Wednesday, March 7, 2012

Inspiration via augmented reality


A story about augmented reality at Microsoft came to my attention on GeekWire.

At a tech forum, Microsoft showed off a prototype augmented reality screen called the Holoflector.  The item is a large, translucent mirror with an LCD panel behind it and a Kinect camera on the top.  This allows for real-time computer graphics to be placed on or about objects reflected in the mirror.  If you check out the link, you'll see that there is also a nifty feature called a "skeletal tracking system."

This made me think of the much ballyhooed arrival of augmented reality glasses.  Having those sitting over your peepers will allow you to look at say, a building and gain information available on it, directions from it to your next desired location, tenants at the building if it is an apartment complex, etc.  It's even been postulated that either through willingness or ignorance, someone might give out semi-private or fully private information to augmented reality devices.  You might be able to look at someone and see what digital fingerprints they have on the 'Net, all overlayed across them in rutilant cloud of computer graphics.

This in turn filtered its way into a short science fiction story that I am currently thinking of writing.  It's about cults but that is really incidental.  What sort of augmented reality possibilities could there be when teamed with nanotechnology?  For instance, could nanobots in the eyes and brain allow for someone to see almost permanently in augmented reality?  Could someone with "augmented reality vision"...for serious lack of a better phrase a the moment...be able to glean more about you than you might realize just by looking at you?  I understand that I'm just speculating here, hence the "fiction" half of "science fiction." 

Thoughts on this before I start writing?


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1 comment:

  1. I think Augmented Reality can make for very interesting Sci-Fi literature, I am reading one at the moment on the Authonomy website. Take a look:
    http://www.authonomy.com/books/41601/beyond-the-gorge-lies-eshneb/

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