Welcome to AUGMENTED LEGALITY! As far as I can tell, this is the world's first publication dedicated to analyzing emerging augmented reality (or "AR") technologies from a legal perspective.
What is AR, you ask? Well, even that is open to debate, and it's a subject we'll explore on this site. In a phrase, however, it can currently be understood as "overlaying digital data on the physical world." Think of the yellow line on the field in an NFL broadcast; now apply that concept to any data, at any physical location. Soak on that thought for a few minutes, and the implications it would have for everyday life, and you can begin to see the need for thinking about the laws that will govern the use of this technology.
I say this in the future tense because AR as a field is still in its infancy. To be sure, there are already plenty of innovators and companies doing real and exciting things in the field. The real possibilities of AR, however, remain on the horizon.
But only just. Every single week brings exciting new developments in AR technology, and that much closer to a world in which AR-related technologies play a fundamental role in our everyday lives. And as that potential becomes reality, the discussions on this blog may help shape the legal rules that govern it.
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