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Two years ago, Ars described the appointment of Princeton computer science professor Ed Felten to be the Federal Trade Commission's first chief technologist as "a decision so shockingly sane that it's still a bit hard to believe." After 20 months on the job, Felten has wrapped up his tenure at the agency and returned to Princeton. He has been succeeded by Columbia computer scientist Steve Bellovin. So what's it like to be a geek in the land of lawyers? Ars Technica interviewed Felten by phone on Tuesday to find out. First, an important disclosure: Felten was my advisor when I was in grad school at Princeton from 2008 to 2011.

"n the long run, Felten hopes to see more technologists have a formal role in the policy process. « We've had some degree of success in intervening when something big is up, but that's not a sustainable model, » he said. He'd like to see technologists become « a community that is known and engaged consistently over time. » « I've thought about how other disciplines have managed to integrate themselves into the process, » he said. « Economists are a good example. They've been very effective in convincing policymakers that their expertise is important. » It would obviously be foolish for senior government officials to make economic policy without seeking input from trained economists. Perhaps someday, it will be seen as equally foolish to make technology policy without a computer scientist in the room"

Yet there's something intriguing about the concept of augmented reality, the notion of enhancing objects in the real world with virtual sounds and images and additional info. And when Google revealed earlier this year that it was developing glasses that will be part wearable computer, part digital assistant that flashes relevant data right before your eyes, augmented reality (AR) no longer seemed such a digital parlor trick. The geek gods had spoken. In fact, recent analysis by the London firm ABI Research concludes that the next big phase of AR-now largely played out on smartphones and tablets-will be through wearable tech. That's when the technology will become truly functional, when your glasses are able to tell you everything you want to know about the restaurants and stores on the block where you're walking.