Augmented Reality

On Monday evening, I attended a speech by Tom Purves about Augmented Reality.  It was quite a thought-provoking talk.  Click above the video to view a demonstration of Augmented Reality.  I have written about mobile technology and how it will displace internet as a popular media.

What was interesting about Mr. Purves talk was that Augmented Reality would enhance awareness, tacit knowledge, wisdom and discovery through serendipity.  However, it would obsolesce the desktop web, newspapers, iPods, guidebooks, paper maps, introductions to people and privacy.   As shown clearly in the video, Augmented Reality flips into “Batman” vision when pushed to extreme.  While at the same time it returns the written word, gestures, lore and gossip to the forefront.

Augmented Reality on one hand can potentially enhance relationships as well as facilitate information flows, but on the other hand, are there certain groups it marginalizes or perhaps it empowers?  Mr. Purves had  posed at interesting thought, who benefits from augmented reality?

Brands vs Consumers, State Control vs Opposition, Police vs Criminals, Developed Countries vs Developing Countries, The Center vs The edge elements of society, Extroverts vs Introverts, Old vs Young and e-government vs e-Anarchy.

This new technology could be the evolution of web 2.0.  With augmented reality, it changes the advertising model completely.  Advertising will be used to enhance the user’s experience and to help the consumer with what they want.  Leland Maschmeyer, a prominent Account Planner, brilliantly used a metaphor that described the old versus the new advertising approach.

As the advertising model is flipped, there is much opportunity that can be done to better engage with consumers in this Augmented Reality.  I believe consumers will only increase their power versus the marketers because commercial content will have a more fierce competitor which will be user-generated content. This Augmented Reality will become a stronger filter than a TiVo or Ad Block Plus.  This filter not only applies to TV or Computers, but anywhere especially in the offline world.