Blog

For a few years now we’ve seen some cool augmented reality demonstrations.  One of my favorites that I saw last year is by Matt Dickman.  Although I’ve never met the guy, he walks everyone through a very cool dog-and-pony show of how augmented reality has been applied through the use of webcams.  But take it a step further and it will soon be more common and accessible.

Many of us have seen apps on our phone that overlay augmented reality features on top of a live image through the eye of our camera.  Or perhaps you’ve read this project in the past from the MARS program at Columbia University (1996).  But I will tell everyone today, we’re all going to see this image in real-life (or “augmented life”)very soon.

The foundational points I make in my writings and all theoretical presentations is that technology coupled with the speed of information, cross-referenced with Moore’s Law, will essentially push this technology into hyperdrive – gaining ground on us faster than we realize.  We witness augmented reality today as a novelty.  Something that is cool, but with no real utility for marketers or consumers.  Yet we often times fail to consider that ‘advancement’ and ‘adaptation’ are moving at an alarming rate.

By now, perhaps you’ve clicked on the image to get the full-scale version to really see what I’m talking about.  Too much info?  A social media dream-come-true?  A digtital marketer’s fantasy?  Privacy advocates worst nightmare?  A Blue-Hair’s “poppycock”?  Call it what you want, but it’s going to happen.  GPS tracking and location-based info combined with our willingness to build our social networks will undoubtedly lead to this.  But we’re not talking just through the camera eye of a cell phone, this same technology is easily formatted into the lenses of our glasses or better yet, the very windshields of our cars.  You think ”LCDs” and “plasmas” only refer to monitors and TVs?  Think again.

This brings up all sorts of topics but I’m guessing that the first thing that comes to mind is “privacy”.  I can hear people now saying, “oh, but our culture, our society would never allow that to happen”.  The problem with that position is that it is already happening to an extent on cell-phone cameras today.  Does everyone really think that the next generation of consumers, our children,  are going to have the same definition of “privacy” that you and I do?  … but perhaps that discussion is better left for another posting some other time.

In the meantime, enjoy the pic.  Stay tuned for the video.  The next 10 years are going to be fascinating, indeed.