Layar, the Amsterdam based company that brings augmented reality to your phone (we covered them from the start, including the launch of their API and the introduction of 3D objects) has an iPhone app and it’s live in the App Store.
Layar is one of the most popular Android applications so far, with over 75k downloads of their app (data from a month ago).
Co-founder Raio van der Klein also told me that 75% of the people that downloaded the app still has it on their phone. That is a huge number if you’d compare it to the 95% drop of rate for iPhone apps according to this research.
Layar is likely become a sure hit on the iPhone as well, although Bionic Eye did beat them to the punch with their own take on the augmented reality scene.
You can get the app for free here (iTunes link)
Requires a 3GS – time to upgrade?
Layar is awesome!
I hope they do well.
There is a threat however. Browser makers could decide to build their own Augmented Reality extensions into their browser.
Opera it seems, is kicking ass on regular (non pda) mobile phones. They could decide to start offering their own AR functionality. Hell, their biggest customer, Nokia, will start demanding it at some point.
And Apple seems like a prime candidate to start offering AR extensions for Safari.
Apple has already proven that it is willing to innovate in the browser space instead of endlessly negotiating with standards committees about the future of web extensions.
The HTML canvas is a good example of this.
The AR space is new and hot. We will no doubt see some great innovations in this space.
I think it’s great that a tiny Dutch company is kicking ass in this space.