Augmented Reality, technology that superimposes a layer of data on top of a user’s view of the real world, is one of the hottest things around these days. Is it for real or is it just hype? We took a poll of ReadWriteWeb readers over the last 24 hours. With more than 400 responses, only 11% of you said it is just hype. 61% said you think it is important, including 21% who think Augmented Reality is both important and hype.
Particularly interesting is that more than 50% of the respondents come from North America. Augmented Reality is far more closely watched so far in Europe and Asia. At least among RWW readers, it appears that North Americans are catching on!
We hear you loud and clear. We’re glad you think it’s important, because we do too and we intend to write a whole lot more about it. The ability to browse data about the world through an interface that clearly connects the information to a physical place could be a key turning point in the history of the web. And that’s just location-based Augmented Reality — there’s a whole other world of marker-based AR as well.
These are early days for the field, but check out some of our key posts from past coverage of this topic so far:
Augmented Reality: A Human Interface for Ambient Intelligence (A good introduction)
Augmented Reality: Five Barriers to a Web That’s Everywhere
Prepare Yourself: Augmented Reality Hype is on the Rise
First iPhone Augmented Reality App Appears Live in App Store
Hyperlinking the Real World
Watch this space for more in-depth coverage and breaking news about Augmented Reality. Thank you also for the thoughtful comments you’ve been leaving on our AR posts. We’re just starting to learn about this, together.
