A Nostradamus Moment

A few months back I had a premise for a book. I want to memorialize it because I think it is a good prediction of the not too distant future. Holocognics is really about a logical process: breaking things down to their basics. You can then follow the trends to see what the future holds.

There is a technology called "Augmented Reality." It's simple to understand. It requires 3 items:

1) a camera. Video is preferred.
2) A computer. the computer needs to run what we'll call "translating software."
3) A "marker." The marker is a visual cue that tells the computer what to translate.

A simple demonstration of AR technology involves a paper marker and a live feed. If you have a webcam, there are plenty of websites that have demonstrations that allow you to print out a marker on your printer.

The marker tells the computer what image should be displayed and where. So, while running the translating software and looking at a monitor, you get a glimpse into a different world. The marker appears to be something else. It even interacts with real life. Pretty cool huh? Look at this video for an example:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZKw_Mp5YkaE

Where can this technology lead?

I imagine people wearing special goggles, I call them "auggles," which allow you to see the augmented world.

Instead of billboards, all you would need is a marker. The marker can even be set by GPS location, so no physical billboard needs to be there, as long as you are wearing your auggles, you will see the advertisement. Shops can change their color or display at a whim. You can even customize your own world, as long as you're wearing your auggles.

The technology exists today to create goggles which, when linked to a computer, will display to its user ANY image at ANY location. A few years from now, it is likely that the technology will exists that will allow you to wear auggles, perhaps as light as sunglasses, and allow you to choose the color of the sky. Or allow Pepsi to have cans which appear to be animated (while wearing your auggles).

I have no doubt that millions of dollars are currently being invested to monetize this technology.

Reading the chicken bones,
Aaron