When you hear “augmented reality”, you probably think of smartphone apps using the camera to place an interactive digital overlay on top of the world or smart glasses similar to Google Glass projecting a HUD right in front of your eyes. AR, in fact, can be so much more – it’s a digital overlay placed on top of the real world in many forms, shapes, and sizes. One of the best examples of the diversity and versatility of augmented reality is Lampix, an innovative product that can turn any flat surface into an interactive screen – and so much more.
What is Lampix
At first sight, Lampix looks like a stylish desk lamp. Underneath its shade, it hides some pretty high-tech devices: two cameras, an HD projector, and a computer to control all that. All this tech is used to turn any surface it sits on into an interactive display – but its function transcends that of a simple touchscreen, though. Lampix is not only capable of projecting your documents, videos or even Android pokies on your desk – it’s also capable of scanning documents, recognizing objects, and so much more.
Interesting features
One of the most interesting and perhaps useful features of Lampix is that it allows its users to work with paper documents as if they were digital ones. It is capable of scanning, copying, and pasting the contents of paper documents placed in its field of view, recognize the text printed on them, and even search in their contents. Besides, it can sync documents or drawings into the cloud, and it allows multiple users to collaborate on creating them over the internet.
Possible applications
Although it’s not yet commercially available, Lampix has already proven its worth in a real business environment. According to the startup’s website, partners in Germany, Switzerland, and many other countries have already given the product a try in real life. The number of features available for Lampix is currently limited but there will surely be a lot more in time – it was meant to function as a platform from the start, offering APIs for developers to build their own uses for the innovative product.
Lampix has potential applications in office environments, the hospitality business (imagine having a completely interactive menu at a restaurant), retail, and many other areas.
Release
The first retail version of Lampix is expected to become available in the fall of 2017, with a price tag of approximately $300. This initial version will have a few shortcomings, of course – due to its limits, it won’t work well on very shiny surfaces and in bright light. A premium version is also in the works, with a more powerful projector that will eliminate part of these issues.
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