At its developer conference in Mountain View, California, Google announced that it’s adding augmented reality search results to its core search product.
You can search for a shark, for example, and a special information window pops up with information about the animal. Then the AR happens. Click another link and the shark is superimposed over the real world in front of you through the smartphone camera. If you’re outside or in a big room, the shark appears in front of you at scale.
Another application allowed the user to shop for clothing by superimposing the 3D products over their existing wardrobe to see if the colors go together well.
Augmented reality, so far, has been mainly confined to phones, although companies like Microsoft and Magic Leap have released advanced AR head-worn devices. AR has a long way to go to become a mainstream consumer technology. Right now, companies like Google are trying to find useful, real-world applications that introduce people to the technology. AR search is an example. Google is also testing superimposing real-time graphics over the the real world in its Maps application.