Will there be a day when we'll mourn the loss of our phones, like the loss of a loved one?

Augmented reality (AR) is a term for a live direct or a indirect view of a physical, real-world environment whose elements are augmented by computer-generated sensory input, such as sound or graphics.

(Wikipedia - Augmented Reality)

With the immense development of technology, it is now harder than ever to determine whether something is reality, or in fact computer generated. However, Augmented reality is not like virtual reality. It does not create a simulation of reality. Instead, it takes a real object or space as the foundation and incorporates technologies that add contextual data to deepen a person’s understanding of the subject.

(http://net.educause.edu/ir/library/pdf/ELI7007.pdf)

Obviously, these augmented reality glasses aren't real, but it is seriously scary how close we are.

Lets use the example to mobile phones.  

About 60 percent of the world's population now use mobile phones, with approximately 4.1 billion mobile-phone subscriptions annually, according to a United Nations survey.

The report also found that internet use had roughly doubled, with use of the internet now at approximately 23 percent of the world's population, up from 11 percent in 2002.

(http://www.zdnet.co.uk/news/mobile-working/2009/03/03/sixty-percent-of-the-world-uses-mobile-phones-39621541/)

Mobile phones are part of our everyday lives, but not only for communication.

 We also use our phones for:

• Alarm
• Camera, Video and Audio Recorder
• Internet
• Contact Information
• Social Networking
• Multimedia Messaging
• Gaming and Applications
• Music Player
• Wallet (Purchases can be made online through your phone)
• TV 
• Bar code Reader
• and much, much, much, much more...............

We use our mobiles instead of our address books, our laptops, our alarms, our cameras, e.t.c e.t.c. Putting all this value onto one object is crazy. They will become, if they're not already, the most important thing in our lives, then what happens if we lose it! Panic!

If phones continue to control our lives in this manner, they will eventually end up as a form of augmented reality. Our phones will affect our view on reality. I'm not saying this is a bad thing, but it's certainly a scary thought.