Looking to the future: A visor that gives you reality, but with added extras and info, and an 'augmented reality.'

By Steve Mollman
For CNN
    
(CNN) -- You probably arrived here via a hyperlink. We hardly think about it now, but the hyperlink is a neat trick. It turns a word in a browser into an object that leads to more information. 

Once you start "linking around," it gets addictive. Some suggest that all the hopping from one link to another influences how we think, making it harder to concentrate for long periods. (Read a novel lately?)

Some wish they could link outside of Web browsers. One blogger wrote she wants to "right-click" on people to discreetly learn more about them. (This after an event where she ignored someone she admires, not realizing who he was.)

A few emerging technologies aim to make more objects -- both in real life and in computers -- behave like hyperlinks. An upcoming version of the program Hyperwords, now limited to web browsers, will work with any open window on your computer.

The program is like hyperlinking on steroids -- combined with right-clicking on steroids. For example, highlight "100" and -- within the right-click menu -- convert that figure from miles to kilometers, or Fahrenheit to Celsius. Select the word "camera" for an in-place translation into Korean or French, or be taken to the Wikipedia entry for camera.

You could do all this manually at various web sites, but the program reduces the tedium and thus encourages you to explore.

It "allows all words to be associative in whatever way the reader feels is useful at the time," explains Hyperwords founder Frode Hegland. Hyperwords is a great tool.

But it works only on computers. Why can't real-world objects receive a similar treatment?

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Augmented reality (AR) -- or the "real world Web" -- has been listed by research firm Gartner as one of the most disruptive technologies companies could face over the next few years. The possibilities of AR are impressive.

During a heart transplant, identifier labels can be superimposed over the valves and chambers of a beating heart. On airplane factory floors, AR visors help electricians navigate complex mazes of wiring. Military minds dream up darker uses of AR.

Early on, consumer products might be predominantly entertainment-oriented, available not just on cell phones but also handheld gaming and other devices.

For instance there's the "magic book" idea, where every page can host a virtual 3-D pop-up that's viewable through a visor.

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