Otherwise sensible people already differ on the meaning of “reality,” so when you preface that word with “augmented” the fun really starts.

Never one to shy from what’s new and what’s next I’ve accepted an invitation from Bill Sobel to moderate a Sobel Media breakfast panel on Thursday January 21st with four New Yorker’s using AR today: David Curcurcito, Creative Director at Esquire; David Polinchock, former Chief Experience Officer at Brand Experience Lab; Doug Dimon, Creative Director/Broadcast Design at Creative Bubble/NYC; and Adam Broitman, Partner and Ringleader of Circ.us.

So what is reality once it’s been augmented? Wikipedia defines Augmented Reality (AR) as “…a term for a live direct or indirect view of a physical real-world environment whose elements are merged with (or augmented by) virtual computer-generated imagery – creating a mixed reality.” That sounds exactly like Layar Technologies AR browser for Android that I posted about last year.

Since last summer AR has started showing up in several of my iPhone apps — Yelp’s Monocle feature, the FourSquare social AR game — and most recently in Coke ads for James Cameron’s hit movie Avatar.

John Cox writes in Network World, “Augmented reality is [...] a new interactive relationship between mobile users and their surroundings. It’s easy to make AR sound like the latest technology in search of an application but an analogy with jet fighter pilots might help. Pilots look through the cockpit window or a helmet faceplate. The inside of these surfaces is treated to display transparent images of cockpit controls and navigation data a technique called “head-up display.” Data images and text overlay a view of the real world.”

This definition of AR easily encompasses the “first and 10″ line projected onto the field during televised football, as Bill wrote in the event invitation, and it’s used in some of the automobile dashboard technologies that I was ranting about a few days ago.

To learn about what’s coming next and how you might want to consider using AR in your projects, I hope you’ll join us on the 21st. And although the meeting begins on the early side at 7:30AM, to compensate I understand our reality will be well augmented by an irresistible Bouchon Bakery buffet. See you there!