Do I really need... augmented reality?

What does it do?

Everything imaginable! But not quite yet. Augmented-reality (AR) software overlays computer-generated visuals on your view of the real world. Not to be confused with virtual reality (VR), which means putting on a plastic helmet and trying not to bump into (real) furniture, AR is typically used on a phone screen.

Why would I want it?

Current apps focus on fun, like showing 3D dinosaurs roaming through your house (the Pokémon Go craze was also based on AR), and measurement. Ikea’s Place app (pictured) has models of sofas, cupboards and so on that appear on your phone screen, over a live view through the rear camera, so you can see what they’ll look like in your home. Dozens of apps called ‘Measure’ or ‘Ruler’ let you draw lines on whatever you’re looking at and calculate how long they are in real life.

What’s the catch?

It takes advanced technology to make this work, and clever design to make it usable. Next-generation phones like Apple’s iphone X and the Asus Zenfone AR (see our review, Issue 510) have extra sensors to help AR work. Most software (like the Airmeasure app, pictured), currently have major limitations. Accuracy may be way off, and apps will sometimes correctly work out where walls, floors and objects are, and sometimes won’t. Moreover, it can be very confusing trying to draw lines in 3D space on a 2D screen.

So can I do without it?

For now, yes, but like having a camera in your phone it could become something we rely on in all sorts of ways we’d never have guessed.