Augmented Reality: Not That Real Yet

While standing on the sidewalk in downtown Washington, I hold up my iPhone and slowly turn around, watching the camera image on the screen. As I rotate, a Washington Metro icon appears superimposed on the picture. Avoiding some curious stares, I follow the direction indicated by the icon until I reach a subway entrance.

The application I have just described is an example of augmented reality. This long-awaited technology combines a smartphone's ability to take pictures, pinpoint your location, and search online to put information about what the camera sees right on the screen. There are just two problems: As it exists today—mainly in the form of iPhone apps—the technology doesn't work all that well. And the cool stuff it can do today is often a step down from just using conventional mapping and search applications. Someday I may be able to walk down a street, point my phone at a building, and get guidebook information on what I am seeing, but that day seems to be a ways off.