An Augmented Holiday

Augmented reality, after close to a decade of hype and promise, is finally making a bit of a splash in the children’s toy market this holiday season.

In case you missed it the White House launched an AR app – “1600” – a couple of weeks ago. This, of course, comes on the heels of the Pokemon Go phenomenon.

Among the toys and games this season – the Neobear Magnifier, which is a handheld AR magnifying glass; Hologrid: Monster Battle, an AR board game that brings characters to life; and House of the Dying Sun, which puts you in the cockpit of a starfighter as you try to save the galaxy.

As Chuck Martin of MediaPost explains, this kind of holiday wave will help bring AR to the mainstream as more and kids (and parents) discover what it is capable of.