Augmenting Intelligence: What Augmented Reality Technology Means for the Intelligence Community

Abstract

In addition to its usefulness in industrial and military environments, augmented reality has plenty of intelligence applications. Mapping vast datasets like social networks over geospatial information in real time to individual users or teams has the potential to make fieldwork more manageable and less risky. This paper details the origins and development of augmented reality systems, their current planned uses, and their potential uses. Its objective is to make informed predictions about how the intelligence community will adopt augmented reality systems, the challenges they will face in implementation as well as address broader ethical concerns and the potential to influence the global balance of power.