Some Android apps are all about the function while others simply exude cool. The Layar Reality Browser for Android, using a technology that the developers call Augmented Reality, provides both. The way it does it seems like something straight out of a science fiction novel. Here’s how it works: Using the built-in GPS and compass the app determines the user’s location, and it then determines the user’s field of view using the on-board camera. Armed with that information, it can now retrieve everything that the device needs to know about the objects in that field of view. The user can then access that information via icons that app overlays on the camera view.
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This type of technology is particularly useful when vacationing or on business in an unfamiliar location. The Android user can simple focus the device down the street they’re walking on and have instant access to store and restaurant names and even identifications of locations and objects of historic significance. Perhaps the best aspect is how intuitive it is. Even non-techies will have it working on their first use. There are a couple of drawbacks with the app. One, its usefulness is limited if you don’t travel much. If you usually stay in your comfort zone, you’ll play with it a few times, and then grow bored of it. Secondly, while the application itself is very fast, the actual data retrieval is slow at times. Another con is that not all layers of information work in all cities. So if you are buying this for vacation, find out it works where you’re going.
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