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Augmented reality technology has the ability to transform society and individual lives, particularly in health care and mobility.
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As much as visual and hearing aids are a part of our lives today, implant technologies could become the norm in future.
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Stakeholders in society will need to agree on how to ethically make these amazing technologies a part of our lives.
Superheroes have been dominating big and small screens for a while, but there’s a subtle change happening. Many children expect to develop superpowers themselves.
These expectations may sound unattainable, but we’re already making the first strides towards an “augmented society”. Trade fairs are boasting augmented reality (AR) goggles that show technicians where a particular screw should go. Your own phone gives you information about your fitness in real time or tells you about the latest fad.
Augmentation can be defined as the extension of rehabilitation where technological aids such as glasses, cochlear implants or prosthetics are designed to restore a lost or impaired function. Add it to completely healthy individuals and such technology can augment. Night goggles, exoskeletons and brain-computer interfaces build up the picture. The augmenting technology will help in all stages of life: children in a learning environment, professionals at work and ambitious senior citizens. There are many possibilities.