Augment and Virtualize

Local developers test IT devices at an augmented and virtual reality forum in SKT's headquarters on July 22.
Local developers test IT devices at an augmented and virtual reality forum in SKT's headquarters on July 22.

 

“The era that smartphones and tablet PCs can recognize space in three dimensions like human eyes is not far away,” noted Eitan Marder-Eppstein, a senior software engineer at Google, at a recent forum. The forum, titled “Now & Next: virtual reality tech toward the 5G era” was held in SK Telecom's headquarters in Seoul on July 22. Eitan is in charge of Google's Project Tango. Tango devices have 3D sensors that can detect 3D space. SKT is currently working to develop a solution that shows virtual content by adding Tango to its augmented reality (AR) platform called T-AR.

“The scene in which Tony Stark worked by floating a screen in the movie Iron Man will become a reality soon,” said Park Joon-suk, director of Microsoft Korea, while introducing Microsoft's HoloLens at the event. HoloLens is a set of glasses with a transparent heads-up display like Google Glass, which shows virtual images on top of real objects. However, it does not need a smartphone or a PC for an Internet connection. Instead, it operates on its own and recognizes its user's surrounding environment.

The nation's largest mobile carrier introduced tech for augmented and virtual reality at the event. The carrier also showcased T-AR for Cardboard, a toolkit for developing apps that can let people experience augmented and virtual reality using Google Cardboard, a virtual reality platform developed by Google. In addition, the company announced that it would provide devices and space in its T open lab to develop Google Cardboard and Gear VR.

Outside the venue where the forum took place, there was space to display innovative IT devices, including Google Tango and Cardboard, Oculus VR's Rift, Samsung's Gear VR, and a next-gen glasses-free 3D display developed by the Korea Institute of Science and Technology.

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