When it comes to pushing the bounds of UX/ID, Augmented Reality definitely has the bigger challenge. Augmented reality refers to using a graphical computer driven overlay display to enrich your perception of “vanilla” reality. In more present day terms, iPhone apps such as Layar or the Yelp apps Monocle feature some augmented reality functions. Augmented Reality is definitely something to be excited about from an entrepreneurial standpoint. The market is predicted to be huge (on the size of mobile or bigger), there are no market leaders, and it is an extremely difficult problem to solve.
The biggest player at the moment in AR is Magic Leap. AR superimposes a computer-generated image on a user’s view of the real world, thus providing a composite view – it blends digital components into the real world. AR doesn’t isolate you from reality completely, but adds a layer of data. It’s great for unobtrusive use of certain applications such as automatic translations, additional data, tracking biometrics etc. And multiple technology trends will enable augmented reality to become more powerful and intuitive for us to use including wearables, IoT, etc. Five years back, no one (except those directly working in AR / VR) really expected the technology to come this far. Today, we are talking about putting something in the hands of every consumer. That’s a huge step forward.