Think I Was Kidding About Augmented Reality Taking Off ? [VIDEO]

I've been talking and writing about the impact of Augmented Reality on all industries, but particularly the health club industry and the fitness business in general, for some time now. In fact, over the past few years I've referenced Layar as one of THE up and coming technology platforms that could be harnessed to create some impressive new consumer interfaces. Its all about the merger of the physical and digital worlds in the health club industry, the fitness industry and others; with smartphones connected to the Internet in increasing numbers the possibilities to connect, engage and market to members and customers is incredible.

Now comes Layar with their new solution : Layar Vision. In a recent Fast Company article Augmented Reality Kills the QR Code here is what writer Kit Eaton had to say about it:

Augmented reality leader Layar just took its system to a whole new level by installing a real-world object recognition protocol that's a little like Google's Goggles.....creating digital "events" in the AR world required developers or users to tag reality with geo-located flags--actual fixed positions in space--which limited its usefulness for more spontaneous access to data....Layar Vision changes everything: What if you could hold your AR-enabled iPhone up to something in real life that you just came across--say the cover of Fast Company magazine--and get an overlay of data about it, perhaps an option to click to this web page or a special offer of subscriptions? That's something Maarten Lens-Fitzgerald, founder of Layar, suggested to us is one of the most powerful exploits of the new tech. Vision really does behave like Google Goggles does: When Layar "sees" an item it recognizes, wherever it may be, it returns data to your phone immediately.

Watch the video below to learn more and tell me, Bryan O'Rourke, are you modifying your marketing budget and getting expert advice on how to deploy new consumer engaging technologies, like Layar ? If you like this content please share it or like it ! Let me know if I can be of help to you in navigating the impact that these technologies will have on your business.