Weekly Mashup 32

Enough with the app spam, thanks

App notifications must be more personalised and localised, and stop interrupting our lives with messages we don’t need. Apple already uses iBeacon to detect when people are near one of their stores.

Don’t tap your keyboard… swipe it

Microsoft Research has developed an augmented reality keyboard with touch and gesture ability, reducing the need for a mouse or touchscreen. Here is a video, which shows how it works.

Enhancing history with augmented reality

Virginia Tech researchers have created an augmented reality app to view historical structures as they originally appeared. Students then interact with the additional information about the sites on their smartphone.

Really smart specs hit the shelves

Epson’s second-generation Moverio BT-200 smart glasses have hit the market at $699.99 (£414), less than half the price of Google’s $1500 (£890) Glass. AR startup Atheer, meanwhile, have further developed their One glasses, enabling users to tune them to their unique vision. They should be on the market for $500 (£296) by summer 2015.

Most of us have 28 apps but use only 10

How many apps do you have on your mobile? And how many do you actually use? Ofcom reports that most people have 18 seldom-touched icons out of 28 on their home screen - which is terrific news for single app platforms like Blippar.

Wearable tech for your fingers

Industrial design firm Whipsaw is hoping their Nod device - a touchless, gesture-controlled ring – will eventually put wearable tech in everybody’s hands.

IN THE NEWS

Blippar, Google Glass (and the Queen) in New York

Team Blippar visited the home of British Consul General Danny Lopez in New York to demo the app on Google Glass and explain Queen Elizabeth’s key role in our company’s launch…

‘You cannot fire a missile from a kayak,’ Blippar’s CEO on building a strong team

Rish took the stage at a Qualcomm Ventures event to explain why a business’s most important asset is its team: ‘It is not an art or a science - it is down to you as a personality.’

We have seen the future of packaging, and it is interactive

Packaging is rapidly moving into exciting new areas of ‘intelligence’, becoming interactive via both augmented reality and QR codes.