Augmented reality

In today's New York Times (registration required), I read an interesting article on how information technology devices can seamlessly add to our ordinary experience. Think of the first down lines that are magically added to televised football games, or an app that shows locations of restaurants on your car.

But augmented reality can be more than an information source. It could create worlds of magical creatures or transform any environment into a virtual video game. I just thought of one: You know how people create avatars for discussion boards and environments like Second Life? What if you could create a pair of glasses that allowed you to see people as their avatars? The world would be populate by all kinds of magical creatures.


The money quote:

“The real world is way too boring for many people,” Mr. Sánchez-Crespo said with a laugh. “By making the real world a playground for the virtual world, we can make the real world much more interesting.”

A few disconnected thoughts:

-The real world as we experience it is always augmented by our brains.
-Quiet solitude in the natural world is boring at first, and our impulse is to augment it with trappings like fireworks, competition, internet access, and thoughts and plans.
-Many people will want the experience of disconnecting from augmentation. That is the function of natural places.