Issue link: http://cp.revolio.com/i/2624
30 Fall 2009 Boeing to use the technology in its development of new planes. AR is a favorite with FedEx's CEO Fred Smith, who has used the technology to send virtual packages flying around the room during in-house presentations. Both Sony and Microsoft have been pursuing augmented reality. In late 2009, Sony is scheduled to release its EyePet game for PlayStation 3, which uses the PlayStation Eye camera to create a virtual pet in augmented reality for the gamer to interact with. Another game, Eye of Judgment, released in 2007, comes with physical game cards and uses an augmented reality playing mat and camera to project 3-D characters battling it out on the TV screen. Most cards are associated with summoning creatures. Microsoft has not released any AR games yet, but at the 2009 Electronic Entertainment Expo in June, they announced the ongoing development of a "controller-free gaming and entertainment experience" for the xbox 360 console currently called "Project Natal" after Natal, Brazil. The Project Natal sensor device includes an "RGB camera, depth sensor, multi-array microphone, and custom processor running proprietary software." The software will allow advanced gesture, facial, and voice recognition. If the gamer is close enough to the sensor, it can even map the movement of individual fingers. Scheduled for a rollout in late 2010, Project Natal could initiate a new era of augmented reality gaming, if it lives up to its promise. As is practically always the case with emerging technologies, the most exciting applications of AR are either research projects, still in the developmental pipeline, or purely conceptual. Dozens of big companies are currently developing AR applications but have not deployed them yet, including Mini, Toyota, Nissan, BMW, Lego, Ray-Ban, and Holition (jewelry). The potential of using augmented reality to take online shopping to its next stage has been widely recognized in the retail industry, with the falling costs of high-resolution webcams setting the technological stage for widespread adoption. In five to 10 years, online shoppers looking at jewelry, sunglasses, hats, and even clothing may use augmented reality to "try on" virtual products before they buy. A key application of augmented reality that has only just begun to be probed is virtual "x-ray vision." Using digital eyewear like the