you find this integration with augmented reality, sensors and location service as something useful or is still a bit too far into the future?
Cool looking program. I’ll have to try to get ARound working on my friends N97.
I’ve already tried out point and find on my E63, but didn’t have a BT GPS to connect to. :(
What’s neat about this application is that unlike Nokias Point and Find it is independent of “location”. Whereas Point and find don’t work in all countries because it’s not available in a prticular country, the Around Project will work.
However point and find offers things such as displaying movie times and more, but as mentioned restricted to some countries.
Another project similar to this:
Magic Wand
http://www.symbianresources.com/projects/magicwand.php
Another project similar to this:
Magic Wand
http://www.symbianresources.com/projects/magicw...