Humans are emotional creatures. When we’re in a bad mood, good things can seem terrible. Vice versa, when we’re on top of the world, even the most boring topic or event can seem wonderful. Microsoft has taken note of this human trait, and they want to capitalize on our emotional nature. Bill Gates’ brainchild has plans to bring the technology offered by the Kinect, facial and voice recognition technology, into our PCs to target ads to us based on how we’re feeling.

The television is a prime example of how technology in the 21st century is moving at an exponential pace. As soon as high definition was introduced to the world, we were presented with the option of a flat screen HDTV. Everyone who went out and bought a brand new flat screen thought they were living fancy, only to have their hopes and dreams slashed when the 3D Flat Screen HDTV was released. Many individuals have caught on to the scheme, and avoided the 3DTV altogether. We all knew that it was only a matter of time before the next plateau was reached; get ready for the 4KTV.

If you haven’t yet heard of Augmented Reality (AR), then brace yourself for a game-changer. Unlike virtual reality which attempts to bring real life into a virtual world, AR overlays artificial information about the environment and its objects onto the world we live in.

Augmented reality is a “live, direct or indirect, view of a physical, real-world environment whose elements are augmented by computer-generated sensory input such as sound, video, graphics or GPS data.” You may have seen early forms of AR on your cell phone. There are several apps out, such as the night sky app, that recognize an image, and project new data on top of the image. With augmented reality, the possibilities are both endless and entertaining. Business cards, for example, are changing forever, with personalized secret messages only visible through the AR spectrum. Check out an amazing example below.