With the rise of wearable technology and the prevalence of GPS technology in mobile devices, augmented reality apps are the wave of the future. These apps allow you to take online information and immediately apply it to the world around you. Here is a look at some of the most useful augmented reality apps that are currently available.

Wikitude World Browser

Wikitude World Browser is one of the most powerful augmented reality apps on the market. It can tell you just about everything that you’d ever want to know about your surroundings. If you want to know about the history of a landmark you’re at, you can look it up. If you want to find a bar or restaurant, this app can point out your best choices and guide you there. Wikitude World Browser has thousands of content providers that populate it with useful information all around the world.

Yelp Monocle

Yelp Monocle is an app that expands on the features of the main Yelp website and app. It allows you to view markers for nearby destinations in the real world, eliminating the need to consult a map. If you have a Yelp account, you can also use it to find your friends or the locations that they’ve checked into. Although this app doesn’t provide much in terms of new features, it greatly streamlines your ability to use the information provided by Yelp.

Goode Ingress

Although many of the most popular AR apps are based around practicality and information, Goggle  has decided to take a different approach with Google Ingress. This app turns the world into a giant RPG. All of the players are divided into two teams. These teams work together to take over sections of the world by walking around and collecting something called Exotic Matter. Exotic Matter is then used to claim points on the map for your team.

Snapshot Showroom

It can be hard to tell exactly what a piece of furniture twill look like when it makes its way to your home from the store. Snapshot Showroom seeks to fix this problem by allowing you to drop furniture into your home using AR. The app aggregates products from a variety of retailers such as IKEA and Pier r Imports. If you like how the furniture looks in your home, you can then use the app to purchase it.

Augmented Car Finder

Augmented Car Finder is an app with a simple concept that allows you to find your car in a large parking lot or on a confusing street. Once you’ve parked, use the app to set a marker on your car. When you leave the store, you can find your marker so you don’t have to worry about forgetting where you parked.

Augmented reality app developers are regularly coming up with new ways for our mobile devices to interact with the world around us. These apps are exciting new entries into an emerging technological category. As times go on, it will be exciting to see how far we come from these basic AR applications