Why augmented reality will be on Event Planners' lips in 2011

For the past few years, Augmented Reality has been gaining a lot of buzz…and for good reason. According to Wikipedia:

Augmented reality (also referred to as AR) is a term for a live direct or indirect view of a physical, real-world environment whose elements are augmented by computer-generated sensory input, such as sound or graphics.

The idea of holding up your smart phone to something you see and your phone providing a rich source of information about the subject seems like something worthy of a sci-fi plot. But we’re seeing great apps doing this right now…and if you use your imagination, the possibilities for Event Planners are seemingly endless.

Take TAT for example. Simply hold up your smart phone to someone and the face-recognition software will provide you with icons linking you to the individual’s social profiles.

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tb0pMeg1UN0

Or, there’s Word Lens, an app that will let you hold up your phone to a sign and translate the sign from English to Spanish or vice versa.

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h2OfQdYrHRs&feature=player_embedded

Check out Yelp’s lesser known augmented reality function:

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cuqzBVBw5tA

We are in the very early days of Augmented Reality. In fact, most apps have yet to work out all of the kinks. But it’s not hard to imagine a day very soon when you can hold up your phone in front of a city street and be told about events and friends nearby. Or use your phone at a conference to scan other attendees, share notes, send information or access contact information. Or attend a trade show and hold up your phone to find the booths you want to see on the floor. And once you find a booth, hold you phone over an item to access purchase details like price, availability, matching items, etc. Sounds exciting, right?

I do believe we’re going to be hearing a lot about Augmented Reality in the coming year.

So, if you could create an AR app, what would it do?