Our world is full of advertisements, from billboards to bus stop posters. Now a new app installed on high-tech glasses can block ads vying for your attention using augmented reality (AR) technology.
AR is used to overlay digital content onto a person’s physical environment. The app uses artificial intelligence to detect ads in a person’s field of vision, then digitally covers them with blocks of color or images. “A lot of people suggested covering ads with pictures of cats,” says Stijn Spanhove, the software engineer from Belgium who invented the app. “But it can also be artwork or your favorite pictures.”