AR Globe would be better without the AR and the Globe
Here’s the short video about the globe I mentioned in the update.
There’s not much to add that isn’t said in the video - it is what it is.
I aim to have something more interesting and substantial to show you next time.
Keep smiling.
Comments (32)
I agree with your summary about the product. Being that so much time and funding has been put into programming the app and marketing it for 99p in sales to a niche market; a physically required component you can charge real money for is probably the way these sorts of AR things will go in the future.
Just stumbled upon the Shifu Orboot. Same idea, but better executed? The kids do seem to be having fun: https://youtu.be/A-fkYXteMFA Don't know which of the two toys came first, but the company Shifu are exclusively into AR toys so something tells me they were probably the originators: https://www.playshifu.com/ Edit: They have a Mars version as well! https://www.playshifu.com/orboot/mars
The truth is, people will buy ANYTHING. If a product exists, someone will buy it. There's a new calculator app on the Nintendo Switch eShop for $10 and there are already videos of it up on YouTube
Astute observation, Mr Moan, regarding the dongle-ness of the globe. Before you started talking about that aspect I was thinking about how this was so close to be being cool but as you also mentioned ... it's an app that's being forced into something else. It seems like it's on the cusp of being really cool ... except it never can be. Great show, as always, Mat! Thanks!
Occasionally, like most people, I get these moments when I think ‘hold on a minute’ - as though a veil has been lifted. This was one of those occasions. I’m glad it rang true with you too.
It all looked very promising for the first 5 minutes polished - I started to wonder why the title seemed quite negative. It must have taken quite a lot of effort to make it all look so smooth.
I had to pick the clips very carefully...there were just enough to make it look OK for very brief periods.
As with so many Techmoan videos in the past, I've been geeking out on this week's subject. 🤓 Of course I don't have any interest in plastic toy globes, but rather where one can aquire a proper, good quality, globe these days. Turns out Bellerby & Co are the finest makers today. Their globes are built on commission, and the smallest, football-sized, models cost from £1,993. 😳 https://bellerbyandco.com/ A more reasonable, yet quality, alternative is the competitor Lander and May, also in the UK: https://www.landerandmay.com/ German firm Columbus also seems reasonable in terms of quality and price: https://columbus-globus-shop.de/shop/en Low-tech, but sometimes that's all you need. Speaking of, here's how globes were made in 1955: https://youtu.be/4RWcWSN4HhI Techmoan's sphere of influence!
I’ve always had an attraction to globes - I have no idea why as I’d rarely take the time to stop and look closely at one, but as an object in a room I find them very appealing. Of course my globe desire has been filled by the Mova Globes - especially the cube versions that I received a couple of years ago. They’re all working fine still, in spite of the ‘advice’ from numerous people who claimed they break almost immediately and form bubbles at the top etc. Whenever I confronted them with the question as to whether or not they ignored all the warnings in the instructions and put their globe in direct sunlight on a window sill, things always went completely silent…which of course speaks volumes.
I tend to agree with your assessment... all of it. In fact, if you wanted an AR ball to control behind your phone, might as well put some sort of barcodes or something on it that would be easier to lock onto and just not even bother looking at the physical globe at all. Basically just use it as a trackball. :-)
Better yet - no AR, just a ball with a gyro and Bluetooth. Or nothing. Just nothing.
I would've been all over this as a kid, I used to browse books of flags for fun. Unrelated - didn't have many friends
I’m the opposite, did alright for friends as a child - haven’t had any for the last 30 years.
I'm anticipating comments wondering if the app works with other globes or even the Gakken Worldeye.
I think there’s going to be a lot of that - I did put a bit in about the specific patterns on the globe, but there always seems to be a desire to push the edges of things even in it seems obvious that nothing would happen.
I consider this video to be a public service announcement. My inner 8 year old was very excited as you started to use the app, but then when you pointed out the obvious - the globe is totally unnecessary and actually hinders usability, the curtains dropped and I saw Oz.
If it is glitchy under the excellent studio lighting setup you have...I can't imagine how it behaves normally or in strong directional sunlight.
"Now, the globe itself is just a lightweight, hollow, hard plastic, lightly textured ball." Steady with the existential crisis there. 😳 Anyway, re-watched because now I'm actually curious about said textured ball. If this is to work as copy protection, there must be some pattern unique to it? Does the app require any sort of calibration beforehand? What if you were to test it out with any other kind of globe? Perhaps one of those novelty beach ball globes... 🤔
I'd suggest that the cloud pattern on the globe isn't just there as (inaccurate) decoration.
This would be a better product if, instead of a printed globe, you could use a turnip.
Baldrick would be proud
A very nice description, a physical copy-protection key ;-)
I went looking to see if there was a new version of the Gakken Worldeye with better resolution, apparently not but I stumbled across globes that Selfridges are selling for a staggering £60 each and they only have one function. That's called the Shifu Orboot which is available elsewhere for a similar price to what you paid for this, just even less value for money! Unfortunate Shifu logo as I read it as something else at a first glance!
I think that's how I stumbled across this. I was wondering if there was a newer Worldeye - saw a black plastic one which seemed to suggest it was an update (it wasn't) but then spotted the Hobonichi globe in the 'People who looked at this, also looked at this' section.
I think that there is educational value in this, if only to demonstrate how not to do something. Clever kids will figure this out on their own. I still remember a crystal radio kit I got for Christmas in the 1970s. I'd skipped the part of sanding the laquer off the windings, so dad had to help. But the value of the kit was the super sensitive ear piece, which taught me the value of the one thing that is essential, whatever that is.
Another great reason to support your channel. You spent the money on something that looked intriguing, but wasn't, so we didn't have to. Thanks, Mat.
This is exactly like when Nintendo copied Activison and made Amiibos (the figures you use on your wii u and switch to unlock things in the game). I remember buying a game that came with an amiibo and using it once and thinking "WOW! That added absolutely nothing to my enjoyment of the game in any way whatsoever". An utter gimmick to create cash.
Very similar idea. It's like a £30 Amiibo that comes with a 'Free' Amiibo interactive experience game.
It kinda reminds me of a set of headphones with built in microphone I had in the 80's where it could do basic voice commands and was marketed as a Time Travel adventure though audio. Would take you around various time periods depending on the cartridge and ask you questions about dinosaurs, history etc. Ok maybe not that similar, but it was quite funky. Must see if I can find one online, possible you would at least go "Oh that thing"
It's not ringing a bell yet.
I totally see your point there. Google could put these into the Google Earth Layers Section where some of it already is. This would totally make this thing unecessary.
What in the world...? 🤔 As modern toys go, I think it's actually a pretty neat idea. The added app feature of a plastic globe has a tactility to it which may improve memorisation, as well as exploration. Either way, it's a heck of a lot better use of portrait mode than TikTok. 😒