Augmented Reality Browsers: Essential Products or Only Gadgets?

Augmenting the real environment with additional information is an idea prospected for over two decades within the augmented reality (AR) research community. When deployed in outdoor environments, virtual information overlays enable a wide range of applications, from tourist guides and pedestrian navigation to urban gaming. The number of people aware of augmented reality is increasing, in part due to growing media coverage. While AR browsers should enable users to easily relate digital information to a real-world context they still must prove they can actually fulfill this promise, especially as competing solutions such as location-based services using digital maps are well established and rather intuitive. Users perceived the technology more as a gadget than a must-have application. While these studies highlighted the critical lack of interesting content, they also identified other major issues. Failing to address these shortcomings may prevent AR technology from achieving mass market adoption.