Augmented Reality: Futuristic Name with Real World Applications.

The 2008 Presidential election was historic, to say the least. But there was even more to it than the election itself.

During coverage of the primaries, CNN demonstrated some powerful new technology that flew under the radar. On-air correspondents demonstrated possible elections live and on the fly. The reporter wasn’t just standing there like a confused weatherman; he was interacting with a map like a touch screen. But it wasn’t a touch screen – it was augmented reality.

Augmented reality merges computer graphics with live video. The concept isn’t entirely new; if you’ve seen a football game on TV where a yellow stripe marks the first down line, you’ve seen AR in its infancy. However, looking at a stripe and interacting with potential election results are very different experiences. While developers are still figuring out uses for the technology, AR has the potential for creating immersive interactive experiences.

All AR requires is some sort of camera or video recorder. Enter the smart phone and web cams. Between smart phones and web cams, objects take on new roles in reality. A few weeks ago the USPS unveiled its virtual box simulator: print out a special icon, scan it with your web cam, and your sheet of paper becomes a 3D box on screen. Beats running to the office store to see if the contents will fit. It’s hard to visualize until you see it; try watching this demo.

Not all applications promise to be so single use. A Dutch company just released an application called Layarz for smart phones a few weeks ago. This software adds a variety of data on the screen when looking through the camera. Say you pass a house for sale; a tag could pop up showing how much it costs. Lost? A simple iPhone app using augmented reality can get you back on track.

As of now, no one has devised an advertising model for augmented reality. Once someone does figure it out, you can guarantee branded content will have a place on a virtual shelf in the real world.