6 examples of mobile applications to enhance reality

One of the exciting things about mobile is its ability to enhance our understanding of the physical world by drawing in information from the online space. We are now just beginning to explore the possibilities but the early signs are already encouraging. Here are some of these interesting applications:

Sky Map	Ekin	WikiTude
Oedo Yokdi	Total Immersion	Invizimals

Sky MapA new program called Sky Map uses not only GPS signals to tell users what stars and planets are visible in the sky at their location, but actually shows what celestial objects the phone is pointed at. Because it doesn't need to see anything, the program works if you point your phone through the Earth, so you can see what people on the opposite hemisphere might be looking at. You can also search for objects of interest, like Mars, and Sky Map will show you where to look for them.

Enkin
"Enkin" introduces a new handheld navigation concept. It displays location-based content in a unique way that bridges the gap between reality and classic map-like representations. It combines GPS, orientation sensors, 3D graphics, live video, several web services, and a novel user interface into an intuitive and light navigation system for mobile devices.

WikiTude
Wikitude is a mobile travel guide for the Android platform based on location-based Wikipedia and Qype content. It is a handy application for planning a trip or to find out about landmarks in your surroundings

Oedo Yokdi
"Oedo Yokai" is a book on the Japanese "Yokai" (Sprites and Spirits). It is a collection of "Yokai" stories associated with the areas near the subway stations of the Oedo Line in Tokyo, Japan. You can also summon Netsuke sculptures of each "Yokai" in the book and collect them at your leisure.

Total Immersion
Allows users to take images of cars and then manipulate the digital version of the cars including the ability to change colours and rotate the view.

Invizimals
This kid-targeted title uses the PSP Camera/Go!Cam (still unavailable in the U.S.) to find hidden monsters around their homes, which they can capture with real-life trap pieces, then trade or battle them against each other locally or online. The ability to cast spells like earthquakes by shaking the system, or lightning strikes from shadows players cast is particularly cool. It even has a very DS-like feature in which players blow into the system mic to create a snowstorm.

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