Introduction to Augmented Reality
Mainstream "augmented reality" is one in all those technologies that all the time appears to be on the horizon, up there with jetpacks, flying cars, and robotic housekeepers. But in actual fact, there are already a variety of functional and fun AR smartphone apps which are road-ready. The most typical idea with these, for the uninitiated, is that you simply point your smartphone camera at something (an object, a street, an attraction) and immediately, pop-up cards of knowledge about that thing will appear onscreen—particularly useful for travelers.
Available AR Apps
We’ve put together an inventory of essentially the most polished and useful AR apps available for download in your smartphone today. And watch this space: With wearable technology like Google Glass on the way in which, AR should only get more sophisticated and amazing.
WikiTude
What you may call an AR aggregator, WikiTude relies on tons of other content sources (like Citysearch and Wikipedia, in addition to input from other users) to serve up info on absolutely anything you want. From the launch page, you choose specific categories (restaurants, accommodations, games, sights and so-on) to explore. In terms of sheer breadth of options no other app comes close—you may even see other people’s personal Flickr photos and comments on any given place or attraction.
Yelp Monocle
Turns out the regular app for getting the thin on nearby businesses has a clever Easter Egg in-built: Click on the "More" tab at the underside of the screen, select Monocle and presto, you’ve got got a handy AR viewer. Point your smartphone where you are heading and you will see tabs pop up showing you business names and reviews (click tabs at the underside of the screen to see restaurants, bars, friends or the whole lot). Hold your phone flat and it switches to map view so you may make a beeline to essentially the most enticing option.
Conclusion
With these AR apps, you may experience the longer term of technology today. Whether you are a traveler in search of recent places to explore or simply someone who desires to learn more about your surroundings, there’s an AR app on the market for you. As technology continues to advance, we are able to expect to see much more modern and useful AR apps in the longer term. So why not give them a try to see what the world of augmented reality has to supply? With the rise of wearable technology, the chances for AR are countless, and it would be exciting to see how this technology develops within the years to come back.
