The document discusses the history and current state of augmented reality (AR) technology. It outlines how AR has progressed from early experiments in the 1960s-1980s to commercial applications today in areas like gaming, medical, and industry. Important research directions are focused on developing improved tracking, displays, interaction techniques, and enhancing the user experience. The future of AR is predicted to include always-on, unobtrusive displays like contact lenses and using AR to annotate and filter information in the user's environment.