augmented reality

Augmented Reality technology is really fun to watch - it's the ability to overlay physical space with digital information. It's not just virtual reality, but something where the world of information merges with physical objects to create a larger whole. Keiichi Matsuda has this video showing what a typical morning may look like in the augmented world.

The augmented reality trend in iOS apps often teeters between an awkward gimmick and an awesome way to fight the Empire. But what if you could turn that trend towards helping people? What if, for example, you could use the iPhone to help people with color blindness?

Google Goggles (free) is an ambitious Augmented Reality (AR) app that uses your Android smartphone camera as input, then tries to match the captured image with relevant search results. When you see something interesting, such as a restaurant or a landmark, and decide you want to know more about it, you can whip out your Android phone and snap a picture. Google Googles then goes to work to serve up information about the restaurant or landmark--often, however, with very mixed results. But when it is used properly, Goggles can be quite useful.

Augmented reality could produce the killer apps of tomorrow, but for now the concept is more talk than walk.

Competition between Apple, Google, and third-party vendors will push augmented reality programs onto smartphones at faster clip than anyone has predicted.