Fun with Augmented Reality

As you may or may not know from my constant boasting and bragging over Twitter, I have just got the Xperia Z2. 

I'd like to thank Sony for letting me have one for the purpose of testing - I am incredibly grateful. 

After playing around with the Xperia Z2 the other week, one of the things which stood out to me wasn't the stunning camera, or the incredibly fast processor, or even its beauty... but Augmented Reality (AR). 

Yes, like an immature child, the first thing I rush to out of all the features was AR, I love playing around with the silly effects which you can use to spice up photos and fool around with. Its just so much fun!

While testing it pre release the other week I noticed that the AR was quite unresponsive and slow, I put this down to the software of a brand new Z2. I am please to see that now I have an official updated Z2 that the AR is much smarter, faster and more responsive than it was before. 

The AR has several settings. You start off with Disco, Dinosaur, Dive and Masquerade. As you can see from the picture above you can also download extras straight from the camera options by pressing on the "+" button. This is really worth doing in my opinion as you can get some really fun ones, and they are completely free with no need to sign up or register to anything.  

The other downloadable options are Comic, Horror and Spiderman.

AR is really good at putting images on appropriate objects in the frame. It isn't a very lazy cut and paste job, it seems to know roughly where things are and how things should go. Don't get me wrong mind, it will make mistakes, the technology is new, but I think generally you will be quite pleased. 

 Fairy Tale setting

As seen above with the Fairytale setting, there is a beanstalk growing out of my laptop/table, the pixie is on my lap and the mushroom is even tucked behind my feet. This shows how good the artificial intelligence is, especially compared to how it was before when I was testing it.  

My son being approached by a T-rex!

One of my favourite settings is the Dinosaur setting. 

This is ideally used for large landscapes, you probably wont get many decent results indoors, but its brilliant when you are out in a large field. 

The fairy tale setting.

Like I was saying above, the AI is quite smart, it seems to be quite good at putting the objects around my son rather than on top of him.

And again, it places a wig, lips and bow tie on perfectly - Disco setting.

Shameless selfies

The thing which stands out for me is not just taking novel photos once or twice and never using them again, but also the ability to jazz up selfies.
I know that we are all supposed to hate selfies, but admit it, we all secretly do them here and there for friends, so lets stop pretending, shall we? 

 Here is me clowning around with the Celebration setting. 

 The butterfly setting.

Masquerade setting.

My three year old son also thinks AR is the greatest invention since Angry Birds, and why not? When he puts the front facing camera on it can turn him in to a super hero!
He simply cannot get enough of this. If you want to keep your child occupied, then this is for you.

It also goes to show off the simplicity of AR, as my three year old son took only several minutes of messing around with the camera to figure out how to use it. He managed to get some decent results with it too. So you have no excuse!

Here are some examples of the downloadable content mentioned earlier. Superhero mode, Spiderman mode and Halloween.

Comic selfie!

Comic selfie with dress up.

Spiderman!

It works like a dream. This mask was perfectly put on even though he was bouncing around the room like...well, Spiderman!

Utterly ghoulish with the Halloween setting.

More from the Halloween setting.


A few little issues.

Though the technology in AR is good, it still cannot be completely manipulated. The "boom" and "wow" come and go as they please and you have absolutely zero say in where they pop up.

And again, the AR has placed a rock on top of my friend.

This, in my opinion, can be forgiven though, its a new technology and this is the biggest issue I could come up with. I really am clutching at straws here and it has been a lot more impressive than I thought it would!


Third party AR apps.

 Angry birds through a third party app.

Minion

Browsing through the Play Store, I knew I would find some great stuff, and I wasn't disappointed. We found one app called Augment, which is completely free and it has dozens of different objects to add in to photographs (Minions and Angry birds shown above).

Sadly though, these were a little different from the stock Sony AR. The objects looked very 90's 3D and didn't have anywhere near the production value. They have no artificial intelligence either, so they will not try and fit around the people in your photo. They have to be placed exactly in a certain part of the picture, then you change the size of the object and the direction it faces, but this takes quite a bit of time. Its still very good though, because the selection of objects to chose from dwarfs the stock selections you get with the phone, so its certainly worth a look.

Conclusion.

Over all I am very impressed with what AR has to offer. It is certainly an improvement from what it was a month ago while testing the Xperia Z2, which I can only assume was a pre release version. Its Artificial intelligence was impressive and it was incredibly smooth. It was good to see some add ones and free add ones at that!

I really look forward to what AR has for the future, especially with Android being open source. I have seen a few games floating around the store which I havent had the chance to check yet, I feel like this could be a really important feature in the future!

Thanks for reading.

More examples of HDR

As I said in my previous article here, id be back, more examples of HDR...

Before HDR 

After

Before HDR

After HDR

Not always better, but HDR clearly serves a purpose.

Foolin with focus mode!

My good friends and I have been showing off some of Xperia's biggest stars today by testing out the "focus mode". We managed to get our hands on the Xperia SP, Z, Z1 Compact and even an Xperia ION to show you what Sony camera phones are really capable of.

Enjoy.

 Xperia Z

Credit goes to Sonya for this picture. Taken during her frolics in the beautiful city of Ely. The camera does a near perfect job of focusing on the flower and does an even better job of blurring the background. 

Xperia Z

I spent some time fooling around with a friends Godzilla toy and a back drop of New York City. I used Focus Mode to keep our beloved King Of The Monsters central to the image and blurred out the background, as it is actually a piece of art work used for my friends living room which has some washed out lines going down the picture (fashion, ay?)

Xperia Z

 I used a dimming effect on Instagram to keep things dark and again, dim out some of the unwanted effects on the picture I had to use. I think the effect gives the picture a real monster feel.

Xperia Z

 Fooling around with a friends Dr Who toys, I managed to get a great shot of a so called "weeping angel". The touch focus managed to handle her left hand and face quite well, not to mention getting her wings in the shot too. It struggled to get the hand going in for the grab but did a nice job of blurring the background and the tardis.

Xperia Z

Like with the Godzilla picture above, a simple filter made this shot look incredibly creepy and terrifying.  

Xperia Z1 Compact

My good friend Apaar does a sensational job with the Xperia Z1 Compact here. I really don't need to explain this photo as its beauty speaks for itself. It really makes me want to get my hands on the new 20.7 mega pixel camera. 

 Here is another one from Apaar's Xperia Z1 Compact. This was taken without HDR, as you can see from the sharp detail and deep blacks. You will see that the focus mode has done a sensational job in low light conditions.
Thank you critics!

Another Apaar classic here, taken on the Xperia Arc. This being a moving image shot, it handles the focus on not only the pen and fingers, but also manages to focus on text, which sometimes can be tricky.

Xperia ION

This picture here was taken on the Xperia Ion. An old phone (by mobile phone standards) yet stills shows the capabilities of Sony camera phones back then.

 Xperia SP

I tried something unconventional here and tried to get focus on two main objects in a photo, rather than going for a real close up. It has done quite well here by slightly blurring the background. Naturally, if it had blurred out the background too much in the photo it would have been ruined and taken the objects out of context. It has done a great job making sure the two items in the front were perfectly focused as the centre piece of the picture.

Xperia SP

Light blurring in the background and massively sharp picture of the street sign in front.

Xperia SP.

Again, fooling around with the Xperia SP, I managed (in the end) to get a respectable focus mode shot of my son playing with his penguin toys. It did take some work, and even though it struggled again to get the front image (the penguin) in focus, it handled everything else perfectly.

The Xperia SP for me was the one which struggled most, which is surprising really as it has the latest Exmor RS sensor and is one of the newer  phones we tested. That being said, it does have a very small sensor and a lower megapixel count (7 in photo-shoot mode) compared to its bigger brother the Z and Z1 Compact, so this could be a contributing factor.

We managed to get decent shots in the end, after a lot of fiddling, but in comparison to the others, the SP was not quite up to scratch.

Conclusion:

Overall I have been incredibly impressed with all cameras on our Xperia devices, especially the photos by Apaar with the Xperia Z1 Compact. Sony are often criticised for their cameras sounding better on paper than they actually perform in the field. If you spend a little time tweaking the many settings and effects that Sony pack in to their cameras then you are almost always going to get high quality pictures. Especially if you take advantage of the numerous free photo editing software available on the Play Store.

Either way, it just goes to show what you can accomplish with a camera phone now days, especially a Sony.  There are some impressive technologies like the Exmor RS sensor, the Bionz image processor and the award winning G Lens in most Sony phones now means the possibilities are endless. 

Thanks to Sonya and Apaar for contributing to my post. 

1000 views!

We have hit 1000 views!

The blog was set up just as the Sony Test Lab was winding down last year, so it has been pretty quiet until last week. Since its rebirth the view count has gone up by well over 800!

Today I can announce that we have hit 1000! 

Thanks to all who have visited and I look forward to the future! 

By far the most popular post was by "HDR saves the day" which accumilated around 600 views. 

I have had a very mixed list of audiences, from people all the way over in Singapore, Indonesia and Japan. To France and Russia. The biggest audience by far was the USA. 

Thanks again guys! 

Here is a picture of me holding as many Xperia phones as possible with one hand, while taking a picture on an Xperia phone. 

HDR saves the day!

Last year, when Sony put HDR in their Xperia cameras I never understood why people were making such a big deal out of it. At the time I was the kind of guy who put his faith in Superior Auto and left it at that. A point and click warrior you might say. I might fiddle with the settings from time to time but not that often.

My skill level has changed a lot since then. I now tweek photo settings around when I can to make the most of the new features inside to try and bring out the best in my photographs.

While I was wondering around the beautiful universities in Cambridge this afternoon I really started to appreciate why people got so excited about HDR.

 Without HDR

With HDR

As you can see in this example, my friend is much more visible in the HDR photo than the none HDR photo. You will also notice that the shadow behind her is lighter too, making it a much less dim (and grim) photo to look at. However, you will also notice that the blacks and colours are slightly washed out in the background with HDR. In this example it made my friend look much more visible, though at the sacrifice of some of the colour and shadow depth from the rest of the photo, though in my opinion, it ended up being the best option. 

 No HDR

HDR

Another example above is Kings College. 

HDR seems to bring out the visibility of the image in front (often the image you want to focus on) at the expense of some mild colour and shadow depth. The great thing about it is you get to see both images well in the picture. The beautiful window box in front and the incredible Kings College at the back, rather than being limited to simply one.

HDR is something which could have been used to saved many old photos of myself, if I had the technology at the time. One photo which springs to mind is an old photo of myself on top of the Empire State Building, which shows the skyline perfectly, but I am simply a black shadow. If I had HDR then you would have been able to see both the skyline and myself in the picture perfectly and the photo might have been a main profile picture on social media rather than being left on my hard drive and forgotten.

However, its not all good for HDR. 

Like I said before, some situations its simply not suited. As you can see here, I took two photos of the Bridge Of Signs in St Johns college, mainly because from looking at my phone screen at the time the picture looked like it needed HDR. 

 None HDR

HDR

At first glace on my phone it appears the HDR has done another great job of bringing out some of the colour of the tree next to the bridge. Sadly though, once you take it off the phone screen and blow it up on to a laptop or TV you can really start to see how washed out the colours are, and after all the tree looked fine as it was. 

So be careful. 

If you dont need HDR then you are washing our your colours and black depths for no reason.

Over all the HDR feature has been a real life saver for me. It has really proven to be a useful tool and now I understand why people were making such a fuss of HDR when it was first announced. 

Its hasnt all been about HRD though, the Xperia SP has produced some fantastic photos today anyway, especially for an 8 megapixel camera on a 7 megapixel mode. For a mid ranged phone (and now a generation old) it has some great little features in its camera. 

Here is another good results today at the Mill Pond. I used the focus mode which worked quite nicely. 

Thanks for reading. 

For your pleasure, some other examples of HDR comparison, just in case you havent quite made your mind up!

 None HDR

HDR

 None HDR

HDR

Please let me know what you think!

I am now on Instagram!

I am now on Instagram!

I have been for a while but I thought I would finally share it with the world. 

I find it a fantastic way of placing all my best photos throughout the past few years in one place and sharing them with the world. 

Its mostly been work with my Xperia P, SP and T, though be warned, I shall be getting my hands on an Xperia Z2 very soon. Then the real fun will begin!

Please feel free to add me!

Check me out here!

My first impressions of the Xperia Z2

The Test Lab is back!

Thank god!

Its been quite a while since the last one and I am very excited to be back.

A lot has happened since the last Test Lab.
 Sony has finally finished buying out Ericsson and making itself in to a singular brand.
Not only that but Sony has been making steady progress back up the mobile rankings too, not just in sales but with journalists too.
A lot has changed in the market as well with the introduction of the phablet and the advent of water proofing in mobile phones...So, a lot to catch up on!

The guys at Test Lab were kind enough to get us up to speed on what Sony have been doing and their plans for the future. They certainly have been busy and the future sounds incredibly exciting.

We were lucky enough to be shown the latest and greatest phone by Sony - The Xperia Z2.

This is my take...

Geeking out with the guys at Test Lab

Being the current owner of an Xperia SP, a mid ranged phone from a previous generation, I was expecting some big changes with the Xperia Z2 and boy was I not disappointed.

When you first set eyes on the Xperia Z2 you notice how incredible it looks. It really has a premium look to it. Its sleek, sexy, stylish and incredibly thin. Its hard to imagine that Sony have packed so much in to it. You really do wonder how they do it! 

It doesn't stop there though, despite its screen being well over 5 inches, its a dream to hold. I was under the impression it would be a phone which mostly needed two hands to hold and operate most of the time, but it handles so well. It helps that the phone isn't particularly heavy either, being a mere 163g, which for its size and class, is respectable. 

You may have seen its most recent advert showing nothing more than a group of dancers. A lot of people haven't understood the video claiming it has nothing to do with the phone and shows little detail about it either, but when you handle the Z2 you really start to understand it. Its a perfect balance of elegance, style and beauty, yet mixed with power, durability and expression. Its quite simply a work of art. 

Naturally, art is down to perception. So let me explain further why it is a thing of beauty rather than just a cold piece of machinery designed to near perfection. Sony have worked hard to gradually merge all their successful technologies in to one product. All their hard work and character over the generations has been merged in to one great personality, which is the Xperia Z2.
 We have seen the Bravia technology from their TV's, Exmor sensors from their cameras and the Playstation from their console department which has been merged in toall in their previous phones, just like my Xperia SP...

....The Xperia Z2 is more than that though, is quite simply IS SONY. 

The best example of this is their camera. We now have the award winning "G lens", the Exmor RS sensor AND the "Bionz" processor in their camera. Just the camera. 

They have taken every part of what makes a camera great and stuck in their very own piece of Sony technology and merged it in. Some manufacturers are stuck with just a stock, standard x mega pixel camera and absolutely nothing else.
Still not impressed? The Z2 is also packed with 4k video recording too. So get your memory cards ready!

So as you can see, Sony are aiming for premium and working hard to make sure it delivers premium!

The same can be said for their screen too. Full HD screen has become standard in the industry these days and 4K screens are either pointless at the moment, or a long way off. Sony have again, merged everything which makes Sony who they are in to this phone. We have the third generation Bravia engine, which is now known as X-reality. We also have Triluminos display, which can be found in their high end TV's.
X-reality focuses on up scaling videos to make them look as sharp and crisp as possible, and Triluminos display offers the widest spectrum of colours around in any mobile phone.

Boom!

I have also noticed that Sony are now (finally) using IPS screens instead of standard LCD, which was one of the few things a lot of reviews marked Sony screens down for in the past. They have now caught up, and possibly leap frogging the rest because of all the other technology added to compensate in the past.

So, with all that technology inside, you are also probably quite worried about breaking it, right?
Fear not!
 The Xperia Z2 has a IP58 certificate, which gives it the ability to be soaked in 3 feet of water for up to 30 minutes. This is something offer by no other manufacturer on the market. With only the Samsung S5 offering some cheap "water resistance" alternative.
I am going to have great fun seeing what I can do with this phone now I no longer have to cower away at the sight of a bit of rain, or some condensation. I can watch a film in the bath, take photographs under water and not constantly worry about my son spilling drink all over my phone when its laying on the table!

Liberation!

Doesnt bother me! 

To have such an incredible amount of technology in something so small and yet so durable is incredible. Using the phone has been a pleasure. We were sent out by Sony to experiment with the phones for the day.

We decided to go in to Hyde Park and mess around with the camera to see what it could do. The Xperia Z2 has a ton of new features. Some of my favourite being Augmented Reality, which actually puts imaginary objects like Dinosaurs, fairies or elves in to your screen shot so you can spice up your photos. You can even download other versions so you can add super hero powers to your photos or halloween themes.
We had other numerous features worth mentioning too, like slow motion filming, 4k recording, tunnel vision and time shift bursts.

Sadly we weren't able to keep most of the photos from the day so I am unable to show you most of the ones we took. Here is a few ones we did manage to salvage though.

There were some great results from simply pointing and clicking thanks to Superior Auto. Not to mention a host of cool features as seen above.

Sadly we didn't get to keep the Xperia Z2 phones long so I can only show you a couple of the photos, none of them being the best ones either.
It was great playing around with the water proofing in the park. A couple watched from a park bench near by with great suspense as I dipped my phone under water at the lake and tried to take a photo. Some people still unaware of great steps forward mobile phones have made in the past year or so...well, Sony anyway. 

Most impressive was the battery life. When I left Sony Music Studio we had about 31% battery on the phone. We spent well over 2 hours running around taking photos, messing with settings, recording video (some in 4k) and bluetoothing/NFC'ing our pictures around. When we got back my battery had only gone down to about 22%. 

I wish I could say the same for my Xperia SP, which I also had on me, as it did pretty much NOTHING during the same time period and had gone down by about the same percentage. 

So there is progress in nearly every sense of the word. 

I cannot wait to get my hands on the Xperia Z2 myself and really show you guys what it is capable of!

Watch this space...