I have a fascination with augmented reality. It’s got relatively few practical applications right now, but is so obviously part of the future to come. As technology adapts, more and more innovators are finding ways to help you see the world through funny, informative, or interesting lenses.

One such developer, interactive designer Mark Skwarek, is working on a piece with digital artist Joseph Hocking to use the BP flower as a marker that (on iPhone) can be interpreted as a gushing broken oil pipe. (in protest over the ongoing Gulf of Mexico oil spill disaster)

This application of AR points to a very interesting possibility for AR applications, wherein digital protesters could create a view of the world that uses branded markers against the companies whose practices or policies they disagree with. It would be a new kind of legal, non-intrusive, and massively engaging protest, with the ability to scale well beyond the place and time of its initiation.

I look forward to seeing what might come next in this area of opt-in personal perception adjustment.