Happy Hallowe'en!

A direct link to the above video is at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MeDNdBl6PV4

Here's a little augmented reality gag for your iPhone or Android phone from the fun-loving gang here at Talking Dog. Go to www.talkingdogstudios.com/ar/halloween and use your phone to scan the QR tag there to get started. Happy Hallowe'en!

Welcome 2011!

Well it's a new year here at Talking Dog Studios and it looks like our devious developers aren't slowing down. It's all guns blazing for 2011 and we're excited to create some really cool AR experiences, not to mention seeing what other wacky stuff developers are coming up with. 2011 is going to be a big year for AR folks...BIG YEAR!!

Speaking of cool AR experiences, we've just launched a project with the Telly Awards. In an awesome partnership with these cool cats, we created mytellyaward.com. Wanna know what it could feel like to win a Telly Award? Go check it out!

In the wonderful world of ScavengAR Hunt, we now have over 10,000 players! What? Pardon me, but did you say over 10,000? Yeah, you heard me. Over 10,000 players world wide baby! Are we excited? Uhhh, yeah we are! This is great news and we hope to keep the numbers growing with new objects to find and extra twists to the game.

Thanks for playing y'all and keep up the Scavenging! Oh, by the way, did you notice what is happening on the leader board! It's a battle for World Domination!! Muahahahahahaha

Haven't checked out our game yet? What are you waiting for? We're currently being featured on the Layar downloads page, click here to check us out for iPhone or here if you only have love for Android! And while you're there, check our some of the other great apps that are available on Layar. There is some cool stuff out there people, so have a look around!

As always, we'd like to thank all the people playing our game and we look forward to bringing you lots of more cool AR stuff in 2011!

The Talking Dog AR Team

ScavengAR Christmas

The holidays are all about giving and here at Talking Dog we couldn't agree more. So we're giving our little ScavengARs a Christmas present. For a limited time, until the end of 2010 to be specific, there will be Shiny Ballz waiting to be collected for mucho points in ScavengAR Hunt!

Shiny Ballz sound familiar? Well it should, since it was the super awesome AR decorating project we developed to have a little holiday fun. We were so inspired by our magical Shiny Ballz that we decided to let you search for them in ScavengAR Hunt. Tis the season of sharing and we are more than happy to share our Shiny Ballz with you!

And it seems that you are enjoying playing our little game. We are pleased to see that our numbers are continuing to increase. The last few weeks have shown a burst of gaming in the US, UK, Australia, and France, which has got us tickled pink! So we'd like to take a moment and thank all the ScavengARs out there. Whether you are just trying it out or you've been playing since the start, we appreciate you checking out our game and we are striving to bring you new objects and tricky twists to make the hunt more fun.

On that note, thanks for the love ScavengARs and we hope you enjoy hunting for our Shiny Ballz this Christmas!

It seems like this year has brought some really awesome AR projects and apps. We'd like to give a shout out to all AR developers out there who continue to raise the bar and delve deep into the endless possibilities of AR. Some of our favourites from the year are: Star Wars Tie-Fighters, AR.Drone and most definitely Word Lens! Truly awesome and really showing the world what AR can do!

What else happened this year?

• We had the pleasure of meeting Robert Rice at the 2010 Saskatchewan Interactive Summit.
• Microsoft Kinect came out and the hacker community went to strange new lands of augmented hackery.
• Our Godzilla AR t-shirt created some blogger buzz at comic-con.
• Apple introduced more access to the iPhone camera for exciting new possibilities of augmentation.
• Google introduced us to Google Goggles and whole new way to search the web
• We got into mobile AR with Layar and our ScavengAR Hunt game

We have also frequently tweeted our many numerous other findings over on our Twitter.

As always we are excited to see where this technology goes.

The gang here at Talking Dog wishes you all a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

Happy Holiday Scavenging!

The Talking Dog AR Team

ScavengAR Hunt Halloween!

Zombies are everywhere! Run for your lives! RUN!!!! Or better yet, get them before they get you!

OK, well maybe they aren't everywhere, but they certainly are in Augmented Reality! As an added treat to trick out your Halloween, our Franken-developers have created a Zombie Head for you ScavengARs to collect for MEGA points when you play our fun mobile game.

Thanks to the major points you get when you find this rotting braincase, you'll be able to mount your attack of the leader board and potentially RULE THE WORLD! MUAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA...ahem...well you'll be the top scorer anyway.

This undead cranium will only be floating around until midnight on Halloween. After that, it's dead and gone...for real this time. So get out there and hunt some Zombies!

Happy Halloween!!

The Talking Dog AR Team

New Objects in ScavengAR Hunt!

In order to keep things interesting for our ScavengARs out there, the brainiacs at Talking Dog have developed some new objects to find. We wouldn't want you guys to get bored now, would we?

To keep track of all those random pickles floating around your neighbourhood, we've created the Pickle Jar! Genuis, I know! However remember ScavengARs, not all pickles are created equal. Have you heard of the expression, "one bad egg rots the whole barrel"? Swap out the egg for a pickle and I think you know where we're going with this.

Also to satisfy the alien head that seems to be hanging around the produce section at the grocery store, we've made a Moon! Oooooh ahhhhhh! ET go home! Now maybe it'll stop trying to invade our planet...or at the very least stop reading our thoughts (adjusts tinfoil helmet)!

We hope you enjoy these objects and stay tuned for more coming soon...like a Cannon! Those pirates don't stand a chance!

Happy Scavenging!

The Talking Dog AR Team

ScavengAR Hunt Insights

Hey there ScavengARs!

Let's talk a bit about game mechanics. As you probably already know, whenever you open up the ScavengAR Hunt application on your IPhone or Android phone 3D objects are randomly scattered around you. For the most part, it's as simple as collecting objects to gain points. However, things aren't as simple as they may seem, friends. There are some hidden twists and turns in our game, built especially to keep you on your toes. Some objects will only be able to be collected if you have other objects. And in some cases, if you haven't collected objects in the right order, you could lose other objects in your collection and their associated points! Tricky, huh? And the cheeky rascals that we are here at Talking Dog, we're not going to tell you what those objects are and what you need to collect them either. Where would the fun be in that?

As a bonus for our loyal Regina scavengARs, we have included some fantastic coupons from K Family Kitchen and The Copper Kettle. Not only do you get points for collecting these items, but you can actually redeem them at the businesses for great deals on food. Now doesn't that make up for not telling you about those objects? No? Oh, well...ummm awkward...maybe you'll feel better after you eat some pizza.

Anyway, we're working hard to keep the game interesting and will be developing new objects and more tricks to keep things fun and exciting. So keep checking in with our blog, twitter, or follow us on Facebook! And thanks so much to the people giving us feedback about our AR mobile game, keep those cards and letters coming.

Keep it augmented!

The Talking Dog AR Team

Check Out ScavengAR Hunt's Website

Thanks to the popularity of our Augmented Reality mobile game, ScavengAR Hunt, being played all over the world in places like Great Britain, the Netherlands, Sweden, and the United States (to name a few), we've been receiving lots of feedback and comments about how fun it is. However, something has been missing...a website!! So the technology geniuses at Talking Dog Studios "got off their duffs" and created one. To check it out, go to www.scavengarhunt.com and see what it's all about!

The website gives instructions on how to start playing, how to check your stats to see how you compare to players all over the globe, and how to contact us should you want to tell us how awesome you are (or if you have any questions or comments)!

But wait, there's more! We've also created a ScavengAR Hunt Facebook Fan site! We'll be frequently posting updates and videos, so that our fans will know what's new, what's changed, or just what's really cool!

And speaking of cool (nice segue!), check out the video below to see a glimpse of what ScavengAR Hunt is all about.

So what are you waiting for? Get off your duff and collect some stuff!!

The Talking Dog AR Team

ScavengAR Hunt

Here at Talking Dog Studios over the past little while we've been exploring the "Layar Reality Browser" app for iPhone and Android phones. We put up a layer for the service a month ago called "Where the Buffalo Roam" which lets you visualize the huge herds of buffalo that used to be found in North America. To further our curiosity about this amazing new world of possibilities we have now released a game called "ScavengAR Hunt" (search for it in Layar).

This is a scavenger hunt, but in Augmented Reality! Once you're logged in to the app, you'll find a random collection of unusual and humorous objects that have been scattered around you. Some are near enough to collect right away, for others you will have to walk closer to be able to grab them. Should we be advertising this as "the Augmented Reality game that promotes physical fitness"? Get off your duff and collect some stuff!

Remember: you don't have to be right on top of the object to collect it, so if there's one out in the middle of the street or on private property you should still be able to collect it, as long as you're within 30 meters (100 feet) or so. Stay safe, stay legal, and have fun.

There are a number of objects that we have created for you to find all over the world, and we'll be adding more and more items in the months to come. Each item you find has a specific number of points associated with it, and occasionally you'll come across rarities worth BIG POINTS!

Go Riders!
In support of our local football team we have also placed a gigantic floating picture frame in our downtown to showcase two of the greats from our "Saskatchewan Roughriders": Ron Lancaster and George Reed (everyone will have to visit here if they want to collect this one). As part of this year's 100th anniversary celebrations for the team, we have also placed this frame over top of our football stadium.


But Wait, There's More...
This game can be played anywhere in the world. Right now, people here in the Regina area will also find coupons they can take in to local businesses. This is a new (and paperless!) way to attract customers: coupons can be placed anywhere in the world, within a radius as large or narrow as you choose: if your business would like to participate in this exciting new promotional opportunity, contact us (ar [at] talkingdogstudios [dot] com) to learn more.

Now Get Scavenging!
We hope you all enjoy this game. Will you be the first person to find the golden egg? Will you become the number one ScavengAR Hunt collector in the world? Follow us on twitter for updates about this and other interesting AR things we find.

The Talking Dog AR Team

Where the Buffalo Roam

If you saw our blog post about using historical re-creations you may be wanting to try our "Where the Buffalo Roam" layer we've created for the mobile phone augmented reality browser Layar. Today we published our project for everyone to enjoy.

To check out our new augmented reality buffalo herd make sure you have Layar installed on your iPhone / Android phone. Go to the "search" tab and look for "buffalo roam". When our layer appears click on the blue arrow button to launch, and be whisked away to a field of AR buffalo. You will also have the option to listen to some buffalo roaming which can be selected or ignored.

Currently our herd of buffalo should surround you wherever you are. We will be publishing more place specific layers in the future. Stay tuned.

On a distantly related note, did you know this is a grammatically correct sentence in the English language?

Buffalo buffalo Buffalo buffalo buffalo buffalo Buffalo buffalo.

Click here to read about this very curious looking sentence.

And enjoy the buffalo!

The Talking Dog AR team.

AR and Historical Re-creations

The above picture comes from the wikipedia article on Regina, Saskatchewan, Canada. The picture is entitled "young man poses with huge pile of buffalo bones ready to be shipped".

Here at Talking Dog Studios in our on-going exploration of augmented reality, we've started investigating the world of mobile AR. The Layar app for iPhone and Google Android phones seemed to be the most obvious place to start. We have been thinking about AR, tourism and places of historical interest ever since we made our AR project for Saskatchewan Tourism so it seemed logical to take that a little further.

We started out by trying to put simple "Points of Interest" (POI) in our parking lot here at Talking Dog. We thought it would also be interesting to explore Saskatchewan's history of buffalo herds: the original name for the city we live in was "Pile of Bones", and it got its name from the huge piles of bones that were left behind by the buffalo hunters in the area.

So, through a little tinkering we built ourselves a herd of buffalo taking up all of our parking spots. This picture is of 100 virtual buffalo as seen from google maps (currently this is not publicly visible).

(Incidentally, bison is the more correct term for these animals, but buffalo still tends to be what people around here say in conversation).

At Talking Dog we understand the importance of sound to create a believable experience. To add to the realism we also allowed for the sound of a herd to be triggered when you get within a certain distance.

Next, we placed our herd of 3d buffalo models we had created in a field adjacent to Regina's Royal Saskatchewan Museum.


We're very excited by the possibilities of historical re-creations using mobile devices, and this seems like a good start. At present our herd of buffalo can only be seen if you come to the open space south east of the Royal Saskatchewan Museum here in Regina, Saskatchewan, Canada.

This project should be published relatively soon, and we'll be sure to spread the word when we have it up. As always, follow us on twitter for more up to the minute updates on what's going on in AR.

Here's to our augmented future!

The Talking Dog AR team.