Up to now, Augmented Reality (AR) has made limited headway in China, but Qoncept Japan aims to change that. CEO Kazumasa Morikawa introduced the company’s AR software with a series of short videos that showcased some of the current implementations of their technology.

One video showed a woman moving a sheet of cardboard in front of a camera. A nearby TV displayed the same cardboard with an animated, AR rabbit on it that slid back and forth and made faces based on the position of the cardboard.  Another video showed a news broadcaster carrying around a rectangular panel that displayed contextual images related to his script. There was also a brief video of an educational game for the Nintendo 3DS called Earthpedia. Morikawa explained that Qoncept’s AR software can make use of the 3DS’ dual rear-facing cameras.

http://player.youku.com/player.php/sid/XMzUzMjg0NjI4/v.swf

Of particular note was an AR fishing game called DiaoReGaoShou (钓热高手). Players use their phone’s camera to turn real-life circular objects into virtual “ponds” that they can cast a reel into to catch fish. They can then share their digital catches with other fishermen in their vicinity. I was able to snag a few guppies from a coin placed on a table, but I didn’t get a chance to try out the social networking functionality. The game just became available in China three days ago, and can be downloaded for iOS.  In China, it is integrated with Sina Weibo.

Qoncept Japan’s AR software can do both marker-based and marker-less tracking. The company was established in Tokyo in 2008. To date, they have opened an additional office in Shanghai, and are in the process of establishing a Beijing branch.

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