Imagine going on a weekend trip to the museum. You get into the car, program your headset, and drive down Gemini Street. A virtual arrow flashes at Route 51, and warns you of another abrupt turn left. You go along the road, seeing more of these flashing arrows and alerts. With a push of your headset button, you could get all the information you'd ever want about what movies are playing in that theater you just passed, or how long the sale at Wal Mart is going to last. You can pull out your virtual shopping list or send a message instantly to your spouse waiting at home.
When you arrive at the museum, you see a egyptian artifact. It seems to be chipped and cracked. With another push of the button, you digitally recreate the artifact and get any information about the history of this artifact.
This concept is called augmented reality, and above, are only a couple of the ways it will be used in 20 years or so.
How does it work?
Augmented reality basically takes virtual objects and pops it into the real world. This differs from virtual reality because VR creates a whole new world.
Check out the details at
http://www.se.rit.edu/~jrv/research/ar/
Also, AR will, in a couple decades, be as common and essential as a car, yet as compact as your shades.
(No literally...AR will be put inside the average guy's pair of glasses)
Lets discuss...I'm excited, you?