Brisbane, QLD, 18th September, 2013 – Nubis launches the augmented reality portal to social networking, Alphega, exclusive to Windows Phone 8, with the goal to lead the augmented reality applications into mainstream use. The Queensland-based start-up’s cloud service enables users to see updates from their friends on various social networks around them. Alphega includes support for Twitter and Facebook at launch, with support for more networks slated for the near future.
“Augmented reality, as a technology, is something that many in tech circles have seen coming for a long time but the challenge has always been how to bridge the gap between the technology and needs of users out there,” said Uzi Bar-On, Nubis. “Social networking was the obvious answer, making social updates relevant based on your location is something that people can understand and want from an app.”
Microsoft’s Windows Phone 8 platform was the obvious choice to launch Alphega on. It has arguably the best development tools and support out there and the Store is not cluttered with thousands of silly novelty apps. Nubis received a grant and strong support from AppCampus, a global mobile acceleration program funded by Microsoft and Nokia, which is a testimony of the long term commitment to mobile innovation from the two companies.
“Windows Phone is backed by a rich developer ecosystem that is creating a variety of quality apps and games that take advantage of the phone’s unique features and design,” said Todd Brix, general manager, Windows Phone Store, Microsoft Corp. “With its mix of augmented reality and social networking capabilities, Alphega is a great example of the kind of rich, innovative applications that people will find on Windows Phone Store to get the most out of their phone,” he continued.
While the technology is now in place to allow people to look at the Alphega‘s Socioscope (the augmented reality view) or a map view, this is still missing a key ingredient. True augmented reality should not require you to take the phone out of your pocket, or stop to check an update. It should complement whatever task is at hand with the minimum interruption.
That final ingredient is a pair of glasses like Google Glass or Epson Moverio. Nubis is proud to announce a strategic partnership between Nubis and GlassUp, the first and the leading manufacturer of eyeglasses wearable devices, to bridge that final gap and bring true augmented social reality to our users.
“There is a rising concern about apps that track your whereabouts and allowing others to access it or glasses that see and record everything around you, and rightfully so, as there are many applications that do that without your knowledge. Alphega does not conceals this feature rather highlights it and allows the user to control who can access their location information or completely disable the location-based services. We believe that users will want to merge their virtual social networking in their surrounding reality and engage with their online friends also in person – and for this, they will be happy to share their current location for their friends to find them. The GlassUp glasses do not have a camera, putting the whole debate about intrusive video recording to rest.
Nubis from Australia and GlassUp from Italy are both equally excited about this new strategic cooperation aiming to bring social virtual reality and wearable computing to the masses. By combining Alphega, an augmented reality social app, with a pair of glasses from GlassUp we can finally blur the line between virtual and real, pulling social networking from a secluded task on a screen and back to real life with real people.
Google has been promoting and marketing their Google Glass device for some time now but the combination of social augmented reality in Alphega coupled with the device from Glass Up on Windows Phone 8 may just be what everyone has been waiting for.
Gone are the days when you had to be a geek to talk about wearable computing devices or look like a cyborg while using one. GlassUp technology allows you to use Heads-Up-Display which looks like a normal pair of sunglasses. ”
“We are very excited to partner with Nubis in order to bring our product to Windows Phone users together with an app like Alphega. We are thankful for the support we have received from Nubis and Microsoft, who have walked the extra mile to enable the GlassUp to run on Windows Phone, and satisfy such a large market demand. In Nubis we found a company with our same company values and ambitions, and we can’t wait to work with them for the Windows Phone app ecosystem,” said Francesco Giartosio, CEO of GlassUp
About GlassUp
GlassUp is a small Italian company focused on bringing wearable computing devices to the mass market. With some of the best minds in the industry and technology that has its roots in the cockpits of fighter jets, they are perfectly positioned to turn augmented reality glasses from a catch phrase to a real product. GlassUp technology is in the prototype stage at the moment with product slated to launch in 2014.
About Nubis
Nubis is a boutique engineering power house specialising in developing custom technical solutions based on radical innovation. We are a collection of highly skilled and passionate technical experts that come from different industries, technologies, and disciplines and through our unique fusion, we devise state-of-the-art solutions by sourcing, integrating and developing from ground-up to fit the project’s requirements.
About AppCampus
AppCampus is a mobile application accelerator program managed by Aalto University in Espoo, Finland. This is an 18 million euro joint investment between Microsoft and Nokia to foster mobile application development on Windows Phone and any other Nokia platform. Successful applicants will receive awards varying from 20.000, 50.000 to 70.000 euros. In addition, AppCampus also provides training in mobile technology, design and usability, coaching and marketing support.
