Tuesday, June 22, 2010

Augmented Reality tackles Sudoku

It's beginning to feel like a mini-series of iPhone app posts all inspired by Ewan McIntosh's blog! Today's post should start with the confession that I don't have an iPhone. Nor do I enjoy Sudoku.

Mr3641's image illustrating an Augmented Reality app on the iPhone - from Wikimedia

Augmented Reality is about superimposing electronic information over a view of the real world. Like a head-up display in an airplane cockpit or Terminator, or the cricket scoreboard that pops up mid-over to remind you of the state of play.

By combining the real-time video image from mobile phone's camera with the GPS location, some applications can download pertinent local information and overlay it on the video feed on the phone's display. Useful for tourist information, or finding the entrance to the nearest Tube station.

But what about giving you a hint about the tricky Sudoku puzzle that's been baffling you in your local paper? Wait no longer ...

(AR image from Mr3641 on Wikimedia; Original post on Sudoku via Ewan McIntosh)

Bonus - It should really deserve its own post, but check out the video of The Shortest Possible Game of Monopoly too, and the story behind it.

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