Augmented reality and your tax dollars...

If it works well, it would be far easier to grasp how much is being spent on individual entities, vs. accumulated dollars for a corporation that doesn't really tell one much. But if it saves us from repeatedly spending the famous $600 per toilet seat, I'm all for it.

On the spectrum between virtual reality, which creates immersive, computer-generated environments, and the real world, augmented reality is closer to the real world.

Everyone from tourists, to soldiers, to someone looking for the closest tube stop can now benefit from the ability to place computer-generated graphics in their field of vision.

Augmented reality is changing the way we view the world; Stella Artois is the first major global drinks brand to launch an augmented reality Christmas e-card http://tiny.cc/StellaArtois3. Send it on to your friends and family for free.

View the e-card in action on YouTube http://tiny.cc/StellaArtois70

All the augmented reality apps I have downloaded thusfar for my phone have been interesting for about 5 minutes, then I put them away and never use them again.

Its a problem of the reality not living up to the hype. Augmented reality built up the hype for a year and when the apps finally hit they were... well underwhelming to say the least. For finding subway stops, a 2-d map is still more useful (especially if the augmented reality app is just going to show me stops several blocks away beyond buildings and obstacles). And if its within my field of vision then I can probably already see the stop.

I guess if you are bored and you pull it out to see what's around you that is receiving a lot of public funding it could be useful. But the chances of you just stumbling across that information in casual use is kind of slim.