Nice work here, Joe.

Thats quite correct.
AR isnt a business in the same way the web isnt a business.

An augmented reality platform wont be profitable in itself, its development is more “for the benefit for humanity”. Those at the forefront will have plenty of opportunity for money, but the key is its not the new medium thats valuable.…its what you do –on– it that is.

Overlaying 3d stuff onto the real world will have a short period of attention grabbing in itself, and after that only the functional benefits will remain. Anyone relaying just on the usp of having AR will find their apps quickly sink.

Fortuntely, like the internet itself, the benefits will be huge in functional terms as well. But almost all these potential functional advantages depend on good transparent hmd tech coming out. Holding our phones up in the air will be a barrier for any mass adoption beyond geolocation apps.
So, aside from hardware firms, I dont think theres huge amounts of money in AR just yet. (For hardware firms, I think theres a big whole in the market for a mass produced sleak hmd aimed at companys and universitys rather then consumers at this stage)

As soon as we have consumer-suitable hmd, however, some rather far-reaching and dead simple AR apps could come out. (using AR in lose terms here), but imagine the impact of having a site like http://www.instructables.com only with the film footage from a fps perspective and overlayable in your field of view?
Or better yet, get live-help on something in real time (like with vark.com), you merely have to copy the arm and hand motions and someone walks you though the process.
Suddenly the skills an individual has available dramatically increases. Repairing your car, plumbing, and even emergency medical help could all be given remotely. I dont think we have scratched the surface of its potential use’s.

AR deserves every single bit of the hype it gets, and worlds such as Denno Coils are very possible. All we gota be carefull of is the technology isnt perminately associated with just advertising. We have to ensure when theres real benefits, consumers can see them quickly so uptake will be fast.
Its the functional advantages of having a shared AR world thats important, not the “cool” factor. (of course though, by functional, I’m not excluding video games as a potential driving force.Functional dosnt have to mean productive )

Pointclouds can be generated, on mass, from photos.
see;
http://io9.com/5370575/software-recreates-an-entire-city-from-tourist-photographs
For a particularly impressive example.

We basicaly need open database’s of point clouds which AR apps can access.