Cardboard + Smartphone = Sweet DIY Augmented Reality Goggles

Looking to get away to Paris this winter, but concerned about
the cost? Worry not; for the price of a pair of lab safety
goggles, a cardboard box and an HTC Magic (even better if the
HTC magic comes in a large cardboard box), this DIY augmented
reality headset can transport you anywhere in the world, just
as long as the Google Street View team has been there first.

The rudimentary setup takes advantage of the Magic’s compass
to enable the viewer to pan around in Street View simply by
turning his or her head. While our demonstrator, Recombu’s
Andrew Lim, takes his Google goggles for a staycation spin
around Paris in Street View, we’re more intrigued by the
possibilities of taking the Goggles out of the house, using
an AR app like Layar to layer information over the view from
the Magic’s camera. Or, as Gizmodo’s John Hermann points out,
you could swap to an iPhone 3GS and take Yelp’s new AR resto
hunting app for a spin.

Of course, searching for a lunch spot on Park Avenue with
a cardboard box tethered to your face might draw some
sideways glances from passers by. But while Lim’s DIY
virtual/augmented reality box resembles elementary science
fair fare, it’s an interesting look into what will likely be
the heads-up displays of the future: glasses that double as
displays for all kinds of information that augments the world
around us. Kind of like the vision Nokia released in a video
a couple of months ago, but without the lame Lilith Fair
soundtrack and egregious overuse of emoticons.