An application called Enkin developed by two German researchers for phones using Google's Android operating system provides a straightforward example. It acts like an enhanced satnav system, helping you to find nearby services or points of interest.

Nokia's Mobile Augmented Reality Applications project does a similar thing, drawing its annotations from known points of interest in the satnav software found in Nokia smartphones.

And now Nokia is taking this further by getting your phone to augment people as well as places and objects. Users will be offered a service similar to Google's Latitude software. When the software is running on the phone, icons will appear next to anyone nearby who is also running the program to show if you have mutual friends or common interests.

By seeing what we see and adding to our knowledge of the world around us, AR-capable phones offer real benefits that are only just starting to be explored.