Tweeps Around 3D view

The popular Augmented Reality app Layar just got updated to a very exciting new version with support for a 3D Reality View and a couple of other neat features.

I’m proud to announce a new version of the Tweeps Around layer, with the following improvements:

• The images of tweeting people are shown in 3D in space, just as they are around you
• Support for the new native geotagging feature of Twitter
• You can now reply and post new tweets (status updates)
• Your tweets will be geotagged with your current location (optional)

Like to experience this yourself? Make sure you have the latest version of Layar installed in your iPhone (free download in App Store) or Android powered device (free download from Android Market).

You need a Twitter account with geolocation eneabled to send local tweets yourself (no worries, Tweeps Around will guide you through the process when you first log into Twitter).

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Local tweet in Tweeps Around

Right now Twitter released their long awaited Geotagging API and activated the user interface for every user: Think Globally, Tweet Locally!

This allows every twitter user who uses a (mobile) device that is capable of determining their location, to annotate their tweets with exact location. This makes Tweeps Around so much more useful! Up to now, the location had to be parsed from the user’s profile location field, which some clients indeed dutifully update with the location of the last posted tweet. But this is often rather inaccurate, as the last update is kept when no location data is available.

Twitter: mobile geo activation screen

So, we will get real exact locations and – as can be expected – many more location annotated tweets. That is, if users are willing to activate the geotagging setting and use the feature. It is switched off by default, for privacy reasons, so you have to manually activate it under your twitter account settings (the mobile settings lead to just one activate button).

Be sure to check out Tweeps Around the coming days and let’s see how fast this catches on!

BTW: in Tweeps Areond, the officially geotagged tweets are indicated with Distance 234m, whereas the guessed locations are prefixed with a tilde character, like this: Distance ~234m.

Direct link to Tweeps Around Layer (open from your mobile phone, iPhone or Android).

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Tweeps Around reaches Tokyo

Spotted via Twitter: looking at Shiodome over #layar browser with Tweeps Around in Tokyo. Nice to see this in international context just hours after the launch!

More info about Layar and Tweeps Around in my previous blog post.

If you’re on a mobile browser and have Layar installed: click here for Tweeps Around in Layar.

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Tweeps Around Reality View

Earlier today Layar announced the next all new version of their Reality Browser Application for mobile devices (also known as Augmented Reality application).

This finally lifts the embargo on my work for this platform: Tweeps Around, which adds an overlay of what people on Twitter are saying, right here and now!

Update: I added a short FAQ for Tweeps Around, be sure to check it out for more detailed information.

Basic principle

Suppose you have the all new Layar 2.0 app installed on a supported device (Android, iPhone awaiting Apple’s aprovement). You open the application and search layers for tweeps around (or just tweeps). Activate the layer and look around on the phone’s screen. You’ll see circles popping up, each representing a Twitter user (Twitterers also known as a “Tweeps”, hence the name), selecting it gives you all the details of their message and links to relevant references.

The Layar promise

While the Layar app in itself is already quiet exciting, the most important promise lays in its tiered distribution approach. In fact, the Layar app is indeed a browser which does not contain, nor limit reality content to display. This way, responsibilities are distributed over various parties in the industry.

Some roles include:

• Content owners: make sure the content is marked up with accurate geolocation information.
• Independent developers (such as me): build a wrapping API to interface between content (e.g. a geo database) and the Layar service.
• Layar: negotiate distribution deals with platform owners (Apple, Google, …) and Mobile operators (to have Layar pre-installed on devices).

I strongly believe in this strategy, where domain knowledge, marketing + distribution and development each are in the hands of the respective experts.

Branding and monetization opportunities

Layar allows for a quiet some customization of graphic elements, e.g. company logo and banner on top, custom icons for points of interest (POI’s) and action links to call a phone number, send a text message or go to any conceivable web URL. Here are some opportunities for monetization as well, e.g. by inserting advertisements, call premium phone numbers of have users sign up for additional web services and revenue shares with destination sites.

The future

Of course, this is just the beginning. The beginning of Reality Overlays on mobile devices becoming ubiquitous. The beginning of Layar as platform for easy access of geo information. Many exciting new applications are around the corner to be discovered and become “best practice” in less than no time. Distribution and localization can be local as well as worldwide (e.g. Twitter is a global phenomenon, while your data may well be focused on a single city or country). Any type of data can be visualized, as long as it is somehow relevant to a specific location.

I’m ready to dive into this exciting world with lots and lots ideas waiting to be tested and implemented. The Twitter overlay serves as a test case which was in fact surprisingly easy to implement for the Layar platform.

Please let me know when you have geo data waiting to be explored as reality overlay and we will work something out!

Note that there is no sign up fee for Layar until the second half of September, 2009. After September 15th a one time sign up fee is required (depending on company turnover).

Quick link

Open layar/tweepsaround

Use one of the barcode scanners from your Android phone to open the Tweeps Around layer in Layar: point your camera to this QR code (image to the right) and select “open in browser”.

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I just discovered and installed a very nice Wordpress plugin, WordTwit. The main purpose of this plugin is to tweet your new blog posts on Twitter, together with a link to the new blog post.

So far nothing too shocking new, but the latest version (2.0.x) of the plugin adds the option to use your own blog as url shortening and redirecting service. Think tinyurl.com, is.gd or one of the gazillion alternatives out there.

Now that is really cool. Except it didn’t work for me.

Turns out that there was a little bug if your blog is not served off the root or your domain, but a sub directory instead (which is /blog in my case).

So, a patch (shortened link, noticed?) solved this and all should be set to go now.

Oh and this post is serving as a test post for the Twitter update…

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Actually, Twitter spammers aren’t funny at all. But sometimes they use such stupid names and avatars that you wonder who in their right mind would ever  follow them.

A common way these spammers try to get your attention, hoping you will follow them, is just start following your twitter account “at random”. Now one day I found the following two low lifers, with apparently opposite intentions, in sequence in my followers queue:

These followed me in sequence, too stupid to be true?

Now I’m pondering which one to pick, the pathetic diet promoter or the fat cheesy one?

Seriously, advice to those who create such spammy accounts: don’t waste the effort, you make me laugh at very best if I don’t outright block you.

Conversely, if you’re a human being and like to follow my sometimes random tweets, you’re still more than welcome to follow me (@jlapoutre) on Twitter!

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