Video games have been entertaining us for nearly 30 years, ever since Pong was introduced to arcades in the early II 970's.Computer graphics have become much more sophisticated since then, and soon, game graphics will seem all too real. In the next decade, researchers plan to pull graphics out of your television screen or computer display and integrate them into real- world environments. This new technology called augmented reality, will further blur the line between what is real and what is computer-generated by enhancing what we see, hear, feel and smell.
Augmented reality will truly change the way we view the world. Picture yourself walking or driving down the street. With augmented-reality displays, which will eventually look much like a normal pair of glasses, informative graphics will appear in your field of view, and audio will coincide with what ever you see. These enhancements will be refreshed continually to reflect the moments of your head.
Augmented reality is still in the early stage of research and development at various universities and high-tech companies. Eventually, possibly by the end of this decade we will see the first mass-marketed augmented-reality system, which can be described as “the Walkman of the 21st Century”.