A boomer guide to understanding augmented reality

PRIME August 2014 By Gary M. Kaye Editor, In the Boombox (www.intheboombox.tv) Augmented Reality (AR) is not the feeling you get after a couple of drinks or smoking a joint. That's altered reality. And it's not what happens when you put on one of those amazing headsets that allow you to move around inside a gaming environment. That's Virtual Reality. According to Ori Inbar, the chief executive officer of Augmented Reality.org, "AR is the overlaying of computer graphics on the real world, making the world more interactive by making it clickable." Qualcomm Vice President Jay Wright, who heads Vuforia, Qualcomm's AR technology business said, "(AR) is a technique for visualizing information. AR is achieved by overlaying digital information over a real time view of the world." Wright pointed out that one of the first AR applications that many of us are familiar with is the yellow line of scrimmage that we see during broadcasts of football games. We know there's really no yellow line on the field, yet we see it on our screens as a visual aid. Wright said in essence that same AR technique can now be used on smartphones and other mobile devices because of the cameras in smartphones and the gigahertz speed processors. As an industry, Augmented Reality is very much in its infancy, but growing almost exponentially. Wright said that more than 95,000 registered developers are working with Qualcomm's Vuforia technology, and they've already launched more than 9,000 commercial applications. The number of total AR applications is already in the tens of thousands, and growing so fast it's almost impossible to keep track. Among the myriad applications for AR are gaming, travel, and shopping. The very first AR application I used is called Car Finder AR. Like other car finder apps, it guides you back to your car or other fixed object. But unlike other programs that simply use a global positioning system (GPS) enabled arrow, Car Finder AR overlays that arrow on an image of your surroundings created by your smartphone's camera. The killer AR app Wright believes that when it comes to baby boomers and AR, shopping may well be the "killer app." Wondering what a particular vanity might look like in your bathroom? There's an app for that from Bathrooms.com, which will let you take an image of the vanity and overlay it on your smartphone's view of your bathroom. Wondering about how that sofa will look in your living room? Yes, there are several apps for that. How about whether that huge big screen TV will fit in the family room? Sony has an app for that. And what about cars? Audi, Mercedes, Jaguar and others have AR apps to let you visualize what they hope will be your next car. Shopping is big because there's lots of money going into development from retailers and e-tailers everyone from Lowe's to Sayduck and hundreds of others. But travel is another huge arena for AR. Field Trip from Google will alert you to points nearby that are worth looking at. History Here from the History Channel will do the same thing for historic places. I discovered a Revolutionary War cemetery a few blocks from my house. Another app that I find particularly useful is WordLens. It will let you take a picture of a street sign or menu in a foreign language then translate it. Other applications will let you point your smartphone at an intersection and see what's around you, from restaurants to subway stations. AR browsers are more accurate than using GPS because they match images to locations stored in a database. Have you ever been to a scenic location and popped a coin into a mounted telescope to get a great view? In China, you can visit ruins, and use a similar device to visualize what the castle that stood on the spot really looked like. With a concept app called "Augmented Reality Cinema" you can take your smartphone for a stroll through London, point it at a location and watch movie clips that were shot where you're standing. The list of potential applications for Augmented Reality is endless. Have a leaky faucet? One day you'll be able to point your smartphone at the problem and get instructions from a plumber who'll be able to look at the problem and provide you with on screen instructions, a sort of do-it-yourself nirvana. Car repairs? Same thing. And some doctors are already using AR in the operating room through Google Glass to conference in other doctors with real time images of surgery. Augmented Reality.org's Co-Founder and CEO Ori Inbar said we're only now starting to imagine what we'll be able to do with AR: helping caretakers by letting them see what a patient sees, or is trying to accomplish; home automation; and views of surroundings through wearable devices. Glass and AR While Google Glass really wasn't developed primarily as an AR-enabling device, that may well become one of its primary uses, along with a slew of other wearable devices that will mean you'll be able to get your AR information without needing a tablet or smartphone. Unfortunately Glass has already developed some negative connotations because of its constant recording capabilities. But it may be far more warmly received as a device to provide information instead of gather it. Inbar predicted that in two decades, many of us would be wearing AR equipped contact lenses that will provide us with a real world overview. He said the bottom line is that augmented reality will become THE technology that helps us deal with technology. We'll be able to use our devices to interact with the real world around us for almost whatever we want, wherever we are. Gary Kaye is the creator of In The Boombox (www.intheboombox.tv), the first website to cover technology from the Baby Boomer perspective. Kaye has been covering high tech for more than 30 years with outlets including NBC, ABC, CNN and Fox Business. He is a regular contributor to AARP and other websites on issues regarding the nexus of technology, seniors and baby boomers.