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From security to collaboration to training, the public sector may soon reap many benefits from emerging augmented reality technologies. But first, agency CIOs will have to create the IT platforms and data management capabilities required to make it work.

A woman steps out of a taxi at the Los Angeles International Airport. Though she may not realize it, she is the focus of a security screening process that began when she pulled up to the curb, and will continue until she boards her plane. Cameras positioned throughout the airport record her behavioral, gestural, and kinematic characteristics, and feed this information into a highly sophisticated data management system. Here, video analytics, facial identification software, and threat recognition algorithms analyze the feed and work in concert to generate a threat profile for this traveler. By the time she reaches a TSA agent standing just beyond the check-in area, her passenger number and threat profile are overlaid into the agent’s field of vision via a pair of augmented reality glasses the agent wears at his post. The agent smiles and instructs the woman to proceed.

Welcome to a future in which augmented reality technologies (AR) have transformed the way government and citizens interact. Visual AR—often associated with wearable computing platforms like Google Glass—is the overlay of digital information onto a person’s real-world field of vision.¹ Other AR devices augment touch, sound, and even smell.

Deployment of AR in the public sector will challenge government CIOs to build an IT infrastructure with exceptionally powerful analytics and data alignment capabilities. It will also present formidable challenges in the areas of training, security, and privacy. (Consider how many of us regularly misplace our glasses.)

Despite these considerations, government is poised to benefit from AR in situations where visualizing data in a real-time, mobile, or hands-free environment could prove useful. These situations include:

Search and Rescue. In the future, AR could allow government agencies to use 3D mapping and wayfinding capabilities to enhance search and rescue efforts. For example, officers wearing AR goggles could deploy virtual compasses or three-dimensional maps of the surrounding environment to avoid hazards and find target locations (or individuals) more effectively. Visual collaboration capabilities allow officers to communicate visual instructions or share perspectives from remote locations.

Security Screenings. In the next decade, AR could play a substantial role in reducing risks and errors associated with security screening at travel hubs, border crossings, and public events. For example, contextual checklists overlaid on security officers’ vision could help standardize operations and make it possible for officers monitoring large areas to share and recreate 3D visuals and capture images in real time.

Training. AR could transform job training in high-risk environ­ments. AR-enabled interactive training makes it possible for trainees to virtually and realistically simulate scenarios they are likely to encounter in the workplace. These scenarios provide instructions and alter environmental cues to help trainees learn appropriate responses to different situations. For example, in a border patrol training exercise designed to demonstrate proper procedures for inspecting automobiles entering the United States, agent trainees wearing AR glasses might see the message, “Vehicle chassis is two inches lower than standard make. Search all compartments.” The trainees would respond to this and similar commands that appear in their field of vision throughout the exercise.

The CIO’s AR Checklist

Analysts now predict that AR market annual revenues, which stood at roughly $181 million in 2011, will grow to $5.2 billion by 2016. Moreover, by 2017, more than 2.5 billion mobile augmented reality apps are expected to be downloaded annually.

Government readiness to harness AR varies widely by agency. Some agency CIOs already have analytics, cloud, and data management initiatives—building blocks for a solid AR foundation—while others have yet to begin developing these capabilities.

Interested CIOs can begin by gauging the impact of an AR deployment—and the demands it may place—on the following areas:

IT infrastructure and data management. The effectiveness and viability of AR technology depends on the strength of an organization’s data and tech­nology infrastructure. For example, real-time data visualization on AR-equipped goggles depends on advanced analytics and data management capabilities. Moreover, many AR devices rely on some means of connecting to data in a timely manner, making access to wireless networks a prerequisite.

Human resources. Even if an agency has the required tech­nology and data infrastructure in place, AR hinges on the willingness and ability of employees to use it. Some agency employees may have an affinity for new technologies and already feel quite comfortable using mobile devices. Others may require more extensive training. Moreover, training efforts may be more effective if they include an overview that explains how AR will be used to meet agency goals—and benefit users.

Risk, security and privacy. AR comes with its own set of risk, security, and privacy considerations. These may include providing a secure wireless network; protecting sensitive information in highly trafficked environments such as airports or border crossings; appropriately limiting agency employee access to sensitive data; and addressing privacy concerns associated with the use of cameras and other data-capture devices.

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Evolving from science fiction to reality, AR may become an everyday tool for engaging the world around us. This is particu­larly true in situations where decisions need to be made using real-time data. With careful planning, the public sector can deploy AR in ways that improve its delivery of services to citizens in moments that matter most.

—This article was adapted from Augmented Government: Transforming government service through augmented reality, by Christian Doolin, Alan Holden, senior consultants, Deloitte Consulting LLP, and Vignon Zinsou, under the direction of Shrupti Shah, director, Deloitte Consulting LLP’s GovLab program.