Augmented Reality: The Future. Now.

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Technology: No Longer Just Your Computer

 
Technology is no longer simply on your computer. Augmented Reality is the combination of concrete reality with the virtual world. With the advances in augmented reality you can now take pictures wit just your fingers! This augmented reality camera is a convergence of many technologies illustrated in the above video. AR is so advanced that, in the near future, cameras will be a thing of the past because, all a you will need is your hands to take stunning pictures and upload them to your favorite social sites, or even upload home videos to youtube.com. AR is truly the future of technology, but is already happening as well!




AR: Impacting Our Culture
 
AR Technology will change the future of our world. The ability to use technology to do anything, anywhere is what AR is all about. AR prevents people from becoming “a machine in front of a machine” and allows them to  combine their life on the Internet with reality.

 
Augmented Reality will forever impact the culture of the entire world. It will connect people like never before and allow them to access the internet anywhere, anytime. Augmented Reality is the future of our culture, because it enables our generation's obsession with sharing our lives through social sites and media.


The Future of Media 
 
Through a AR camera a person could take a picture any moment in their lives. Imagine being stopped at a red light and, all of sudden, you see your dream car pull up beside you. What was the make and model?! Well, through AR, all you have to do is frame the car with your fingers, taking a picture, which is sent through a wireless router to your home computer. When you get home, you can easily click on the picture and be directed to the company's web site. After you have looked up that Ferrari you can post on your facebook that you are considering buying it... If the price is right. Think this kind of technology is impossible? You would be surprised! MIT graduates have already created a gesture based camera and we already have wireless routers! Seems the future isn't as far off as some would think!

 
You might remember, a couple of years ago, hearing about "pen cameras" in the Middle East. These were not merely stories. Many people were using these tiny cameras to document police brutality then posting the videos and photos on twitter.com. Because of this, many people found with cameras were persecuted whether they possessed these "pen cameras" or simply needed something to write with. Imagine how easy it would be to make a simple, discreet gesture and capture breaking news anywhere. 
 
Perhaps this would change the way politicians behave in public, knowing their every moved could be being filmed, without their knowledge. This, however, presents another problem. The current law allows someone to take your photo if you do not ask them to stop, If you didn't know you were being filmed, how could you know to ask the person to stop? AR would definitely have an effect on copyright laws as well as maybe even the creation of new laws as well.

Gesture Based AR Is the Future  


This past week, each person in our class found a piece of new or emerging technology that realizes the convergence of several other kinds of technology. They described what technologies all combined to create their gadget. The most common theme of all in these presentations was gesture based computing. I believe this is a huge step in the technological age. 
 
First it was screens and keyboards, then touch screens, and now with AR neither is needed! To be able to combine our natural life with our social sights and media is amazing. Through the presentations I have learned that not only is gesture based AR an incredible possibility it is occurring right now! AR is no longer a "hopefully", it is a "definitely." 
 
Our country needs to foresee future problems that gesture based AR could bring up and create laws accordingly, before it becomes a problem. Some gesture based technology is already in motion like mgestyk. Eventually most of the things we own will be somehow related to gesture based computing. Think about touch screens. Just a few years ago you could hardly find them. Now touch screens are on ipod touches, cell phones, cameras and computers! In just a few years touch screen technology took the world by storm. Now it is gesture based computed and AR's turn. It is time for us to stop seeing the present and look into the future: Augmented Reality.