Does Android dream of Sekai Camera? The answer is yes. The augmented reality app, which was unveiled for the first time during TechCrunch 50 last September, isn’t iPhone-only anymore. Sekai Camera is supposed to make it possible for phone users to tag objects and locations in the real world by using their camera phones.
On Wednesday, I had the chance to attend the world premiere of the Android version in Tokyo, which was part of an Android info event organized by Nikkei, Japan’s biggest business newspaper. There wasn’t an opportunity for a hands-on test this time (I could test Sekai Camera for the iPhone last month), but I was able to take some exclusive pictures and videos for MobileCrunch.
And I must say Sekai Camera for Android looks more promising than the iPhone version (CEO Takahito Iguchi demonstrated the app live in front of an audience of several hundred people). The most striking difference is the use of the compass function, which does away with the need to flick fingers left or right to find relevant tags that are around the user.
Iguchi said that Sekai Camera could be used for social gaming in the future. The icons and comment boxes seemed to be a tad prettier in the Android version, which isn’t really that unimportant in a tagging app.
Watch the videos below and decide for yourself if there is a big difference to the iPhone version, which will be released as an open beta in the App Store “before this summer”, as Iguchi told MobileCrunch exclusively. (Some readers commented in our recent Sekai Camera post the app might not be in line with Apple’s camera API. Let’s hope the iPhone version will find its way into the App Store somehow.)