Web 2.0 and Augmented Reality

I believe that Web 2.0 will provide an incredible advantage to the business word in means of reaching out to consumers and creating a better and more friendly consumer environment. My Definition of Web 2.0 is a new version of the web where people actually have the ability to further interact with the web with the option to input their own data to gain some type of output that is beneficial. It is not simply a "read only" system, it is a read, write, analyze, and control system. "Like many important concepts, Web 2.0 doesn't have a hard boundary, but rather, a gravitational core. You can visualize Web 2.0 as a set of principles and practices that tie together a veritable solar system of sites that demonstrate some or all of those principles, at a varying distance from that core."(1)

When it comes to the world of business, web 2.0 will give way to and benefit a new breed of consumer interaction through augmented reality. Augmented Reality, is an emerging technology that allows for digital images and information to be overlaid on smartphone screens or computer monitors. (2) This amazing form of technology allows people to use handheld devices such as smartphones to view objects in their environment in order to retrieve specific information. For example, people have the ability to scan images/bar codes known as "QR Codes" which in turn will pop up further information on their phone right on the fly. In the next 20-30 years this will greatly be advanced and made more efficient through the use of virtual reality glasses and bionic eyes for the wealthy (similar to how Lasik was when it first came about).
Another way this can benefit many businesses is by using it for location based services. It is possible to have an application your phone that will give you information on bars, hotels, and restaurants based on what location you are at simply by pointing your smartphone camera at certain buildings etc.
It can also benefit the retail environment by giving people personalized ads when they enter a retail store. For example, when people walk in to a clothing store they will be greeted by a holographic image that will give them information that has specifically to do with them (size, color, brand, etc.). This was portrayed heavily in the movie Minority Report with Tom Cruise.
Although, all these things may seem fake and like science fiction, they are quickly becoming a reality. In the near future, this is exactly how Web 2.0 and Augmented Reality will benefit all types of businesses and consumers.


1. http://oreilly.com/web2/archive/what-is-web-20.html
2. http://www.web2expo.com/webexsf2011/public/schedule/detail/18602