Watch YouTube videos in their original settings
Wikitude Developer Showcase: New AR app shows their users videos in the vicinity
C2youtube (“Close 2 YouTube”), the new iPhone app on the basis of the Augmented Reality platform Wikitude by AR pioneer Mobilizy, displays YouTube videos in the users’ close surroundings. Thus, users can experience small and big cinematic works at original sites all over the world. The app is a prime example for the possibilities that will soon be available for iPhone app developers with the release of the Wikitude-API.
C2youtube users view videos at the places where they are set. On the Champs-Élysées in Paris, the cyclists of the Tour de France can be followed closely in their sprint finish. Users can re-experience the successful splashdown of the US Airways 1549 while resting on the banks of the Hudson River. The NHL finales of 2009, Pittsburgh Penguins vs. Detroit, were the highlight for all hockey fans. Every C2youtube user can witness these nail-biting matches and relive the key scenes quasi on-site. On the city’s many historical sites, visitors of Berlin can reconstruct the atmosphere and people’s emotions at the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989 on their screens. The awarding of the Nobel Peace Price to Barack Obama is not only a newspaper headline – it is made visible in the form of a video for all interested C2youtube users.
A compass shows the videos as “points” in their respective distance to the user. In the camera view of the smartphone, YouTube videos overlay reality and they are shown at the exact geographical place where they were recorded. This view is called Augmented Reality.
When the user clicks on one of those “points”, a.k.a. POI (Point of Interest), which in this case is a video, details about the video come up, e.g. the title, a short description and the number of views. Another click and the video can be played directly on the mobile phone. Film fans can easily rate videos and send them to friends.
A sophisticated system, operating in the background, determines which videos are relevant and which are not. Among other things, the number of video views is considered. The distance of the POIs can be controlled with a slider. Besides the AR view via the camera, C2youtube can also display the contents in form of a list. By the way, the video demonstration of Wikitude comes second among the most viewed videos in Salzburg!
iPhone developers can secure their own Developer Key for the development of their own AR applications based on the Wikitude API by sending an email to developer [at] wikitude.org (Subject: “iPhone”).
Augmented Reality
Augmented Reality (AR) unites reality with computer generated data. Additional information enhances the displayed camera picture on the smartphone. The exact position information is provided by new components of the modern smartphones: the position is calculated using GPS, compass and accelerometer.
For the iPhone 3gs, C2youtube can be downloaded from the iTunes Store for the price of 0,79 €.
Press photographs about C2youtube
About Mobilizy:
Mobilizy GmbH has a leading position on the world market of the development of Augmented Reality (AR) applications for smartphones. The company has developed the AR Browser “Wikitude” which is the first publicly accessible AR application worldwide. Along with customer projects and the development of location-based applications, the main focus is on research projects which are the basis for Mobilizy’s pioneering position in the field of Augmented Reality. Wikitude is sponsored by the Austrian economic service “Austria Wirtschaftsservice” (Impulse Programme).
Media Contact:
Christina Rittchen
christina.rittchen [at] mobilizy.com
Mobilizy GmbH
Phone: +43 662 45 45 55 – 425
Web: www.mobilizy.com
www.twitter.com/wikitude
September 2, 2010