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Software from Qualcomm Inc. is adding a new dimension to smartphones and tablet computers.
Not to mention imaginative twists such as banjo-playing frogs.
Large corporations, catalog publishers and even museums in San Diego's Balboa Park are adapting Qualcomm's Vuforia software to meet their needs.
Vuforia is "augmented reality" software. That is, it runs on a mobile device, recognizes an object with the device's camera and then creates a computer-generated image on the mobile device's screen.
What shows up on the screen seems to be in three dimensions, since moving the background will move the computer-generated object the same way.
That's how Qualcomm has allowed Johnson & Johnson to turn specially decorated Band-Aid adhesive bandages into some entertainment.
Here's how it works: A parent who buys Band-Aids depicting Muppets cartoon characters can download a Vuforia app (called Band-Aid Magic Vision) to their smartphone. Framing the decorated bandage in the smartphone camera will get the software to kick in. Up on the screen will pop an animated Muppet character, such as Kermit the Frog, playing the banjo and seated in a swing. Tipping the smartphone will make Kermit swing side to side as he sings.
Qualcomm is constantly updating Vuforia. It shipped the latest iteration a few...