If there’s a candidate for “next big buzzword” waiting in the wings after cloud computing’s hype has died down, it has to be “Augmented Reality” (AR). It’s been bandied about in mobile and information technology circles for a few years now, and among science fiction fans for at least a decade- but what does it mean, practically speaking? Will it live up to the emerging hype? And, most importantly- what can your business do with it?

In the 90s, one emergent technology that didn’t live up to the hype was “virtual reality”. As it turned out, most people didn’t see anything inherently useful in the technology that couldn’t be better done with conventional computers- and, given the much more limited state of microprocessors and internet connectivity at the time, they were right.

Augmented reality offers something different- informational “overlays” projected into our every day reality via mobile devices via GPS. These cloud-based objects can then be interacted with by multiple users- who can all see the same projection- in the same place! While current systems use video-enabled smartphones and tablet PCs to function, it’s likely that within a decade we’ll see AR-projection enabled glasses – and perhaps even contact lenses – on the market – bringing augmented reality technologies to a whole new level. No longer will you connect to the internet- you’ll be able to live in it, interacting with virtual, cloud-based objects that fill all the needs of your present PCs and mobile devices.

Whoa.

This is exciting, but we’d better slow down for a second. Just like the hurdles that ultimately stopped the widespread adoption of virtual reality, the AR future could hit similar snags- but current efforts are in their infancy, and it will take time to see how the technology shakes out.

In the meantime, here’s what’s going on right now in China as far as AR is concerned:

-Senscape, China’s first indigenous augmented reality platform. Senscape is intended as a universal API for developers to build AR objects, which users can then access through the Senscape App. The project’s developers have mentioned many possible applications for the software- branding and e-commerce functions, interactive games with GPS, virtual tourist information booths, and educational tutorials. The possibilities with the platform are virtually endless.

-Volkswagen recently demonstrated the power of AR by launching it’s first AR-based marketing campaign in China. A pull-out steering wheel featured in company magazine advertisements in September could be used to enter into an AR “race” via a company website. Of 50,000 people who logged on to the race, nearly 7% signed up to take an actual test drive of a Volkswagen vehicle.

-MobileNow’s Breeze Living for iOS introduces the “location-based coupon” to China. With it, one can catch “kites” out of an AR sky that function as coupons in nearby establishments. In addition, users can set up “tribes” of their friends to share deals.

-AiSIDe, an alliance of several Chinese software developers is building AR apps for iOS and Android, using the platform developed by German’s Metaio- Unifeye. While the group is relatively young, they’ve quickly rolled out a number of AR games for the Chinese market.

These, of course, are only the beginning for how reality will be augmented in coming years. While some of it may seem gimmicky now, as more and more users adopt AR platforms, the gimmickry will give way to unprecedented applications and functions.