Augmented reality has been touted as a way to integrate virtual graphics with our real-world experience, turning your normal vision into a computer dashboard, and letting any real-world space become a game board or an advertisement. Or, you might use the technology to go on a real-world date with your virtual significant other.


Moving a few inches closer to William Gibson's Idoru, YouTube user Alsionesvx has used an Xtion PRO (a Kinect-like motion sensor) and a pair of video goggles to go on an outdoor date with the virtual popstar Hatsune Miku. Alsionesvx doesn't just see Miku through his goggles; she follows him around and reacts to his "touch." It's actually a bit distressing to see him bop her on the head, even if she isn't self-aware.

Hackaday has a bit more information on how Alsionesvx brought his Miku girlfriend into augmented reality, and there's already a great deal of speculation about how this technology would be used. Hackaday notes that historical figures as tour guides would be great fun, and a lot of folks are contemplating the pornographic implications of the Miku build. I just wonder how long it will be before we wonder whether the person talking into the air is speaking into a phone, to themselves, or to some entity who exists only in augmented reality.


Going to the park with your augmented reality girlfriend [Hackaday via Neatorama]