source:

Sony's SmartAR demoed live, raises the bar for augmented reality (video) -- Engadget

video's:

Tons of AR stuff with ceiling opening etc:

YouTube - ‪

teddy bear walking around bouncing balls etc:

YouTube - ‪Sony Smart AR System Used In The NGP / PSP2‬‏

quote:
"Remember Sony's SmartAR? The markerless AR technology that promises reality augmentation without the need for unsightly tattoos? It's back again, showing itself once more after an all-too-brief 48 hour layoff. A new live-demo shows Sony's markerless object recognition system focusing on posters, tables, books, and coffee cups in lieu of the traditional AR card -- allowing it recognize multiple objects at once. Focusing on objects rather than markers allow augmented entities to interact more naturally with their environment. For instance, bouncing AR balls plummet off the edge of a table, and realistically ricochet off of a book placed in their path. Objects don't even need to remain on screen, as demonstrated by an AR pop-up menu that remained viewable even after the object-marker that spawned it left the viewer's field of vision. Sony seems to have built the groundwork of an augmented reality system that might actually be useful -- pair this up with a set of swank AR glasses (or better yet, holographic AR glasses), and we'll have a vision of the future we can really look forward to."

"The power of a decent camera."

That's what I said when I first saw the video.

Yes, this must be the future..

__________________
Marching Towards A New Era Of Hope After The Seven-Year Tribulation

This is how the camera recognizes the objects ( not from them, but from some other source )

YouTube - ‪Large scale 3D modelling using Direct Structure from Motion‬‏

extra quote info:

"< Main features >
(1) Object recognition that enables the markerless approach
  AR information can be displayed on the captured image which appears on a device’s screen, including those images that do not have any special markers for AR. This technology is also compatible with image recognition technologies that use conventional markers (such as “CyberCode*2”). Because “SmartAR” can recognize everyday objects such as posters and menus, it has the potential for a wide variety of applications.

  “SmartAR” object recognition technology identifies objects by analyzing features detected from a portion of the image (hereafter, ‘local features’) together with their positional relationship. Our feature matching technology that employs a proprietary probabilistic method that matches local features with minimal calculations enables high-speed recognition that is resistant to changes in lighting or the position of the object. In addition, recognition is still possible even if the object captured appears to be comparatively small in the display.

(2) High-speed tracking (‘rapid & accurate’)
  Sony achieved its natural-feeling ‘rapid & accurate’ AR by quickly displaying AR information on the screen and then tracking the camera’s movements at high-speed. This has been realized by combining object recognition technology with our proprietary matching technology that uses features detected from a portion of the image (‘local features’) and image tracking technology that is capable of dealing with changes in the shape of the object.

(3) 3D space recognition
  With our dynamic, large-scale AR, virtual objects can be merged with 3D structures detected in the physical world. For example, even if the AR image is a gigantic virtual character whose size exceeds the dimensions of the device’s screen, the technology allows the user to grasp the entirety of the virtual character when the camera is moved around. Furthermore, it is also possible to move the virtual object in the actual 3D space as if it were really there.

  Three-dimensional space recognition technology is based on use of the disparity observed by the camera movements to estimate the shape of the 3D space and the position and angle of the camera. By combining this with object recognition technology, devices become capable of identifying and remembering 3D space constructions.

(4) AR Interaction
  Information can be intuitively acquired and navigated by directly touching the AR information displayed on the smartphone or device’s screen. The distinctiveness of “SmartAR” technology comes from the user interface which enables users to naturally use and operate additional information and virtual objects."

wow, it's funny how no matter how hard Nintendo tries, they're technology is always far behind Sony's. I still prefer Nintendo though