A while back I came across an iPhone application called Sun Seeker which uses your GPS location, the accelerometer, the compass and the camera to show you the trajectory of the sun. This can be useful if you are checking out a new house and want to know where the sun will be at certain times of the day or even dates in the future or maybe something more simple as finding the best place to have a picnic in a park.
Sun Seeker on iPhone 3GS
This sort of augmented reality got me thinking about what other sort of applications this sort of technology could have in our lives. Certainly, when I am driving I notice the sheer amount of “sign pollution” that adorns the roads as well as traffic lights and even things light lines on the road.
What if we could see all of this from within the cabin of our cars with the assistance of augmented reality? Putting aside certain things that require pedestrian interaction (and subsequent physical infrastructure) this could be quite a money saver when it comes to the deployment of informative infrastructure.
It could also be handy for the dynamic deployment of traffic management. I bet there are heaps of intersections or stretches of road that could be more effectively used if only the appropriate traffic management especially in areas where there are infrequent major events that take place.
Of course, this would rely upon all vehicles having GPS, compasses, data connections as well as augmented reality windows and mirrors. Then you have the issue of bicycles and motorbikes whose drivers would need some sort of portable solution with a pair of glasses to get them on the same page.
Again, this is just a figment of my imagination and, if it were to come true, I’m sure it would be decades away from mainstream implementation. Augmented reality might go some way to supporting autonomous vehicular transport but I’m torn as to whether or not it could actually get off the ground.
What are your thoughts? What other sorts of augmented reality have you come across?
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