I'm gonna make a big leap here and assume that a) you all know what a Wii is and that b) you all know this was created by Nintendo. I'm also assuming that you know what a DS is, and that it was also made by Nintendo. Both of these consoles were pretty revolutionary when they came out: the Wii because it senses the controller's motion, and the DS because its screen is touch-sensitive. Well, guess what? Nintendo's done it again.
Their new console is called the 3DS, meaning that all of its games are in 3D. There are two major advances in this console: the first being, obviously, the 3D, and the second being augmented reality. There's a pretty good change that you don't know what the latter is, so I'll explain each one in detail.
First, the 3D technology is pretty wicked. Its images are clearer than most 3D televisions, and it doesn't make your eyes sore. The feature can be adjusted and turned off, which is pretty epic in itself, but it also is unlikely to make your eyes tired even after several hours of gaming. The best thing about this, however, is that no 3D glasses are required - a thin plastic film over the screen does the job without the hassle or the risk of losing them.
To explain augmented reality, I'm gonna have to get a bit science-y, so forgive me if this gets a bit murky or hard to understand. This stuff is pretty cutting-edge, and it holds massive potential. We all know what virtual reality is, right? Augmented reality combines virtual reality with the real world, hence, 'augmented.' It's difficult to explain, but basically, the forward-facing cameras on the 3DS are intelligent. If you point the console at a counter, the camera thinks, 'this is a counter.' It can recognize objects in the way that a human can. If you've got a special playing card scanned into the 3DS, it thinks, 'this is a counter. I need to turn it into a Mayan-looking box.' It then disassembles the counter on your screen and reassembles it into an ancient-looking box. Open the box, and you find a forest with archery targets on it. If that isn't awesome, I don't know what is.
But the 3DS isn't just a cool video game system. As far as I know, this is the first augmented reality device to be made commercially available EVER. The other uses for augmented reality could literally change the world, especially in education. Let's say that you are an amateur mechanic, with only basic knowledge about the structure of an engine. Suddenly, you're put into a position where you need to fix a Rolls Royce jet engine, and there isn't anyone around to tell you what to do or guide you through the procedure. What the hell are you going to do?
If you have an augmented reality headset thing, it's as simple as making sure that you have the right program downloaded. Put it on, and the augmented reality will show you what to do. It will tell you what tools you need, and when you look at them, point them out. It'll tell you what to do, point out where to do it, and tell you when you're done. In this manner, a total novice can perform complicated and difficult repair jobs. But it's more than that. When this technology is advanced enough, it can be distributed to medical workers in third-world countries. If someone needs a kidney transplant or other difficult surgery immediately, and no one that knows how to do the procedure is close enough to get there in time, a doctor in training can use augmented reality to learn on the fly. Obviously having someone well versed is better, but a novice using augmented reality is WAAAAY better than a novice without one - or dying because no one is able to do the surgery.
IN BRIEF: The Nintendo 3DS is not only a really epic, cutting-edge video game system, it is contributing greatly to both 3D and augmented reality technologies, the latter of which is as awesome as holograms are and even more useful.
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