Augmented+Reality

You know those yellow lines that appear on your TV screen as you watch a football game? They are an example of augmented reality.

Augmented what? **Augmented reality? ** How can you augment reality, really? Well, this is the next wave of the future already baptizing the shores of our current reality. Augmented reality isn't a thing. I don't know how else to describe it other than //the outcome of a marriage between the physical world and the informational world of the Web.// Here's how it goes:

Imagine you're meandering through the aisles of your local big box store when suddenly you come across yet another gadget you absolutely positively cannot live without. You want more information on the product but, as luck would have it (or as current reality in many big box stores nowadays) there's no one around to answer your questions. Fortunately, you never leave home without your handy-dandy smartphone. You whip out the phone, carefully aim the camera lens at the new product, deftly slide your thumb from one app to another and PRESTO! You've got the information you desired. How? Your smartphone has captured an image of the new product and matched it to an image on the Web. Information about that image is matched up and the rest is history.

Augmented reality makes your world clickable.

Extend your imagination a bit more and see how you might use it on the street when looking for a restaurant. Smartphone-->aim-->thumb wizardry-->VOILA! Everything you needed to know about the restaurants on Cholesterol Corner to help you make an informed decision about where you will dine this p.m. Mickey D's is working on getting augmented reality going so your smartphone can lead you to the nearest Big Mac. Lego and Hasbro has some AR gizmos in the works as well.

I've heard about a $300 AR drone radio controlled quadricopter (I guess that's a helicopter with 4 blades) toy which can be controlled by a smartphone. Two cameras are mounted on the drone and the whole kit works like a video game. The cameras capture the real stuff in your area and transmit that information to your smartphone screen. Meanwhile, some nifty software somewhere in the system imposes a video game aspect to your play with the drone. You might use the drone to attack digital goblins behind your sofa or under your bed. (See, Mom, there ARE monsters under my bed!)

How about in a classroom setting...vocabulary...what do you call that thinga-ma-jiggy attached to the top of the door that holds the door open? Do you see how it might work?

I'm still researching augmented reality. In the meantime, have a look at Common Craft's "In Plain English" video about augmented reality.

media type="youtube" key="D-A1l4Jn6EY?fs=1" height="385" width="640"