And now, after nearly 20 years of research and development – and with the advent of some serious mobile computing power – we can hold this bit of technical mastery in the palms of our hands. Yet, the highest-profile AR apps involve a hamster game (Kia’s “Go Hamster Go”) and a cardboard box simulator.

In addition, Mattel will soon launch a line of AR toys for Twentieth Century Fox’s movie Avatar. Each action figure will come with a “chip” that elaborates on its story when held up to a webcam, and they’ll even “come alive” and interact with each other onscreen.

Seriously?

I’m a creative in the marketing biz, so it’s a given that I’m a fan of fun experiences (and creating them for others). In my opinion, however, one of the best uses of augmented reality thus far lies in the first-down lines during televised NFL games. Yeah, I know – “yawn” – but let’s put it this way: it satisfies a true need.

Everyone from a casual spectator to an edge-of-the-couch diehard now has a better understanding of their favorite team’s place in their offensive drive.

Still: where is the big thinking? Instead of throwing giant logos on the sides of sports arenas or making a Sasquatch dance, I’d like to see something more along the lines of a kind of “head-up display” (like the one Arnold Swarzenegger’s Terminator used, except without the option to destroy what’s in our line of sight). Other highly practical (yet highly fictitious) AR applications include Tony Stark’s suit-designing tools in Iron Man and the medical/surgical field in both Star Trek and Joss Whedon’s gone-too-soon television series Firefly.

Marketers would be smart to put their dollars (and creatives their brainpower) behind something their audience(s) can use and will want to keep using. Sure, virtual billboards make sense to a point – but there has to be something better, something more in line with augmented reality’s potential.

To be fair, there are glimmers of hope: Guided sightseeing/museum tours and real-world metatagging harness this technology, linking bits of useful and relevant interaction to the sights you view through your mobile phone’s camera.

Similarly, Layar is the world’s first mobile augmented reality browser. It’s still only available in the Netherlands, but creator SPRXmobile is planning roll-outs in Germany, the UK and the United States this year. (Hint to savvy marketers: they’re looking for partners. Create your product’s or service’s own layer of context-relevant information, to be seen anywhere/everywhere in the real world. Talk about a fantastic media buy.)

Is it too much to ask for these kinds of useful and engaging applications to get at least as much exposure as viewer-controlled Sasquatches and hamsters?

For a different POV, here’s another EM post on Augmented Reality.