Augment is derived from the old French verb augmenter to increase , make bigger, enlarge, make richer. And reality we all know what that is about. It is our experience in the here and now or as the dictionaries put it something that exists as opposed to imagined.
So to augment reality – is to enlarge, increase, enrich our existence what we are experiencing right now. I love the concept, I believe in the concept to the extent that I see it as the only way of being and living. Who wouldnt want an augmented reality? One that improves on what already is.
Cut to the world of technology where all the good stuff is and augmented reality becomes something else. It acquires a capital A, a capital R and a hint of a swagger. In this world augmented reality is a shadow of its potential; truthfully it is about mediated reality where technology becomes a foil to enhance one’s current perception of reality. Now don’t get me wrong; I love technology. I spent 30 years working as a techie, I am in awe of its ability to keep us connected, create new connections, allow us to work from home, facilitiate global collaborations and keep delivering yet more gorgeous, shiny trinkets. I design apps for God’s sake. What is there not to love about technology! Well yes. It is the danger of arrogance, the blinding light of brilliance, when technology becoming our everything and we throw the baby out with the bathwater.
Augemented Reality is a loud, cocky imposter. True augmented reality is a function of imagination; everything we experience is from our imagination, the technology that we have is from someone’s imagination. Let us not forget that imagination is a tool that we all have access to. It is there for the taking, it is free, it open source, we came bundled with it. Sadly someone forgot to put that in our manual, in the education system, in fact it is actively deprogrammed in many educational environments. Too basic for the sophisticates. Let us not forget that we all have access to imagination, we just need to believe, take the time to reconnect with the pathway of intuition that takes us there and take follow through action that comes from our individual ability to join the dots and create connections that have never been thought of before.
Anne K. Scott is an Imagination Technologist who uses the tools of intuition to live her life and support others discover their intuitive uniqueness to enrich their realities. She also loves technology for what it brings to the party e.g. her SatNav4TheSoul tool box and Google’s Picasa which enhanced the ‘V’ on her computer keypad to look like a heart.
For more information on the work that Anne does check out Coaching or drop me a line: