ReadWriteWeb

Augmented Reality, technology that superimposes a layer of data on top of a user's view of the real world, is one of the hottest things around these days. Is it for real or is it just hype? We took a poll of ReadWriteWeb readers over the last 24 hours. With more than 400 responses, only 11% of you said it is just hype. 61% said you think it is important, including 21% who think Augmented Reality is both important and hype.

Particularly interesting is that more than 50% of the respondents come from North America. Augmented Reality is far more closely watched so far in Europe and Asia. At least among RWW readers, it appears that North Americans are catching on!

Austrian augmented reality startup Wikitude announced today that it has released the 3.0 version of its software for Android handsets, fully integrating its OpenID-enabled wiki markup of physical locations around the world with a more sophisticated mobile user experience and preparing for the launch of its iPhone version. Unfortunately, the company's content-adding site, Wikitude.me, appears to have crashed already.

Wikitude is one of the most high-profile augmented reality services on the market. It's a market that's getting crowded fast, and everyone wants to know if interoperability will be a priority or if we're looking at the next browser war.

We've been writing a lot here about Augmented Reality (AR), technology that displays layers of data on top of our view of physical reality through mobile phone cameras, projected images and webcams. It seems like a red-hot field and something we should cover all the more. Some people think that's not the case though; they say it's just hype, a technology looking for applications or a recipe for disappointment.

Below we offer you a chance to let us know what you think. Please take our poll and let us know if you think these services being heralded as Augmented Reality are the real deal or something not worth reading about. Just below the poll we offer some links to a few of our most important articles about AR and some opposing viewpoints from readers. Let us know what you think!

French app development shop PresseLite appears to have the first Augmented Reality (AR) supporting iPhone app live in the iTunes store, though we don't know how they did it. It's called Metro Paris Subway, and while the app isn't new, it released a new version last week that added an AR overlay that displays information about Paris businesses when you look at the city through your iPhone's camera.

Augmented Reality is the term for a long-developed set of technologies that place layers of information on top of a view of the real world. Developers and AR-watchers have believed that no AR apps would be able to go live in the iTunes App Store until the next version of the iPhone OS is released in Fall. No one we've talked to has seen any others, but this one is for sale for 99 cents. It's possible that it was allowed in by mistake, or that it's a partial implementation of AR, but we're waiting to hear back from the developers for more details.