“Social review service Yelp has snuck the first Augmented Reality iPhone app specifically for the US into the iTunes App Store. The undisclosed new feature allows iPhone 3Gs owners to shake their phones three times to turn on a view called ‘the Monocle,'” Marshall Kirkpatrick reports for ReadWriteWeb. “That view uses the phone’s GPS and compass to display markers for restaurants, bars or other nearby businesses on top of the camera’s view.”
Direct link via YouTube here.
Kirkpatrick reports, “Developers have not expected to be able to get Augmented Reality apps into the App Store until the release of the next iPhone OS this fall. Earlier this week, though, we reported on what appeared to be the very first – an update to an app called Metro Paris Subway.”
Full article here.
Yelp (free) via Apple’s U.S. App Store is here.
[Thanks to MacDailyNews Reader “Justin B.” for the heads up.]
My reality needs a checkup.
in – gene – eee — us
Very cool! Can’t wait for the future!
It’s only going to get better.
Soon we’ll have a pair of sunglasses with transparent OLED lenses displaying the data from our iphones wirelessly. then it will really augment our reality!
When I tried it the tags that came up pointed to businesses that were located in the exact opposite of my facing direction, right behind me, according to the google map that came up for them in relation to my blue dot location … a very serious bug or? … and yes my compass was perfectly calibrated, Too bad, I really wanted this to work so that I could wow my customers who are considering an iPhone…
Really dumb interface feature, imho. Does the user have to turn in a circle and snap his fingers after shaking the phone three times?
You’re welcome MND! When I ran across this earlier I had to try and honestly, this now makes Yelp! the coolest app on my iPhone now.
@Alansky, its a hidden feature you just have to shake it three times once to activate it. Once it’s been activated, everytime you go back to Yelp! the monocle button is there.
@MacBliss, something is wrong with your compass. Mine works perfectly.
John Anderton, you look like you could use a drink.
OK, I shook the living sh!t out of my phone with the updated version of yelp and all I have is a sore arm
Works great for me.
sMac,
Same thing happened to me when I visited xvideos.
Sounds cool. I hope they hurry up and take this over the pond. I have a friend who has something similar on his Android phone. He holds out that it makes Android in some way a bit cooler than the iPhone. But it’s not as cool as this
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@MacBliss
Yelp says if the compass isn’t aligned right to do the figure 8 thingy with the phone to re-calibrate the compass. It’s about 1 a.m. here and I’m in my bedroom, but this monocal is picking up businesses miles away. Trippy.
It looks way cool now, but a few years from now, your iPhone screen will be splattered with *ads* from nearby businesses. Thus, the usability of augmented reality will be inverted and perverted. It’s only a matter of time…
@SeriousCommentator: it’s not a freaken free for all. The data you see depends on what’s entered for that application. Don’t be a discounting-douche.
IMHO simply awesome
doesn’t seem to enable unless you login with a Yelp account (free). After that it works great.
you don’t need a Yelp account. It’s just a matter of how you shake it. Try three longer shakes with your whole arm rather than short ones with just your hand.
Shook it for a good five minutes with no success. 12 year old son asked for a go and cracked it first time.
It’s a good laugh. A little buggy but it is just a prototype after all.
“Yelp says if the compass isn’t aligned right to do the figure 8 thingy with the phone to re-calibrate the compass.”
Shake the phone three times, do a figure 8…
Pretty soon, iPhone users are going to look like iPod dancers… 😀
Is this a joke? Why don’t they just add the feature instead of this random shaking insanity???
This lens is very good explanation. Thank you.