The term “augmented reality” meant something completely different in my college days than it does today (I will spare you the details).
Augmented reality is the term used to describe combining or superimposing computer generated information on top of a real world view. The name certainly doesn’t sound as cool and as promising as it just might turn out to be in the next few years. Apps are now available that allow you to point your Smartphone at a landscape which automatically superimposes information about what you are looking at on your phones screen. The Apps use a combination of your phone’s camera, GPS, and internal compass.
Watch this video for a better visual explanation:
Augmented Reality Overview
Augmented Reality Apps for Destination Marketing
Augmented reality is still a new and emerging technology and it is still early yet to see how well developed apps will get. There are some apps you can download and try yourself now however to give you an idea of what the future holds.
Wikitude
The developer calls Wikitude a “World Browser,” an app that helps you explore your surroundings and view information about landmarks near you.
To use the app, you point your Smartphone at your surroundings and small icons will appear that represent things like Wikipedia articles, geo-tagged twitter posts, ATM machines, and more depending on how you customize it. Currently Wikitude works better in large cities with many points of interest, and not as well in smaller cities and towns.
The app is free and is available for the iPhone, Android phones, Blackberry’s, and some Symbian phones.
More info: http://www.wikitude.com/en/
Yelp
Yelp is an app that makes it easy to find restaurants with good reviews near your current location.
Using your Smartphone you can press a button to find restaurants (and other businesses) in your location along with pricing information, reviews, maps, directions, and the business’ website if available.
In addition to being able to display the information on a map or in a list view, you can enable a feature called “monocle” which superimposes the restaurant names and review ratings on your cameras view screen. Simply point your phone at your surroundings and Yelp will display the closest restaurants on your screen with links to more information.
It’s a great way to select a good restaurant fast in a new city or while on vacation.
The app is free and is available on all major Smartphone platforms.
Golfscape GPS Rangefinder
Golfscape GPS Rangefinder is everything augmented reality is supposed to be.
When you point your Smartphone down the fairway the app displays the locations and distances to bunkers, dog legs in the course, and the pin location. The app also even remembers which clubs you like to use for certain distances.
The app currently is configured for 37,000+ golf courses worldwide.
More Info: http://golfscapeapp.com/
ZipReality Real Estate
ZipReality Real Estate lets you check out prices on homes around you.
In 25 major markets around the United States, ZipReality has over one million MLS-listed homes you can browse through augmented reality using its HomeScan feature.
When you point your phone at a house in their database you are presented with additional details about the home superimposed on your cameras screen. The app displays the asking price, previous selling prices, additional interior photos, and more.
The app is free and available for the iPhone.
Conclusion
As you can see augmented reality has many useful applications. Even though the technology has not fully matured it won’t take long and there are some apps that work reasonably well in large cities. It will take a little time before this becomes a mainstream technology. It is coming, however, and I would expect to hear a lot more about augmented reality in the news in 2012.
How do you see augmented reality being used in your destination?
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