Raise your hand if you have an iPhone, Droid/Android, iPad or some other kind of 3G enabled mobile device? I’d be willing to bet that at least 90% of those reading do. These amazing little devices have changed our lives and are bordering on changing our world as they catapult us into a new sense of reality: augmented reality.

When I first heard this term, I was confused and, like most new technological terms, resistant to know exactly what it was. Augmented reality is described by Wikipedia as being “a live direct or indirect view of a physical real-world environment whose elements are augmented by virtual computer-generated imagery.” Basically, it is looking at your iPhone to see images of your surroundings, with added tidbits of information.

This technology has amazing prospects for travel. The idea that you can carry a device that will find your location and show you a view of your surroundings augmented with tons of information and facts is amazing! And this application has already been developed by an Austrian start-up company called Wikitude.

Wikitude employs what they call a “World Browser” to provide tons of information to the viewer, most of which is gleaned from a variety of sources, from Starbucks to Wikipedia. Most recently, they have begun building the first augmented reality Lonely Planet guides for smart phones, which will literally change the face of travel guides altogether.

If you’re still unclear about exactly what augmented reality is, check out this video, in which one of the creators demonstrates how the technology works first-hand, from a hill overlooking Salzburg.