Augmented Reality (AR) merges real-world and digital information. AR systems use glasses or projectors to display relevant information in real-time. Currently, AR is in its infancy due to a lack of effective projection systems and fast computers. AR has the potential to eliminate desktop computers and deeply integrate the internet with the real world.
Augmented Reality (AR) refers to computer science research that aims to produce information systems that seamlessly merge real-world information with digital information. Augmented reality is still in its infancy, but many futurists and researchers expect it to experience a resurgence in the 2010s or 2020s.
The central focus of an Augmented Reality system would be something like glasses or a retinal projector that provides the user with a head-on view of relevant information, mapped onto their surroundings in real time. For example, when viewing a restaurant with Augmented Reality glasses, you can instantly call up a list of reviews or a menu from the restaurant’s website. A scientist working on pharmaceuticals could use the glasses to view 3D models of various molecules and use them to visualize a better drug. Children could be using networks of connected AR glasses to play real-life video games that allow them to shoot “lasers” from their hands. The possibilities are pretty limitless.
Augmented Reality depends on advances in miniaturization and wearable computing. Currently, we lack both an effective projection system and fast computers small enough to create truly marketable AR interfaces, even if we are close. Prototypes have been produced for what seems like decades, but a viable mainstream product still doesn’t exist. One promising technology is retinal projection, a low-power laser that projects images directly onto the retina, bypassing the need for glasses altogether. There are commercial retinal projection systems, but their resolution and color palette are very poor.
Augmented Reality currently exists in a rudimentary form. For example, sports commentators may often use a light pen to “draw” on a football field and provide a visual aid to accompany their commentary. Another example is the first down line on soccer fields, tracked by computer in real time and constantly updated. These aren’t actually augmenting reality, however, because they only appear when you’re staring at the TV screen. However, they do demonstrate proof of concept to some extent.
Augmented Reality has the potential to eliminate the desktop computer as the primary means of accessing information systems. Just as desktops are being discarded in favor of laptops and mobile phone browsers, the next step may be to swap them for an augmented reality system. In a sophisticated AR scenario, you would never need to leave the “real world” to access the internet or do computer work – the two would be deeply intermingled. For now though, computer users are mostly stuck staring at LED screens and sitting on our butts, not getting much exercise. An unfortunate state of affairs, indeed.
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