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App Attack: Reality has never been more interesting

By Koh Wanzi - 17 Jun 2015

App Attack: Reality has never been more interesting

Sprucing Up Reality

Let's face it, reality is boring. But what if things could be different? Microsoft's HoloLens may be making the headlines, but we're guessing you don't have one just yet. Here are some apps that can help season your experience of the real world with some digital spice:-


Wikitude

Price: Free
Category: Travel & Local
Platforms: Apple iOS / Google Android

Wikitude helps you experience the real world through a rich body of digital information. Say you’re hungry and feel like munching on a good T-bone steak. Simply search for steakhouses in the app and fire up your smartphone camera to scan the world around you.

A digital overlay will tell you when there are any nearby matches. You can also easily parse the world around you into categories, allowing you to narrow or widen your search of your surroundings accordingly.

In addition, Wikitude comes with image recognition tools that enable you to access enhanced digital content like animations and videos embedded in print ads and packaging.

  


Ingress

Price: Free
Category: Adventure
Platforms: Apple iOS / Google Android

 You don’t have to wait for Magic Leap to experience gaming in augmented reality. Ingress is a massively multiplayer online augmented reality game that turns the real world into your virtual playground.

The game has all the right elements to whet your appetite for grand battles and science fiction. Players can align themselves with either the Enlightened or the Resistance as they fight for control of a mysterious energy source called Exotic Matter (XM).

In the Ingress universe, real world locations become battlefields as players fight to collect XM and gain control of portals around buildings and landmarks to advance their cause.

 


Star Walk 2

Price: $3.36 (Premium version)
Category: Education
Platforms: Apple iOS / Google Android 

 Reality often means keeping your feet firmly grounded to the earth. So it’s only fitting that the Star Walk 2 augmented reality app lets you turn your gaze to the heavens. 

As you hold your phone up towards to the sky, Star Walk 2 uses your phone’s built-in gyroscope to match the map on your screen to the stars.

To find a particular star, constellation or planet, simply tap ‘Search’ and the app will point your gaze in the right direction. Star Walk 2 also assigns coordinates to constellations and other celestial objects, allowing you to abandon your earth-bound perspective and view objects from any vantage point in space.

 


Theodolite

Price: $4.98
Category: Navigation
Platforms: Apple iOS 

 Digital photography is great, but we’ve all wished at one point or another to be able to glean more information about our surroundings through a viewfinder. Theodolite is a multi-function viewfinder that combines a compass, two-axis inclinometer, rangefinder, GPS, navigational calculator and more into a single app.

Outdoor hobbyists and hikers will love Theodolite’s myriad applications. The digital overlay is capable of displaying detailed information like angle of elevation, altitude and display location in several different coordinate formats. The app also has collaborative functions – you can share your location with up to 20 people on Theodolite’s map – making it perfect for group trips.

 


iOnRoad Augmented Driving Pro 

Price: $2.63
Category: Transportation
Platforms: Apple iOS / Google Android 

 Your GPS device may be invaluable in navigating the urban jungle, but it tracks only your car and not its surroundings. The iOnRoad Augmented Driving Pro app steps in to fill the gap – it uses your phone’s camera, GPS and sensors to detect vehicles in front and alert drivers when they are in danger.

The app’s ‘visual radar’ maps objects in front of the driver in real-time and calculates the car’s speed. This way, it’s able to issue audio-visual warnings in the event of a possible collision, giving drivers extra time to react accordingly.

The digital overlay even displays nifty bits of information like the weather, your current speed, and how far away you are from the vehicle in front in terms of seconds.

 

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