Alcatel-Lucent and Georgia Tech develop first prototype of a mobile Augmented Reality interface for 3D virtual collaboration environments

Development result of the Alcatel-Lucent University Innovations Program 4G Center of Excellence

CTIA Wireless, Las Vegas, Alcatel-Lucent (Euronext Paris and NYSE: ALU) and Georgia Institute of Technology today announced the development of the first widescale distributed mobile Augmented Reality (AR) — the addition of computer-generated graphic images onto a real-life environment — interface prototype. The prototype is the first development resulting from the Alcatel-Lucent 4G Center of Excellence established in 2007 at Georgia Tech.

As part of the Alcatel-Lucent University Innovations Program, Alcatel-Lucent and the Georgia Tech Broadband Institute formed a team on the university campus dedicated to developing sophisticated new gaming and entertainment applications, identifying the network challenges that accompany such high-bandwidth applications and creating solutions to those challenges.

Focusing on Augmented Reality, the Alcatel-Lucent and Georgia Tech team have created a prototype that enables users to collaborate with colleagues in a virtual world from their mobile device.

“Augmented Reality technology – enabled by new business models for advertising, social networking and media – merges the physical and the virtual worlds. Next-generation technology is required to access these high-bandwidth 3D environments so that the mobile device can provide the ‘magic window’ into the virtual world,” said Jessica Stanley-Yurkovic, vice president of North America marketing for Alcatel-Lucent. “Our partnership with Georgia Tech and the work we are doing there is a critical first step toward developing services and technologies that go beyond today’s capabilities toward a next-generation user experience.”

In addition, the team has developed an advanced interface for a multiplayer online game that enables players to “collect” items from their favorite TV shows and then share these items with others in the real world using location and presence information.

“This program is a fine example of interdisciplinary activity at Georgia Tech,” said Nikil Jayant, Georgia Research Alliance Eminent Scholar and Director of the Georgia Tech Broadband Institute. “In its role as a forward-looking industry partner, Alcatel-Lucent is propelling our multi-college competencies to new levels of technical excellence and relevance.”

Additional Augmented Reality concepts will be featured in the Alcatel-Lucent CTIA booth in the Las Vegas Convention Center Hall C3, #2613.