As a followup to my recent post on Augmented Reality Devices, I wanted to write something on how the technology is likely to develop in the near future. There are three books that come to my mind when I think of AR, and they illustrate the current trends beautifully for anyone interested in augmented reality and its potential effects on society.
With the nearest-future of the three, FreedomTM by Daniel Suarez describes a world changed by a specialized network called the “Darknet.” Those connected to the Darknet wear either glasses or contacts in order to see augmented reality information as an overlay of their regular vision. 
The information can be as simple as a hovering name or handle over a person’s head, very similar to callouts over character avatars in RPG games like World of Warcraft. In other cases the overlay enhances the appearance of everyday objects, so viewing something through Darknet glasses will add flames or a glow effect.
What makes FreedomTM especially good is that is also illustrates how society can change with AR. Besides a name overhead, people also carry around personal ratings averaged from all those who have interacted with them, like seller ratings on Ebay or Amazon. And the Darknet society develops their own independent economy. If this sounds like the kind of book you’d like, start with Suarez’s other novel Daemon. FreedomTM is really the second-half of a two-part novel. Daemon also contains many AR elements, but it’s more focused on thriller-action than changing society.
Charles Stross’ Halting State goes a bit farther by merging the real world with virtual environments commonly found in games today. Augmented reality versions of live action role-playing (LARP) are presented, and the concept of complete immersion in a computer-mediated reality is possible. So say you really like the 1940s; you can overlay that reality over the current one so that everyone you see, cars, and buildings all appear to be from the 1940s. What’s more the very nature of what is real gets called into question once the normal and virtual are blurred. Fair warning, Halting State may be a little difficult to follow for some due to language usage, but it’s a fun read that’s worth digging into.
Set just fifteen years in the future, Rainbow’s End by Vernor Vinge is a must-read for augmented reality fiction. Unlike the above novels, Vinge’s future is not in the process of changing, it is already drastically different. The effects of technology are explained through a protagonist just-cured of his Alzheimer’s, basically following the “woken up from a coma” model. Not only is everyone’s view changed, but nearly every object is networked. Virtual displays and overlays are fed to contact lenses from smart clothing. 
Haptic feedback is also included using overlays on robots. LARP-style gaming interactions are also presented in this book, but they are taken to a greater extreme with more advanced technologies.
Vinge presents a post-AR world that is changing very fast, possibly to the point of singularity. Communication methods common today, such as texting, talking, and video conferencing are all accomplished instantly between two or more people, from anywhere in the world, using the same built-in AR displays. And in the later video conferencing case, a distant person appears to be local and sitting in the next chair. Using an external device or screen to connect to the network is considered all-but obsolete. The ubiquitous, instant communication and information access even calls into question the value of personal originality and copyright as all works become derivative.
Of the three books Rainbow’s End shows the most augmented reality change, but its prose is more classical science fiction with the reader playing catch-up. Halting State and especially FreedomTM are written in a thriller style with the reader taken along for the ride. All three are great for seeing where augmented reality is taking us.
