This is about as close as we're going to get to real ponies unless someone invents a portal to Equestria. Thanks for this heads-up goes to Tailszefox.
For those unfamiliar with the concept of augmented reality, it's pretty much what it sounds like. Computer-generated elements are superimposed upon the real world in real time and tracked intelligently using a variety of sensors (like cameras, gyroscopes, or solid state compasses) in order to give the user more information about their environment. You can use this technology with a smartphone, for example, to detect text in a foreign language and replace it with your own in real time. The technology isn't widely used yet, but it's gaining ground as our processing power and detection algorithms improve.
A pony has taken this concept and added ponies. You simply print out the markers and use your existing webcam and computer to track and replace the three-dimensional position of the marker with your favorite pony.
You can find the application here. It runs in Flash and is a hefty download, so be patient. Print out your markers in the meantime.
69 comments:
Where do we get the markers
ReplyDeleteSCIENTIST BRONIES WE NEED A PORTAL TO EQUESTRIA, GET ON IT!
ReplyDeleteConsidering this fandom can do just about anything... I'd estimate a portal will be opened in about a month, tops.
ReplyDelete@Anonymous
ReplyDeleteYou get the markers from the website.
Agreed, pony-portal pursuers! I vote we try to get into contact with Pinkie Pie, since she's close to getting through the fourth wall.
ReplyDeletewtb android app for this
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteI believe that Equestria is somewhere on Bota Magna. Said portal would be double win.
ReplyDeletelink for those who dont know bota magna:
http://biosector01.com/wiki/index.php/Bota_Magna
I tested this out but only had the laptop camera but it works very well The models are really good.
ReplyDeleteA phone version of this would rock id love to be able to walk around and randomly find things that trigger showing ponies.
Sorta like a pony scavenger hunt. walk around and find items that show up pony.
Hmm, very nifty. And I agree on the Android app, Seth.
ReplyDeleteMy vision is augmented.
ReplyDeleteAll the BRONIES in this FANDOM are CRAZY
ReplyDeleteI just sat for 10 min. staring at rarity on my computer with my jaw on the floor. Now if you excuse me i need to clean my jaw its very dirty.
ReplyDeleteI don't usually say memes, but when I do...
ReplyDeleteNINTENDO Y U NO AR 3DS PONIES.
... I think I died and went to Equestria.
ReplyDeleteI need to figure this thing out and use it right now. RIGHT NOW.
A portal to equestria would be absolutely magical, I will give my soul to the one who creats it.
ReplyDeleteI need to try this! But I also need to do other stuff, ARRRGH.
ReplyDeleteI'll see what I can do about that portal though.
I want to be informed if a portal to Equestria does become a reality. I want to escape this world of psychos focused on creating even deadlier weaponry. In my opinion, things were better when we didn't have guns, artillery, nuclear bombs, etc. Heck, looked up weapon development and found an article dating back to January of this year. Not really sure if they dropped these projects, I hope they did though, since I can't find anything else on it. Why can't people focus more on helping people rather then blowing each other up and putting bullets in each others heads.
ReplyDeleteHere's the link
http://www.alternet.org/investigations/149750/6_terrifying_new_weapons_being_created_by_the_pentagon
And about the portal. Maybe make one to alternate dimensions of Equestria? Like maybeeee there can be a cupcake dimension for people who want to be overruled and destroyed by Pinkamena.
ReplyDelete@Anonymous 5:44
ReplyDeleteI'll hold you to that.
not to sound like an idiot or somethin, but were exactly do you get the markers? someone asked already, but the answer was "the website"... what website?
ReplyDeleteNeeds video of this in action, since I lack a webcam...though, I know I've done something like this before without a webcam, though I have no idea.
ReplyDeleteWell, considering that trans-dimensional transport is reasonably going to be comic in a few years or so, thanks to us Bronies and our motivation, I guess virtual reality Equestria will have to do.
ReplyDelete@DashMaster5000: The website mentionned at the end of the news I'd guess. The link is this: http://ponyar.no-ip.net/
ReplyDeletehttp://dl.dropbox.com/u/9410688/New%20folder/IhasApplejack.PNG
ReplyDeletehttp://dl.dropbox.com/u/9410688/New%20folder/IhasRarity.png
In the mean time, I will continue to paint the world pony with Street Tag.
ReplyDeleteThere's just one problem with that portal:
how are you going to keep the bad people from coming here and spreading their war and violence?
For everypony asking about markers, when you load the swf, click the logo in the corner. It'll help you fill in the blanks.
Or click here.
Why can't Ah' hold all these ponies!?
ReplyDeleteIs augmented reality what the 3DS uses when it does those games that interact with reality? I don't have one yet so not really sure how they work.
ReplyDelete@EonMaster
ReplyDeleteAnd that card game for the PS3 that came-out a few years ago.
Applejack vs. Applejack
ReplyDeleteClosest we would ever get to real life Equestria would be video games 50 years down the road. Games are already starting to branch off into Virtual Reality, it's only a matter of time. Second, AI.
ReplyDeleteAI in video games are getting smarter and smarter, it's only a matter of time before computers will have the freedom to think for themselves.
that's pretty badass. too bad I don't have a smartphone...
ReplyDeletehttp://i.imgur.com/r6uhj.jpg
@Split Lighting
ReplyDeleteAt which point the AI will be devising ways to keep ponies all for themselves.
@Luna
ReplyDeleteNever heard about the PS3 card game, what was that like?
Thx for clearing up about the 3DS though. I figured that was what it was doing, I kinda want to get a 3DS just to try that out. Most the games I want for it haven't been released yet.
@Luna
ReplyDeleteNever heard about the PS3 card game, what was that like?
Thx for clearing up about the 3DS though. I figured that was what it was doing, I kinda want to get a 3DS just to try that out. Most the games I want for it haven't been released yet.
... The portal must only have BRONY delivering capabilities. Only true bronies who will not spread war and violence can enter.
ReplyDeleteBut wait.... How will we speak Equestrian and become ponies ourself.... WE NEED MIND TRADING CAPABILITIES!
ReplyDelete@Split Lighting
ReplyDeleteActually, gaming is much farther ahead than you think.
The engines operating Oblivion Skyrim and the next Fallout will have capabilities to allow AI to think for themselves intelligently.
VALVe's Source Engine has had the ability for AI to think naturally for themselves since the 2006 stable release.
Nintendo is developing intelligent AI for future Pokemon games.
So we could see an extremely natural, intelligent version of Equestria, where ponies can think for themselves and live naturally on their own soon. With the release of Source Engine 2011, we can make games where the ponies live on their own, economy will change constantly, relationships will naturally change, and basically everything can naturally think for itself.
But a virtual Reality world will take longer, because we have yet to develop the technology to implement the five senses into a game.
Did some poking for phone.
ReplyDeleteFlash on android does not support accessing the webcam right now. I tried to load it in the phone browser and it does not know what the camera is
However Adobe AIR does but only the primary camera.
I wonder if this could be ported to AIR and make it phone compatible.
To anyone wondering: you don't need a smartphone to use this. Just a plain old computer and a webcam.
ReplyDeleteAlso, the markers can be downloaded on the website itself. Scroll down a little bit and you'll see a bunch of links: there's one marker for each pony.
This also works if you import the pictures onto an ipad.
ReplyDeleteSince Trixie isn't giving out portals at the moment, this will have to do. My only complaint is that the complex markers make it hard for the camera to read them at angles and from any decent distance (or that may just be due to me trying this with my iPod). Also, I would explode twice for an iOS version, dumb Flash.
ReplyDeleteSOMEONE MAKE THIS FOR THE 3DS NOW
ReplyDeleteeven though the camera sucks
Uplifted ponies, genetic tinkering, pastel dyes and some cybernetics.
ReplyDeleteWe can build a better real world pony!
For those of ya'll with an android:
ReplyDeleteLook into the program AndAR. You ca load any .obj file and make them do this over any marker. It's a pretty sweet little program.
You need to tweak the existing object files, though.
Here's my wishlist.
ReplyDeleteMane Cast and Spike.
Animated.
Voice Recognition and Interaction with the user and each other.
Runs on your phone.
Can't use my damn itouch for the marker
ReplyDeleteohmygosh.avi
ReplyDeletehttp://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/b/b4/JCDentonDX1.jpg/200px-JCDentonDX1.jpg
ReplyDelete'My Ponies are augmented.'
It would be cool if they could implement some animations for this. Maybe walking around or some idle animations.
ReplyDeleteOh my god these are amazing.
ReplyDeleteNow I can have applejack in my room <3
Fucking Solid State Compasses, How do they work!
ReplyDelete/)6ɛ9(\
@richfiles
ReplyDeleteUmm... Magnets?
@nudemanonbike
ReplyDeleteI gave it a shot, the AndAR model viewer itself is pretty easy to use - but it looks like KP ShadowSquirrel's models are not "compatible" as-is. :\
Here are the requirements listed on the app's Wiki:
* Every face must have normals specified
* The object must be triangulated, this means exactly 3 vertices per face.
* Basic materials and textures are supported.
I wonder if anyone would be willing to make the changes necessary, or if we could talk KP into doing it? :)
NOOOOOO! Crappy computer is PowerPC and not supported by latest flash! My vision is NOT augmented. Hasbro should license AR cards and software to Nintendo for the 3DS.
ReplyDeleteI demand someone makes this for iOS. Please an thankyou?
ReplyDeleteI'm really happy to see that my little project got its own post, yay! Though I had to get a new hosting plan because the sudden traffic was going to make my server explode...Still, worth it!
ReplyDeleteTo answer a few questions and suggestions I've seen:
- More characters: I'd really like to add more, but for that I need proper 3D models. I'm way too incompetent at 3D modeling to do them myself. The downside is that each new character would add to the SWF size, and it's already quite big.
- Animations: I think it's doable, but again, I can't create the animations myself due to my aforementioned incompetence. Plus, the extremely-low FPS would probably make the animations look a little choppy.
- Interactions: If animations are implemented, then it shouldn't be too hard to have interactions between ponies. Interacting with the user however would be way harder.
- Phone version: Sorry, I don't have any kind of smartphone! I don't know if Flash supports the webcam on those devices.
Anyway, I hope everyone has fun with this!
Why hasn't anyone printed the markers on a 5 x 8 foot sheet to make a real-to-life 4'4" pony? Do eeeet!
ReplyDeleteThis is way too awesome.
ReplyDeleteAlso, for those who are too lazy to print out the markers, know that you could also just grab your webcam, open the marker in another window, and point your webcam to the marker on the screen. ;)
@Tailszefox
ReplyDeleteFlash on mobile devices does NOT have webcam support. To answer that question.
However Adobe AIR does.
I do not know what is involved with converting flash to AIR but AIR is rather universal you should be able to test on a computer and have it work on smartphones
WOW! I did not expect to see my picture on EqD.
ReplyDeleteThe one you chose is probably the worst out of the 4 though :P. If anyone wants to see the rest: http://imgur.com/a/IiZDY
I printed out the marker on 8 pieces of paper (4x2 grid) using Rasterbator, which gave me a 1 foot tall Rainbow Dash (the wooden stick leaning against the TV stand is a ruler).
Ponies are augmenting my reality 83
ReplyDeleteNow come and tell me that Bronies are just like any other fandom.
ReplyDeleteWait wait AR is REAL!?!?! I love the future!
ReplyDeleteokay. i am working on a plan to open up the portal.
ReplyDelete@Anonymous
ReplyDeleteI would give away my laptop,tv,ps2,xbox,toys,mostly anything to go to Equestria,have the mane 6 as my friends and live there,as a unicorn
@Anonymous
ReplyDeleteEasy!
We get Twilight,tell her a (maybe false) story,ask her to transform us,then we live our lives!
Also,Equestrians will take english,if
not,we can just make a miming session.
I just thought of something.
ReplyDeleteIf we imagine something,it comes real somewhere else.So we have to think of some unicorns opening the portal.Now I made a midget lego portal,and imagined Twilight opening the portal.Next thing you know,a spark apears,the portal starting to open.But collapsed,so I need to make a bigger portal and thing of more unicorns.COME ON EVERYPONY! WE CAN DO THIS!!!
I so wish to find a portal to Equestria, so I could find the ponies and be their friends. That way I could escape the difficulty here!
ReplyDelete