Imagine. Dream. Believe
QderoPateo
Visionary Duo Aims to Bring Articulated Naturality into Mainstream Culture
Young Entrepreneurs Forge 21st Century Partnership from Half a World Away; New Natural Urban Feature Tracking and Image Mapping Technology Marries Virtual and Real-World Environments for More ‘Natural’ Augmented Reality Experience.
In the midst of the frenetic chaos that is New York City’s Times Square, an overwhelmed tourist stands astonished by the incredible pace, the mass of humanity, the wonderment of light and sound. Seeking a cozy bistro and comfortable accommodations, he considers asking a passerby for a recommendation, but stops short, wishing instead that he had sought the input of his local travel agent for a personal recommendation.
In the world envisioned by Steve Chao and Matt Gaines, this tentative traveler would need only lift his mobile phone into his field of view to reveal a plethora of information about nearby dining and hotel options – complete with menus, prices, discounts and peer reviews – instantly transforming the bustling landscape into a user-friendly interactive environment. Had she been there before him, his local agent may even appear as a 3D avatar to provide an on-the-spot personal recommendation to help guide his choice.
This is the world of QderoPateo (Latin for great hope soon to be revealed) – Articulated Naturality (AN) with a purpose to enhance life on earth. For co-founders Chao and Gaines, this is not a vision for some fantastic future – that future is now. And, the story of how these two visionaries came together is a truly 21st century meeting of the minds.
Partnership Takes Shape from Worlds Away
As a leading proponent in the commercialization of proximity marketing – localized distribution of marketing content to mobile devices using Bluetooth technology – North Carolina native Matt Gaines became intrigued by the concept of Proximity Marketing as a way to enhance the interactive experience within the concert and entertainment industry. While researching the options under development for delivering the interactive experience around the world, he stumbled upon a website for a small company in China.
“The site was all in Chinese, so I used Google Translator to get an English translation,” Gaines recalls. Certain he was onto something, he delved further. “I found the name Steve Chao associated with the Beijing Olympics. It turns out he had conducted the largest deployment of Bluetooth proximity marketing on the planet as part of the 2008 Olympics. It was immediately clear that we were cut from the same cloth.”
But, Gaines couldn’t find a way to reach Chao. A Google image search turned up a photograph of Chao tagged in a group photo, but still no contact information. Gaines Googled the name of another person tagged in the photo and got the break he’d hoped for – an active blog. Gaines contacted the blogger, and asked for an introduction to Chao.
“What began as a relationship of technological discovery has evolved into a formidable business partnership thanks to the power of the Internet – all in less than one year,” Gaines said. “We’re now set to rollout this game-changing AN platform in the U.S.”
The “historic moment,” as Gaines calls it (only half joking), happened on Dec. 7, 2009 when the two first met in New York City at the new QderoPateo corporate offices in Manhattan.
The company is set to launch its Articulated Naturality entertainment platform in May in a rollout that promises to change the way humans interact with their surroundings. Chao’s vision is to implement what he calls “Articulated Naturality Web (ANW)”. Articulated Naturality Web combines augmented reality, artificial intelligence and motion image recognition to merge the real-world views of two or more individuals who are physically separated but connected through a centralized service provider. This will be achieved using smartphones with two cameras facing in opposite directions, such that each user sees her environment articulated by a virtual image of the other user or users. The system will recognize gestures and motion in the real world of one user, and translate this into virtual motion in the other users’ views.
AN Goes Mainstream with QderoPateo’s SpaceShow Platform
Once the domain of geekdom, sci-fi fanatics and gamers, AR technology has struggled recently to transcend the sheer wow-factor and demonstrate real relevance in daily life. QderoPateo’s SpaceShow delivers this relevance with a user-friendly, mobile multimedia platform that provides a more intuitive and immersive experience.
QderoPateo’s groundbreaking imaging tracking and mapping technology is based on natural urban feature recognition, which means the system requires no physical tags or other special embedded elements within a physical object in order for the software to recognize and deliver the AN experience. The system employs proprietary Ambient Intelligence Engine (AIE) technology to spontaneously recognize the user’s environment the moment he or she lifts his mobile device and aims the camera into the field of view.
“We’re moving beyond the traditional data input/data delivery process into the age of spontaneous delivery of content based on surroundings that provide the user an opportunity to engage these elements,” Gaines said. “The technology gives us the ability to deliver 3D virtual objects and events – even a mixture of real and virtual characters – right in front of your eyes and enable you to interact with them, all from your mobile phone. You could hold up your phone at 8 a.m. in Central Park and view a 3D rendition of the concert from the night before.”
Will You Ouidoo?
Chao, who was recently recognized by BusinessWeek Magazine as one of Asia’s Best Young Entrepreneurs for 2009, says that delivering this unprecedented technology of course requires an upgrade in hardware. To meet the demands of QderoPateo’s interactive AN platform, the company has developed a first-of-its-kind next-generation mobile device that quite literally puts the power and speed of a desktop PC in the palm of your hand. The Ouidoo – “Oui” as in French for “yes” – delivers the parallel processing power to handle 3D images, plus the requisite GPS integration along with never-before-seen battery power that provides extended use and stand-by time compared to any other device currently on the market.
“Top-end Droids and iPhones have a CPU with GPU for 3D processing. Ouidoo has multiple CPUs each with multiple cores on board, all dedicated to performing specific tasks and enhanced 3D rendering processes,” Chao said. “It’s designed to be a pervasive device, serving as a handheld PC, AN device, and mobile control center for multiple electronics devices – including those in your car. And, yes, you can still make a phone call with it.”
Chao and Gaines acknowledge that in developing the platform, the device, and envisioning the potential apps, they are moving toward the creation of a cult of product and service. To help both consumers and marketers explore the technology and justify a conversion to the QderoPateo AN way of life, the partners have already devised a number of potential commercialization strategies – endless applications for the technology that would wow users with astonishing 3D AN effects while creating potential revenue streams for marketers and app developers, including AN marketing content that allows users to interact with and purchase from their favorite brands and retailers wherever they may be, and gaming integration that enables players to take the game experience on the go and interact with 3D game-based avatars in an urban environment. These are just two of the many potential opportunities for turning this breakthrough AN technology into a commercially viable product.
“It’s a matter of integrating useful and relevant content into an easy-to-use system that provides an intuitive way to experience an augmented environment where real-world and virtual elements co-exist,” Gaines said. “Imagine sitting at a baseball game, aiming your mobile device camera at the pitcher and instantly having all of his stats delivered spontaneously into your field of view. It’s that kind of ease and real-life usefulness that will bring AN to the mainstream, and we’ve got the platform to do it.”
Contact us at: articulatedworld@qderopateo.com