EYE OF THE BEHOLDER

How will people use augmented reality? It may be easier to list the ways they won’t. Here are a few applications in the works, from the silly to the sublime.

Ink-free tattoos

Not sure about that new tat? The Inkhunter app lets you create a preview anywhere on your body before you make a more permanent mistake.

Engaging ads

For the new Jamie Foxx–hosted Beat Shazam game show, Fox created Ar-enabled billboards throughout New York that conjured a 3-D Foxx on viewers’ phones.

Virtual salons

Sephora, L’oréal, and Covergirl offer instore displays and mobile apps that let you see how makeup will look on your face without having to apply it.

Roadside assistance

Smart windshields, which project information on where you are and where you’re headed, are becoming more common as automakers and startups alike find new ways to bring them to drivers.

Classroom aids

Microsoft is working with ed-tech company Lifeliqe on Hololens-based curricula, such as a virtual tour of the human circulatory system.

Remote medicine

Startup Proximie allows experienced surgeons to view operations remotely and provide AR instructions to physicians performing them.

Seeing-eye humans

Aira makes smart glasses for blind people that send a video feed to a customerservice agent, who can tell the user what’s around her.