Layar - Reality, Augmented.

LSTAR: In my steady march towards renaming this the "Things that are Kinda Like Shadowrun Blog", this caught my eye. An Augmented Reality system deigned for Andoroid-powered mobile-phones and (soon) the iPhone 3GS. Through a mixture of GPS, Electronic Compass, Internet and Camera technologies, items of interest are highlighted on your camera's view by AROs (Augmented Reality Objects), with more information available with a touch.

While this demo seems mostly focused on real estate (and who isn't focused on real estate?) the Application can cover Bars, Hotels, Restaurants and pretty much anything else worth adding to the database. Although the currently released edition only covers the Netherlands, "Layars" for other countries, including America and Britain, are promised by the end of the year.

Although staring into your mobile might seem like an impractical way to get around town (not that most of us don't do this anyway already...), this could make for a perfect excuse to ditch those tourist guides further afield. And hey, it can't be long now until true Optical Implants...

iEye... I can see it now...