Bad Apple May Sour Early Augmented Reality...
Wednesday, October 7, 2009 at 08:06PM Earlier this year, a group of developers, startups, academics, and others published an open letter to Apple about opening up the IPhone SDK and releasing public APIs to access the live video stream from the camera to enable augmented reality applications. Ironically, Apple filed for a patent the next day for mobile augmented reality which is rather broad and all-encompassing. Apple later announced that it would indeed release new functions in the next version of the SDK, which spurred a flurry of press excitement about hordes of new AR applications that would suddenly appear in September.
The reality though, was that while some functionality was opened, which has made it easy to create “distance” or “directory” AR applications (requiring GPS, accelerometer, compass, and a screen overlay), it did not address the needs outlined in the open letter. Rather, it ignored them completely.
Augmented reality applications that require live video from the camera, like marker based AR that was popular through the first half of 2009 (and still a very viable method), as well as most of the super cool conceptual videos and demos out there (head over to Games Alfresco for examples), are completely locked out. Not only would these applications be immediately banned and not approved for distribution in the app store, the functions and APIs necessary to access the camera are hidden, undocumented, private, and a real pain in the ass to try to work around…even if just to create a working proof of concept for one developer in a garage somewhere.
If this was a matter on the global scale, it wouldn’t be a big deal. The IPhone has barely made a dent in the worldwide market. However, because it is a media darling here in North America, ensorcelling venture capitalists, and resonating amongst the faithful Apple drones, it is nearly impossible for a young augmented reality developer or small startup to get any significant traction trying to raise funds if they are not focusing on the IPhone. This is causing a problem.
Not only has Apple become the very thing they railed against in 1984…a controlling and domineering “big brother” who will not tolerate dissent, true creativity, or openness, but they have a constricting snake’s chokehold on the market. Not only do the execs live in an Ivory Tower, but they are forcing the rest of us to do the same, surrounded by very high walled gardens and orchards with the prettiest apples you have ever seen. However, we are forbidden from tasting that fruit, or making apple pie, or even trying to make some apple cider. If we get too close, the snakes appear with all of their rules and requirements, effectively trapping us. And then we notice how shiny the apples are again, and forget what we were complaining about.
One of two things needs to happen. Either Apple needs to quit screwing us around and make the APIs public so we can get back to the business of innovating and building a new industry, or the respective communities of developers and venture capitalists need to abandon Apple entirely. There are good alternatives out there that may not be as shiny, but are certainly as powerful and definitely more open for us to work with.
I hate to say it, but the only reason my team is bothering to waste time with the IPhone right now is because that is what people think is the validating platform for the whole AR industry. We would be much farther along and creating some mind-blowing AR if we weren’t fending off sour apples, bad worms, and rotten smiles.
You know, there is an opportunity here for someone to create a better hardware platform and completely leapfrog Apple. Mobile AR has a lot of potential and while the IPhone is shiny now, it is certainly not the ultimate mobile device, it is a shadow of what is to come. If Apple stays dominant and keeps things closed, all the cool stuff will be delayed…maybe for years. But if they open things up, or someone puts out a more robust hardware platform (that is competitive on the sexy level) and combines that with something more open and developer friendly, then you will see the industry catch on fire, accelerate, and create some wild experiences and applications. The future doesn’t need to be science fiction any more.
Android is a good candidate here to take the lead and cut Apple off at the knees, but I also wonder what the hell Nokia is doing right now. Their conceptual AR videos are kinda cool, but not always well received? Personally, I think Nokia could be a dark horse that comes out of the gate with something unexpected (they certainly have a large warchest of cash to work with) but they may be hampered by their own internal culture and politics to do something radical (and risky) to knock Apple off the cart.
I dunno. Something needs to change. As consumers we are being cheated out of really cool stuff that many of us want. As developers we are being denied the chance to be creative and innovate in a market that is sadly lacking in fresh ideas. I don’t want more widgets or beer farting apps…I want the next evolution of mobile, media, and ubiquitous computing. And that my friends, is Augmented Reality.
So, in summary, as long as Apple remains greedy and closed off, and the media/money sources out there only have eyes for the IPhone market, innovation and advancement in commercial Augmented Reality will be slowed, handicapped, and stilted as it is forced to restrict itself to the common elements of GPS, compass, and accelerometer.
This isn’t good enough. Open up the SDK Apple.
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Reader Comments (6)
So, how then can opening up the iphone product even more to other "independents in their garage" benefit the apple corporation, employees and share holders more than keeping it still a little closed and more potentially beneficial for them with potential future products that would use the features still locked? Wouldn't that be the answer that would allow them to change?
Opening it up means more applications and a stronger positioning of the IPhone as potentially the ideal platform. Not opening it up risks developers going elsewhere to create the applications and content that attract buyers.
Remember Betamax was superior, but all the content was on VHS. Guess which won.
I strongly agree with you and can see why you would be frustrated with Apple, however...this just shows that sticking with truly open source hardware/software is the way to go. It may not be the coolest thing out there, but nobody will ever stop you from developing.
Yes, but when you are trying to raise money, that doesn't always work, which is a point I was trying to make half way through my post. The last time I told a VC we were looking at winmobile and symbian due to better hardware and a vastly superior market size, they nearly laughed us out of the office. "The future is the IPhone" "People are only buying IPhones" "If you aren't developing for the IPhone, you are doomed to fail"
Yeah, that includes Android, Palm, Winmobile, RIM, Symbian. Sorry guys, if you aren't doing development for the IPhone, you are a lesser class of citizen and not as smart as those clever IPhone app developers.
Of course not all VCs are like this, but many of them are. The same goes for the media. If it isn't running on an IPhone, they really aren't that interested. What gets more press? What an application is or does, or when it is released in the App store?
There's an app for that too.
I hear that I would be mad as [explicit deleted] if the VC's I was meeting with had such a narrow view of advanced technology that they were more concerned with the popularity of one single currently popular device. Not nesasarily the hot or most used 2-5 years from now!
Open is great! But what makes you think Apple (or any company) should just hand over everything and let a bunch of geeks make all the decisions for their product?
It sounds like you're mad because no one will give you any money and you feel the need to place blame for that. Just like fat chicks who can't get a date hate all the pretty girls for "controlling" the market, you hate Apple for its success and your apparent loss.
Don't blame Apple because your business plan is a fat chick!