If you're one of the cool kids, you've probably heard talk on the Internet about "augmented reality." But exactly what is augmented reality? The best augmented reality apps use your iPad or Smartphone to read information about your environment, then put it together with information the program generates, thereby digitally "augmenting" your real interaction with the physical world. Which augmented reality apps should you download? A ton of cool augmented reality apps are available for your iPhone or Smartphone -- some are games, some can help you find where you parked your car or locate a good restaurant in a strange neighborhood, and some are just weird and fun. Here are just a few of the strangest, silliest, and greatest augmented reality apps out there.
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Google Ingress
A game where you walk around identifying and hacking "portals" attached to real-life public sculptures, thereby unraveling clues about a fictional mind-control conspiracy.
SpotCrime+
Figure out whether you're walking through a shady neighborhood or not -- in real time!
Ikea Catalogue
See what all that snazzy Swedish furniture would look like in your actual house before you drop half your paycheck on it! IKEA now allows your iPhone to create 3D models of select products from their catalogue and move them around on the screen to see what they'd look like in your living room.
DanKam
DanKam adjusts colors for people who are red-green colorblind so they can perceive hues and value differences more clearly. (At long last, your passion for running a tomato farm can be realized.)
Wikitude
Wikitude compiles info about your local environment, loading Tweets, Yelp reviews, Wikipedia entries, and other data about businesses as you pass by them on the street.
Junaio
Junaio scans all kinds of crazy stuff -- museum displays, photo images, barcodes -- and spits out information, 3D models, recipes, statistics, and videos about it. Recommended!
Augment
This is an app for designers -- it lets you make interactive 3-D models of basically anything, which you can then touch and rotate with your hands.
Conductar: Moogfest
This app actually reads your brainwaves through a special piece of hardware, then turns them into trippy music and animation superimposed over the real landscape of the city around you. It can also be used by multiple people at once, so the stuff you see and hear changes depending on who else is plugged in!
Conductar was created for Asheville's annual Moogfest conference, but an experimental version for other cities is currently in development.
Firepower
Firepower skips the complexities of actual gameplay and lets you just attack random objects with a hailstorm of bullets. Good for relieving stress, I guess?
AR Invaders
A shooter game where you aim your phone at the sky and unleash fiery justice on hoards of encroaching spacecraft.