Augmented Reality: The Storyteller's Tool of the Future...Today

Augmented reality has been a fascination of mine for some time now, ever since I saw the magical Ted Talk (posted below) from the world-class magician, Marco Tempest. Take a look at his supernatural tour of augmented reality in this entertaining clip. (video source: TedTalks Youtube channel). Marco weaves a fascinating tale about how augmented reality can supplement a storyteller's vision. He equates a magician with a storyteller. The video left me reeling with the happy possibilities with this new realm of media enhancement. As I looked more deeply into augmented reality, I discovered that new apps (for mobile devices and computers) are becoming more readily available to the public. Application developers are jumping on the bandwagon, to create new stories to entertain users via augmented reality. Check out this Youtube video of one of these apps in action, using a simple U.S. dollar bill.

The app only does the augmented reality trick for the 20 dollar bill. There are several apps that do this function, but the Youtube video poster did not indicate which app he or she used. The experience is surreal when it is first viewed in real life, right from one's mobile device. It makes the 20 dollar bill come to live and tell a story that leaves most people breathless. As television producers are scrambling for more digital episodic content development, advertisers are beginning to hop on the bandwagon of how to make their print ads come alive via augmented reality. The ramifications are endless. However, as a recent Digital Trends article by Simon Hill points out, augmented reality does not come without some substantial risks. It has a potential for darker storytelling, by incorporating violent and/or pornographic imaging into the augmented reality stories from even normal looking pictures. Also, augmented reality apps are limited by the intentions of the particular storyteller's vision. The stories don't change from person to person. The potential for abuse of this kind is exponential. Once ways can be found to harness the potential of augmented reality, it can be guaranteed that it will become a way of life for all of us, both light and dark sides.

Picture depicting one of the many uses of Augmented Reality from the Digital Trends full article "The Untapped Potential of Augmented Reality," by Simon Hill.

Augmented reality can be a storyteller's dream brought to life, and will most certainly create superstars overnight. Imagine being able to place an augmented reality viewer (when they become affordable) in with a screenplay pitch. The producer is reading the script, and suddenly the highlights of the story come to life, right from the script!

Also, it features a whole new skillset for creative people to create new businesses from, and new avenues of income for themselves.

For now, augmented reality remains in the realm of the mystical and magical. Soon, however, the storyteller will have a new avenue to make his or her visions come to life in new ways like never before.