PlayStation Vita set to revolutionise AR

Traditionally, Augmented Reality (AR) uses an AR marker or an AR card. The PS Vita does not. Discussed at today's Tokyo Game Show keynote, Kissei Matsumoto explains that Sony's upcoming handheld uses Wide Area AR - doing away with single cards and enabling multiple markers to create a wide player field.

...and that's not the only thing in store.

Gone are the days of "Single AR" like you might have seen. Now, there is WAAR - Wide Area Augmented Reality - so you can literally cover a table with AR cards and create your own virtual playing field.

Not a fan of scattering bits of marked card around the place? How about Markerless AR? As you may have guessed, that one does away with the marker cards completely. As demonstrated onstage, you will be able to - if you so choose - take a photo of your living room floor, and with a few button clicks, the Ape from Ape Escape will clamber out for you to play with.

Combine this markerless AR with the handheld's built in gyroscope and sensors, and you've got a pretty awesome little experience - all without any external assistance.

Shuhei Yoshida wanted a turn (wouldn't you?), and instead of filming a static object like the floor, he chose something smaller and more portable - a TGS brochure. Whaddya know, the Ape pops up out of the pages, just like magic. You can move the PS Vita around 360 degrees - getting a complete external (and sometimes internal!) view of the virtual object.

Pretty nifty - and all in the palm of your hand, come December.