パリからの手紙。そして NetExplorateur 2010

昨日はほぼまるまる一日テレビ取材でへとへとです。もう二度とテレビには出たくありません（苦笑）。でも、その一方で大垣の頓智開発陣は唸りをあげながら開発を進めています。昨日はようやくiPhoneからエアタグを直接その場に貼付ける事に成功しました。意外と手元にディスプレイされるのでプレイスエンジンの測位がうまく動作しているのだと思います。やはり、その場で写真とか貼付けられると感動します（いままではウェブインターフェイスでしか貼付けられなかったのです）。

ちなみに大垣頓智開発陣はけっこうオールスターチームなので仕事が速いです。空間をグリッド化して扱うクラウド側とそれを目の前の現実空間にOpenGLの三次元として表現するクライアント側との連携が緊密に進みつつあります。
まだまだ課題山積でつぶさないといけない問題点は無茶苦茶あるのですが、本当にチャレンジングなテーマなので（現実をクリッカブルにする）やり応えはきっとその苦労以上にあるんじゃないかと思います。でも、その一方で僕のパート（ビジネスプレゼンのスライドやムービーなど）は全然進んでいません。ヤヴァイです（いつもやがな）。しかも代々木体育館全体に配置すべきエアタグコンテンツの設定もまるで出来ていません。これで間に合うのでしょうか？手に汗握る展開になってきました（汗）。

さて、そんな大車輪状態の頓智オフィスにフランスの「NetExplorateur 世界を変えるインターネット技術10」主催者からグリーティングのメールが届きました。とても素晴らしい内容でした。

Dear Takahito San,

A big thankyou for joining us at the NetExplorateur Forum. Most of all, congratulations to you and all the Tonchidot team for the Award!

You can see pics of the Forum on Flickr here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/netexplorateur/

As you have valuable insight into the latest innovations in the digital world in Japan, we would be very interested in your feedback on cutting-edge projects or services. If you hear about potential projects for the 2010 NetExplorateur 100, feel free to send us the link. Indeed it is very important for us to have projects from Asia.

Participants at the conference really appreciated your presentation and have asked for a copy of it. Do you think you could send it to us? If you agree we will either put it on our website or transfer it to them.

We'll send on copies of all the press articles that mention Sekai Camera.

Wishing you all the best for this very promising year for Tonchidot! Keep us posted on your latest developments and do not hesitate to come and see us when you come to Paris.

With kind regards,

Marcus, Laure, Guillaume, Martine & Thierry

＿＿

2010年の「NetExplorateur 100」へアジアの有望な技術を紹介して欲しいとのことなので、すごいテクノロジーをお持ちの方はぜひお知らせ下さい。で、せっかくなので苦心惨憺して作成したパリ公演の原稿をここに上げておきます。本当に大変だったのですけど、正味プレゼンは１５分の短さ！あと、フランス、ラ・トリビューン誌からの質問への回答も載せておきます。来年チャレンジする方への参考になれば幸いです。

What is “SekaiCamera?”



It is a camera application that can change the view of the real world.

"Tagging the real world" is our concept.

With the Camera, virtual reality becomes REAL!

I am honored to be able to talk about our SekaiCamera at the BIRTHPLACE of the camera – the optical camera was developed here in France over 160 years ago.

It is my belief that cameras - and iPhones, and all other 3G mobile devices - will all evolve into SekaiCamera’s in the 21st century.

How can an iPhone using “Sekai Camera” change the view of the real world?

For example, if you are visiting Kyoto, the ancient Capital of Japan, you will enjoy visiting historical temples or shrines.

In Kyoto there are 5,000 shrines and temples with a long history of over 1,200 years.

Besides a GUIDED TOUR, you could only gain knowledge about the places of interest through tourist guide books – a clumsy process, which requires looking DOWN at your guide-books, instead of looking UP at the Temples.

But in the very near future, you will be able to access the historical facts and information by using our “SekaiCamera”.

When you take a look at the temples and shrines through Sekai Camera, you will see Air-tags floating around the sites.

These tags come from Web servers which locate you from Geo-Tagged information The info from the Tags may be officially sponsored information from the Tourist Bureau, or info from Wikipedia, or even from your friends’ blogs and Flickr etc. .

And next, after you visit the historic site, you may feel hungry. Until now, you would need to rely on a tourist guide book for guidance. But, unfortunately restaurant guides provide only generic information in a regular format.

However, by using Sekai Camera, you will be able to find useful information right in front of you, as an overlay in the iPhone camera.

Your Japanese friend or tour guide may NOT be there with you, but SekaiCamera will overlay useful information in the form of Tags that you can touch to dig for deeper information.

The providers of Air-Tags can be anyone - your friend can prepare Air-tags for your guidance, such as "must eat Japanese delicacy", "English menu available", "excellent service".
These can all be Geo-Tagged and pasted on the site of choice, which you or anyone will be able to access.

By using the Sekai Camera, you will be able to appreciate the beautiful scenes, understand the historical backgrounds, and eat a meal that is only for you, even at a location that you first visited.

This is just an example of what Sekai Camera can bring. It can also bring new experiences to your EVERYDAY life, too ! 

For example, imagine it's your girlfriend's birthday - you can guide her to a special place by using Air-tags, and give her a special gift - an air-pet gift, only for her.
Air pets are unique characters which can move and interact with owners and friends.

Her newly arrived Air-pet will provide real life e-pet imaging and will always be in her iPhone for her and her friends to see. How charming and romantic.

At your next date, you can put a sign bubble Air-tag above you, so that your girl-friend can find you very easily amid the crowd in Champs elysees.

If you are late and you want to apologize to her, you can put an Air-tag for her to see by using SekaiCamera.

At this moment, only a few people have the Sekai Camera, and it is not yet impossible to send Air-tags to my many girl-friends across the world.
However, I hope that this summer, anybody and everybody will be able to communicate by using Sekai Camera Tags here in beautiful Paris. I am looking forward to this.

Thank you for your attention and I hope we can share the success of SekaiCamera together !

Q&A

1 Why did you create Sekai Camera , For what purpose ? 

Most Likely To Make The World A Better Place. Sekai Camera really improves communication between individuals and companies. the Sekai Camera generates a new 4th dimension everybody has dreamed of! 

2 How does it work ? 

Please refer to the document ( http://tonchidot.com/SekaiCamera-General.pdf ). 

3 What is the target of this application ? 

Not for the geeks. Google is hard to use for ordinary people that would like to have transparency when they are mobile and don’t have to use the internet all the time. 

5 Is it working only on Apple IPhone, and if, why ? 

Not only on Apple, It will be running on any smart phones and portable game devices. It will also be available in the AppStore at same time! 

6 Is it a commercial application ? How will you be remunerate ? By Apple ? 

We hope to build the new ecosystem of Sekai Camera. For example, Air filters will be smart way to search what you want to know nearby. 

7 How do people tag the places ? 

Like a mobile phone, to paste the tags at the real place nearby. 

8 is this technology only available in Japan ? If so, do you plan to diffuse it in the wole world ? 

It will start in Japan in a beta testing version and it will available for the whole world! 

9 Isn't it a bit scary to evolve in a "speaking objects" world ? And won't IPhone users see the world only through the camera eye lense ? 

World is so meaning full for any person. There are so various way to thinking. What you see is what you get. 

10 some call your innovation "science fiction". Do you agree or do you think that this kind of "enhanced reality" is part of our next future ? 

It is a real Sci-Fi because it builds a fourth dimension in the real world! 

Takahito Iguchi
TonchiDot Tokyo Japan
9th Feb. 2009

Translation Takahito Iguchi and Ken Inoue.