One of the most talked about technology things in the nerd circles
that I read is augmented reality. It's similar to virtual reality
which has been talked about for years and is finally becoming more and
more available. I've been excited about virtual reality for years,
but it's just never been personal and portable.
I remember one of my favorite games in the video arcade: Battle Zone.
It was a tank simulation with wireframe tanks around the flat surface
with wireframe blocks and pyramids scattered throughout. And these
tanks would get you in their sights and start shooting at your tank.
And your goal was to avoid getting shot while shooting them. I
remember my strategy was always to go backwards as fast as I could so
that I could see them, and pull in on their tail and shoot them before
they got me in their sites.
Battle Zone was fun and gave you that sense of virtual reality but
because it was a big arcade machine that you had the press your eyes
up against in order to see the playing screen it wasn't quite what we
were hoping for now with technology so personal now and with us all
the time I want something that's with me whenever I wanted.
Augmented reality is where you wear glasses or goggles of some kind
and GPS network location and landmarks things like little windows
above people's heads or above places of interest however over those
things in your line of vision. You can see everything and you're just
looking through glasses but superimposed over the reality is this
augmentation with extra information.
Heads-up display is one of the best examples of that that has got a lot
of play in high-end cars and fighter jets but it just never took off
in everyday life. But it's coming.
Recently I was thinking about augmented reality and how as a Christian
I can use God's vision and leading like augmented reality. As I look
around I can open my eyes to the Holy Spirit and see needs and prayer
requests and things that I can do or help with. I remember the song
"Give Me Your Eyes" was one of my favorite Christian songs a few years
back. It's a story song of a guy on an airplane and praying that God
would give him God's eyes so that he could see the surround him
instead of just cruising through life without paying attention to the
things that people need and desire.
I pray that God augments my reality with being able to see those
things and then reaching out and actually trying to help people with
those things.
