Augmented Reality (Was RE: Do people want a hard copy of the owners' manual for their car?)

["Boudreaux, Madelyn (GE Healthcare, consultant)" <MadelynBoudreaux -at- ge -dot- com>]

From: ERIKA_y -at- rad -dot- com
> Next generation cars will open the manual for you on the on-board
computer.

Nonsense. Next generation PEOPLE will install the manual on their
wetware chip, accessible at the mere thought, "Open car manual," with
augmented reality (henceforth referred to as AR): look at the icon on
the dash and see a small icon pop up in an unobtrusive place in your
field of vision. (Need to not be distracted? Set your preferences to
override AR during high brain functions with a thought, and modify based
on your own level of distractibility. This is roughly equivalent to
saying, "Shhh!" to the people in your car during high-traffic moments.) 

(Don't want a chip? Let me tell you about life without a TV since I was
16... You miss some stuff, but you make the choice to do without, and
when you REALLY want to see something, you make arrangements. In the
case of your car breaking down, I guess you would go find a computer, or
just call a mechanic. Enough frustration, and you'd probably end up
getting your chip.)

I've played with the AR apps on my BF's iPhone (they don't work on my
3G), and wow. Embed an AR dot into any product and point your phone at
it and voila, instant info -- info that can be added to, updated on the
fly or as a firmware update, etc. The dot itself doesn't even have to
include any info -- it's just a hook for the software. Eventually, the
software won't even need the hook, I guess. I can't wait to see what the
next 5 years brings. AR contact lenses are already in testing. I'd
already be in line, if there was a line. 

I think AR is a field for tech writers in a big way; no matter how
advanced it gets, writing text that gives the info needed in the fewest
words possible is going to be necessary. 

- Madelyn, wishing the singularity would get here sooner
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

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