[From Gadget Venue; video demonstrations are here (0:15) and here (1:44)]
iKat Augmented Reality App
by Matthew Newill on March 10, 2010
iKat is quite a cool looking Augmented Reality application that requires no real-world prompt to function correctly. Normally when augmented reality is used a place card is held up with an image on it which the phone can then lock on to and replace with the 3D rendered model. In the case if the iKat it just takes a quick scan of what the camera is looking at and can figure out where to place the 3D object.
The iKat application is basically just a cat that walks across a keyboard when holding the phone up to it, but the idea behind it is really what we are interested in here.
“Based on Zenitum’s D-Track engine, we are working on markerless mobile augmented reality application, iKat. You are breeding a virtual kitten on the phone. The kitten can be mixed into real world using AR. Since no markers or image targets are needed, you need to recognize the space in front of the camera for creating the appropriate space for your kitten.”
Although using iKat isn’t really going to enhance your life that much, if at all, it’s certainly the start of moving in the right direction to making some really interesting augmented reality apps that can function by scanning surroundings. Quite intuitive if you ask me!