Terminator-vision and the complex questions behind “augmented reality”

For folks in my generation—those born in the late 70s or early 80s—the definition of "virtual reality" is informed by decades of popular entertainment and includes at least a few strong Lawnmower Man images. Virtual reality, as it’s been sold to us by the combined forces of Hollywood and consumer electronics companies, is the experience one gets when one straps on a head-mounted display and slips into a computer-created world. And even though most of the world’s images of VR come from the hilariously terrible first wave of VR popularity in the 1990s, mainstream companies like Oculus are close to actually making VR happen in a way that isn’t inconvenient, overly expensive, or dumb.

But VR has a twin: augmented reality. If VR means slapping on a head-mounted display and waving VR-gloved hands around like a crazy person, augmented reality ("AR") is maybe more immediately useful; it’s most easily defined as the overlaying of extra information onto your perception of the world. Think of what the Terminator sees—a view of the world with extra data popping up all over, giving additional context to the things that you see.

Augmented reality isn’t anything new—military pilots (and some commercial pilots), for example, use heads-up displays that project information onto a reflective screen directly in front of them, allowing them to see the horizon even when it’s cloaked by clouds or darkness or bad weather. Similar heads-up display technology is even becoming common in higher-end automobiles, too—automotive HUDs can mirror a speedometer and tachometer onto your windscreen or even show navigation information.