the phone adds another dimension to reality

August 13, 2009 at 12:49 pm Leave a comment

What you get is more than what you see – welcome to the world of augmented reality (AR), coming soon to your mobile. The BBC reports that augmented reality based services are in the offing for mobile phones.

Using a heady combination of GPS, Internet and the mobile camera, these services will display vital information on your surroundings, enhancing your perception of the real world.

Well, one thing’s for sure, the new reality will definitely augment the dumbness quotient of our race.

Call it Terminator Vision – a view of the world tagged with rich, location-relevant information whilst your gaze flickers here and there.

Using the phone’s built-in GPS, Sekai calculates your position. The viewfinder for the camera then displays location-specific information graphically on top of your real-world view.

Perhaps the most advanced service is SPRXmobile’s Layar service. Launched this June in Amsterdam, residents and visitors can now see houses for sale, popular bars and shops, jobs on offer in the area, and a list of local doctors and ATMs by scanning the landscape with the software.