Virtual reality (VR) maybe developing at a faster rate than augmented reality (AR), but there are plenty of companies exploring the smartphone based tech. Blippar is one such AR specialist, having created numerous experiences for the Chelsea Flower Show, the new Bank of England £5 note and the 2015 Rugby World Cup. Now the company has announced the launch of a visual discovery browser called Blipparsphere.

Combining AR with AI, Blipparsphere provides personalised information about a user’s physical surroundings, providing a visual discovery browser through the Blippar app. As users scan or ‘Blip’ the Blipparsphere will not only acquire details on what’s been scanned but also other items in the area or related to the original item.

“The development of Blipparsphere is a major breakthrough for visual discovery as the next evolution beyond search,” said Ambarish Mitra, Blippar Co-Founder and CEO. “The combination of our knowledge graph along with computer vision technology allows us to significantly scale what we’ve already accomplished with augmented reality and deliver faster, more accurate recognition and deeper, tailored content around the images and objects we encounter in our daily lives.”

“The new discovery behaviour we are powering through today’s update matches natural human thought patterns,” Mitra further commented. “When you blipp something, it connects you to new things to see and information demonstrating how the original object or image is connected to everything else. This allows users to start their journey of spontaneous curiosity on something as mundane as a drinking glass, but end up in President Obama’s blipp by hopping around the Blipparsphere from one related entity to another. This is a fun way to learn about your surroundings and even find excuses to blipp ordinary things and discover extraordinary facts and stories.”

The Blippar app is free to download for iOS and Android and Blipparsphere is part of the download. VRFocus will continue its coverage of Blippar reporting back with any further announcements.

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