Enkin on Google Android

We’ve just seen a really cool video demo (included below) of a new app that has been developed as part of the Android Developer Challenge. Basically the system, known as Enkin, is a mapping system. It displays maps like Google Maps does with a satellite view, but also has two new modes that are pretty far beyond what we’ve seen elsewhere. In the basic overhead mode, labels can easily be applied to structures and places seen on the map. That’s not exactly ground breaking, but it plays into the other two modes – where the good stuff is.

The 2nd mode is a textured 3D view that looks something like Google Earth. Again, it shows the labels as you would expect. The magic happens in the 3rd mode, a live view mode that uses a camera to apply those same labels to the actual world around you. You point the phone’s camera at a building and it will show the label overlayed on the building on its screen. The systems uses GPS and orientation sensors in the device to be able to determine where and what the camera is looking at so that it can apply the labels.

Check out the demo video below.

Enkin from Enkin on Vimeo.

[via EngadgetMobile]