# Augmented Reality

Discover how augmented reality mirrors scriptural visions of expanded perception, connecting Mormon theology’s embrace of embodied creation with technology that enhances—rather than replaces—our world.

[Image: Augmented reality adds intelligible layers—words, images, and spatial cues—to what is already present, while leaving the physical scene in view as the primary reality.]

Augmented reality designates a class of technologies that overlay digital information onto the physical world—text, images, sound, or spatial data made visible through a headset, a screen, or optics thin enough to be worn as ordinary glasses. Unlike a simple pop-up notification on a phone screen, true augmented reality anchors digital objects in three-dimensional space so they appear to actually exist in the room with you. While virtual reality replaces the environment entirely, augmented reality only adds to it: the physical world remains front and center while additional layers of meaning are superimposed upon it. This distinction matters.

## Visionary Aids

[Image: The Restoration catalog of sacred relics includes the Liahona, which provided dynamic, location-specific information according to the faith and diligence of the bearer.]

Spiritual manifestations in scripture often take the form of augmented perception rather than transportation to another realm. Elisha’s servant, terrified by the surrounding army, has his eyes opened to see the mountain full of horses and chariots of fire already present around them (2 Kings 6:17). The vision does not relocate him—it layers additional information onto the same physical scene. The Brother of Jared sees the finger of the Lord because a veil is lifted, not because he leaves the world behind. These accounts suggest a theological model in which the sacred is not elsewhere but underperceived—present but imperceptible to the natural eye.

Indeed, Moses 1:11 clearly states that our natural eyes are limited and often require an upgrade, or "spiritual eyes," to comprehend the full picture of our environment. To overcome this limitation, Restoration theology has a rich history of using visionary aids to expand human perception. In Mosiah 8, a seer is described specifically as someone who uses a *Urim and Thummim* to access information that is otherwise hidden. Doctrine and Covenants 130 builds on this theme, describing a white seer stone that reveals the inner workings of higher kingdoms. We see a similar concept with the Liahona. In the Book of Mormon, it functions remarkably like a modern heads-up display—a physical object that updates with new, location-specific text based on the faith and diligence of the bearer.

## Expanding the Range of Moral Perception

[Image: To see is already to choose what can be healed, built, or prevented; tools that make hidden conditions visible enlarge moral responsibility as surely as they enlarge technical capability.]

Mormon transhumanism reads augmented reality technologies as practical extensions of the prophetic pattern. Heads-up displays that surface real-time health data, spatial computing that maps invisible infrastructure, mixed-reality tools that allow surgeons or engineers to see through and into the systems they are working on—each expands the range of what a person can perceive, and therefore the range of what a person can respond to with intelligence and compassion. A technology that makes previously invisible need, complexity, or consequence visible is, in functional terms, doing something prophetic: it is expanding the scope of what can be known and acted upon.

However, expanding our vision introduces serious moral implications. We often assume that if we can just see a problem, we will automatically fix it. While it is true that suffering that cannot be seen tends not to be addressed, decades of research into humanitarian media show that constantly seeing distant suffering can actually lead to compassion fatigue. Just because a technology makes hidden things visible doesn't mean it automatically makes us act on them.

Because of this, the moral value of augmented reality depends entirely on how it is applied. A medical headset that helps a surgeon safely navigate a complex procedure carries a very different moral weight than a consumer headset designed to plaster our living rooms with targeted advertisements. Used well, augmented reality can be a powerful tool for directing our attention where it is needed most.

*See also*: [Accountability](/topical-guide/accountability), [Agency](/topical-guide/agency), [Ethics](/topical-guide/ethics), [Machine Learning](/topical-guide/machine-learning), [Mass Surveillance](/topical-guide/mass-surveillance), [Mind](/topical-guide/mind), [Sousveillance](/topical-guide/sousveillance), [Superhuman](/topical-guide/superhuman), [Transhumanism](/topical-guide/transhumanism)