The Rise of Augmented Reality and Wearable Technology

Augmented reality. What is it you ask? Augmented reality is a view of reality that’s modified or enhanced by a computer.  Augmented reality can be anything from an app to help rearrange furniture in a room to a device that helps you aim when playing pool. The most popular form of augmented reality these days is wearable technology.

Google Glass has brought this idea of wearable technology to the forefront. The augmented reality community has been producing similar technology as Google for a few years now yet sometimes it takes a tech giant to help bring attention to a new concept.

Wearable technology can deliver many benefits like providing users with the ability to take a picture of what they see with a simple voice command; see a map of directions without taking their eyes off the road or retrieve information about an art exhibit that they are looking at. These are just a few examples of hands-free capabilities that are coming and soon will be integrated in our everyday lives.

The Zeno team took some time to learn more about this new technology sector while helping with public relations efforts at the Augmented World Expo. There, the team was able meet Steve Mann, Chief Scientist at Meta and an innovator considered the "Father of Wearable Technology." Steve has embraced the idea of augmented reality and wears his customized augmented reality glasses wherever he goes.

Is wearable technology destined to become the next big thing? A recent telephone poll found that, for all ages, incomes and education levels, 42 percent of Americans said they would buy or wear a smart watch like Apple’s iWatch, while the number dropped to 39 percent for smart glasses like Google Glass.

I, for one, can’t wait to get my own pair of smart glasses. Let the Augmented Reality future begin.