Recently, there has been some major buzz about a trend known as augmented reality (AR). While this trend is more well known in the academic and marketing worlds, I think it is about to hit mainstream, especially from a consumer basis.
Augmented reality is explained as “add[ing] information and meaning to a real object or place. Unlike virtual reality, augmented reality does not create a simulated reality. Instead, it takes a real object or space and uses technologies to add contextual data to deepen students’ (or in our case consumers’) understanding of it.” In the past, the primary uses of augmented reality devices were academic, research, military, architecture and science based.