7 Questions for Tagwhat (augmented reality)
Dave Elchoness is one of a handful of forward-thinkers pioneering a technology that's been around in academic circles for a decade into a series of emerging platforms with serious mobile and web-based implications for how we receive, interpret and work with data. As the driving force behind Tagwhat, he's empowering people with the ability to add value to the world around them by letting them enhance their environments by "tagging up" their communities, and giving people a new way to think about information.
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1. Explain your backend. What technologies, languages and servers are used to build & maintain Tagwhat?
We built our proprietary mobile augmented reality system in the fall of 2009 after spending some time developing on other systems. We simply found that the other systems could not do what we thought a robust and useful augmented reality system required. We started with the mobile augmented reality app approach: a platform that was customizable based on the needs of the client. At that time, we implemented a number of applications but decided we wanted to take a broader view and build a 'system' for creation and distribution of location-based content with social components to make it more compelling. That's when Tagwhat was born.
Tagwhat is available for iPhone 3GS and Google Android, but perhaps most notably, it also includes an online version. This means that anyone, regardless of whether they have the latest smartphone, can use the system to place location-based 'tags' at any spot on the globe and follow others to see their tags.
2. What seems to make Tagwhat distinct among the emerging crop of AR apps is its strong social twist. It seems you've cornered the market on making the experience one that groups can enjoy either synchronously or individually. Describe what went into conceptualizing this service.
We were among the first in the world to develop augmented reality 'layers' on another product but quickly learned that augmented reality needed to be much more than a data set that one could see in a 'cool' way. The data needed to be interactive. It needed to be user generated at least to an extent. Multiple types of data needed to be available so that anyone could create their own experience.
We decided to create Tagwhat based on the lack of these features elsewhere. So, Tagwhat has mobile augmented reality. But the AR is viewable at once in a cohesive mobile view. This means that you can track your friends' AR notes, play Foursquare, and read through Wikipedia entries as you move about the world using Tagwhat. It also means you can comment on others' tags and create your own location-based augmented reality notes in Tagwhat no matter where you are on-line or via mobile. Groups came about when IBM asked if they could do a university 'tour' of sorts to engage students around the world. Groups functionality not only allows users to combine tags under a common theme, but it also lets you open up the experience to tags created by others, sort of a community AR blog experience.
3. What have some of the challenges been in managing an augmented reality system over different mobile platforms? What's the hardest thing to do?
I think we're all learning: how people will use the system, how the system should look to keep it simple, but also highly relevant. Things like that. The other challenge is how to pack lots of different location based data into the same mobile screen without the screen becoming too crowded. The filtering mechanism we have in Tagwhat allows users to control both content and radius, but the filter will clearly become more sophisticated over time to ensure the experience is exceptional and personalized at all times.
4. A popular theory is that AR is a logical transition into virtual reality. How do you see your service expanding, and how will AR start to influence our experience in real-life?
Our platform will expand to include additional unique streams of information, entertainment, games, retail and commercial opportunity and more. Eventually we strive to serve as a window to the Internet of Things, the worldwide network of sensors that measure various processes all over our planet. For example, hold up your device to see whether bridge traffic is moving too slowly to attempt a commute home. A flashing red marker triggered by sensors on the bridge could be viewed inside of Tagwhat along with all of the other social and informational content in the system.
I truly see Tagwhat as exposing a world of data that has not yet been accessible to us. It's a very special time.
5. At least for the moment, I've found AR to be one of those things that you just have to show people, because most folks have a hard time seeing it in their minds. What's your take on evangelizing AR to the masses?
Yes, often you have to show people but I describe AR to be the technology that allows us to remove the shackles from the web and place it where it's most helpful, around us in those places it describes. Every square inch of the world from ground to sky is chock full of information from history, to culture, to science. AR allows us to get at that data where it's most valuable.
6. Without giving anything too proprietary away, what's your business plan for Tagwhat? How will it make money to support further growth?
We'll be integrating an ad network and retail loyalty system. We'll also be building a virtual goods system so you can send a virtual Teddy Bear, for example, to someone for their birthday linked to a gift certificate or music download. Lots of ideas on the table.
7. How fast are tagged items available in a user's view once they've been posted on your system? Do they appear dynamically and/or in realtime or require an app reload/refresh or a change in view?
Very fast and generally within seconds. Most items like the mobile AR are automatically refreshed. Realtime, location-based communication is what we want to be about.
Thanks for the feedback, Dave, and best of luck with your AR endeavors! :)
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