Augmented Reality by Qualcomm
Qualcomm is offering an interesting AR SDK. Android developers can grab it via the Qualcomm's QdevNet. The development kit looks quite promising and also offers Unity 3 integration.
There has also been an AR Challange which closed at the end of 2010. Developers were asked to create the best next-genereation augmented reality application using the Qualcomm's AR SDK. The prize money is set to $200,000. The winners will be announced on February 15, 2011. It's a pitty that the AR SDK is not available for the iPhone since it only works with Qualcomm processor based devices.
But the future looks promising. Besides Qualcomm there are also other developers who try to tackle this issue and make AR even »more available« and easy to use, like for example Tonchidot with its SekaiCamera. Although some of the features seem promising the SekaiCamera is lacking 3D support plus the way objects are displayed is not sophisticated yet. But for sure it's only a question of time to see new, more complex AR platforms arise.

FABRICIO ROSA MARQUES
Fabricio Rosa Marques is a designer and concept artist for linear and non-linear media. At CGL he is coordinating the current research and development project "S.P.I.E.L.B.A.R."
From 2009-2010 he has been coordinator of "Mobile Gaming Middleware". He has a diploma in Design from Köln International School of Design and is a certified Media Designer.
Kontakt: frm@colognegamelab.de

