AR (Augmented Reality)

I've been trying to avoid mentioning this topic given its quite overwhelming publicity over the past few months, yet alas, I found myself reading a quite interesting cover story from Nikkei Electronics Asia via Tech-On. I was considering going into a drawn out ramble about what AR is and its many uses, but figured instead I would summarize it quickly, and discuss a quite interesting point made in this article. AR is basically the layering of digital information into our sensed worlds (ie touch, taste, sight, etc.).

Augmented Reality is in a way a midpoint between reality and VR (virtual reality), yet what seems to make it truly stand apart and drive its adoption in the years to come is its "ratio of real versus virtual information." As we all know, VR never truly caught on. Sure its a pretty enjoyable novelty, yet the need to create entire worlds from scratch to engulf the user in this world, and similarly leaving convince the user to leave one's own world behind has proven quite a daunting task to be fulfilled in all instances.

Instead AR is attempting to incorporate itself in our present world.

It actually makes quite a bit of sense when one realizes the initial applications for AR were to be used as replacements for tangible directions.

AR will succeed with VR failed, for it opens up a number of new doorways into altering our digital lives, while leaving our real lives intact. In essence AR is just replacing the interface. No longer will we have to push buttons to change the channel, instead make hand motions, or look in certain areas, or push imaginary buttons, or heck just speak the button.

Augmented Reality is just that, an augmentation of our current reality. As the internet has been so widely adopted, there still remains that line between our reality, and the reality of our internet worlds of our computer LCDs. Yet as technology continually progress, this divide will slowly become obsolete.

It isn't something that will occur overnight, but it is through AR that many of these transitions will occur. Think about it, what need is there for our tangible digital devices when we can incorporate them in some standalone augmentation of our lives. Televisions could be projected onto our glasses, controlled via voice command. Simultaneously phone calls, music, and shopping could all be integrated into a similar central manner.

As I've discussed before, this centralized device is increasingly becoming the "cloud" - ever-pushing our wireless lives.