With technology improving daily, mobile phones and netbooks are quickly evolving into more than just a “personal assistant” type of apparatus. The applications have become far more personalized for individual needs and now there is something new to add into the mix. Augmented Reality applications may just push us into the next phase of becoming ‘one’ with our mobile devices.
The new generation devices of iPhone/iPad, and Android, have been able to integrate a few augmented applications that react and respond in a believable manner. Augmented Reality joins the digital world with the physical world by overlaying computerized imagery onto real-world images.
These features help to enhance the experience because the user can interact with the program, which is actually showing real geographical surroundings. A blend of GPS data and a gyroscope for navigation helps to keep you oriented no matter what angle you look at the area from.
It would be like standing in a downtown area and trying to find a restaurant. The Augmented Reality application would bring up a visual map of where you actually are, but it could also show identification markers of buildings and walk you through the best route to take.
There are applications for finding your car (yes, some of us have trouble with that), a rangefinder for golf, real estate applications, interactive astronomy guides and games, just to name a few that are available. These interactive tools are carrying big hopes; hopes that they will be used in schools to help kids learn, and be used by business professionals as well.
As the technology progresses, the delivery methods will improve also. In the future we could see small, stylish headsets, or eyewear being all that is needed to view and interact; all the way to the device having biometric identification chips, so you won’t need to show your ID at certain places.
