Mobiles offer new view of reality
Augmented reality (AR) has had a quiet launch on mobile handsets but it set to explode next year, experts say. AR is a technology that allows data from the web to be overlaid on a view of the physical world. Although a relatively small sector at the moment, analyst firm Juniper Research predicts that AR will generate incomes of $732m (£653m) by 2014.
AR allows mobile operators to combine the increasing functionality of smartphones, such as GPS, video and accelerometers, with the increasingly available number of location-based apps. Already mobile phones use location technology to help people find their way around, such as an iPhone app developed by UK firm Acrossair to help people find their nearest tube station.
New look
US location-based social network Brightkite allows users to find friends in their vicinity simply by turning on the camera on their mobile phone and pointing it around them. If any of their friends are in the same location, they can see their posts and photos.
Futurologist Ian Pearson predicts an explosion of such services next year. "I'm surprised we haven't got there yet. But it makes a lot of sense if a friend is a street away then you can meet up for coffee," he said. "Instead of seeing people as they are you might well be able to see their Facebook profiles appearing as bubbles above them," said Mr Pearson.
Full story @ BBC Technology