Organizing the rapidly growing information available on the web has been dramatically eased through the use of tagging where individuals label and organize digital data to their own preference rather than relying on pre determined classification systems.

Researchers at the University of Tokyo have developed a way to bring this classification system into the physical world. The best part is - the tagging is done automatically. By attaching a tiny camera and LCD screen to a pair of oversized glasses, researchers have created the ‘cyber goggles’ that automatically scan what the user sees and identify objects in real time.

Many of us have experienced automated tag suggestion applications. However, at least in my experience, these have usually provided innacurate suggestions. The ‘cyber goggles’ on the other hand have proved to be very accurate by being able to correctly identify 60 everyday objects as demonstrated at the University of Tokyo last week. Designed to serve as a high tech memory aid, the cyber goggles provide a glimpse into the future of augmented reality that can eventually be used in a number of different ways. For example, the image recognition technology can be used to search through long videos to automatically identify certain images.

Not surprisingly, this type of technology is already being used in Japan where people can use the camera on their mobile phone to scan and recieve more information about all kinds of objects including CD’s, books and DVDs. J-Magic, the company offering this service claims to have about 45,000 scannable products in its database.

The ‘cyber goggles’ are most notably intended to solve the annoying dilemna of lost keys or remote controls, however, as one commenter notes - what happens when you lose the glasses?