There are different technologies that allow us to see elements generated by computers and AR is one of those. For many years, AR has been present, but nowadays has become more popular by the growth of mobile devices’ capabilities.

IDC forecasts that global spending on virtual and augmented reality technologies will increase 68.8% next year, which will put the turnover at 20,000 million dollars compared to the 12,100 million that were spent for this concept in 2018. Worldwide Spending on Augmented and Virtual Reality Expected to Surpass $20 Billion in 2019, According to IDC (IDC, 2018)

The exponential advancement in the processing power of mobile devices and the increasing use of GPS-based location services have driven augmented reality back into the limelight in recent months. While companies choose to research, or adapt new technologies, they need time for its development. Although today we have more advanced technology to integrate AR with greater effect in the market, in a couple of years we will have a turning point in which AR will become the paradigm that all industries implement as the new technology (Furht 2011 p. 409).

Augmented reality is considered the next major paradigm shift in computing (Keebler et al, 2014; Newman et al. 2011, Jackson et al. 2012), equivalent to the changes that the Internet and smartphones made in this field. Leading technology companies, including Google, Microsoft, Facebook, Snapchat and Apple, are betting to be a part of this change and invest large amounts of money and resources to this technology.

We have entered the information age, and digital technology, which is largely freed from physical constraints, is progressing at an unprecedented pace. Even now, in its early form, Augmented Reality is a powerful tool. The explosively popular Pokémon GO, which Apple says was the most downloaded app in its app store over the course of 2016, is one example of augmented reality taking over the gaming space (Walker et al, 2017). Snapchat’s and Facebook filters, which overlay playful images on video, represent another instance of incredibly popular AR being used daily. While hundreds of millions of people are already using AR, what we’ve seen is only the beginning. AR has already begun to conquer important fields, such as education, entertainment, retail, medicine, among others. The Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg called AR “the next major computing platform” (Anderson 2019), a sentiment that has been echoed by Apple CEO Tim Cook and other tech executives. In 2016, Cook predicted how vital this technology will be to everyday life; “a significant portion of the population of developed countries, and eventually all countries, will have AR experiences every day, almost like eating three meals a day”. (Morse, 2017)

Today, the center of our digital lives has moved from the desktop to little devices we carry around. It didn’t happen abruptly, nor did everyone migrate simultaneously from one device to the next; instead it occurred just a few minutes here and a few minutes there as we started emailing less and texting more. We are now at the dawn of the Fourth Revolution. It will move technology from what we carry to what we wear. The user interface will move from a screen you tap to computer-generated images that you actually touch and feel. Instead of inputting with our fingers, we will type much faster with our eyes on virtual keyboards. In previous transformations, it was all about the interface between technology and people; now it becomes all about the experience— and that changes nearly everything.

Through effective cooperation the use of augmented reality has the potential to address (and possibly resolve) the major challenges facing the world today. If this technology, if used in a receptive and responsible way, could catalyze a new cultural renaissance that will allow us to feel part of something much bigger than ourselves: a true global civilization.

References:

International Data Corporation (IDC). Retrieved from: https://www.idc.com/getdoc.jsp?containerId=prUS44511118

Furht, B. (Ed.). (2011). Handbook of augmented reality. Springer.

Keebler JR, Wiltshire TJ, Smith DC, Fiore SM and Bedwell JS (2014) Shifting the paradigm of music instruction: implications of embodiment stemming from an augmented reality guitar learning system. Front. Psychol. 5:471. doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2014.00471

Newman, G. , Wiggins, A. , Crall, A. , Graham, E. , Newman, S. and Crowston, K. (2012), The future of citizen science: emerging technologies and shifting paradigms. Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment, 10: 298-304. doi:10.1890/110294

Jackson T., Angermann F., Meier P. (2011) Survey of Use Cases for Mobile Augmented Reality Browsers. In: Furht B. (eds) Handbook of Augmented Reality. Springer, New York, NY

Walker, Z., McMahon, D. D., Rosenblatt, K., & Arner, T. (2017). Beyond Pokémon: Augmented Reality Is a Universal Design for Learning Tool. SAGE Open. https://doi.org/10.1177/2158244017737815

Anderson, A., 2019, Virtual Reality, Augmented Reality and Artificial Intelligence in Special Education: A Practical Guide to Supporting Students with Learning Differences. (eds) Taylor & Francis

Morse J. (2017) Get ready for augmented reality *everything*. Retrieved from: http://mashable.com/2017/04/21/augmented-reality-everything-app/#GO_tcp.hlaq8