What life in augmented reality could look like

Catherine de Lange, contributor

What would the world look like if we could seamlessly blend our physical and digital environments? In this video, designer Keiichi Matsuda overlays information over physical space in real time to show what augmented reality might be like in the future. His visualisation depicts how the technology would make it easier to connect with others but could also expose us to more advertising.

Matsuda's vision is an extension of what's possible with augmented reality today. Over the past few years, geolocation apps have made it possible to pin digital information to real places. Although smartphone apps are currently needed to make these displays visible, new devices could improve our experience of merged worlds. Google recently revealed plans to develop augmented-reality glasses and Apple has also hinted at investments in similar technology.

For a trip around the centre of London that reveals different types of digital graffiti, from declarations of love to bizarre images, to rude restaurant reviews and whimsical recollections of times gone by, check out our feature article, "Reality respray: The hidden digital world uncloaked". Or find out more about how augmented reality could change the way we interact with the world in our editorial.

If you enjoyed this post, you may also like to see an augmented-reality system that teaches you chess or check out a smart rope that lets you team up to fly a kite.

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