While the smartphone dominates today’s technological world as the main computing device, the next big hardware platform is expected to be a version of augmented reality glasses.
The whole picture: Facebook, Apple, Microsoft and Google are all following this vision and many tracks are starting to take hold. But the Holy Grail of a computer accessible from the inside of something that is not much larger than a standard pair of glasses is probably a few years away.
How it works: Such glasses allow users to see what is in front of them, but with overlapping digital information such as map directions, contact information, and messages. Cameras and microphones allow the capture of images and sounds and allow different types of input, speech probably plays a key role.
Who is involved: Apple, Google, Facebook and Microsoft have shown interest and invested heavily in core technologies. Analysts also expect phone makers like Samsung and computer makers like Lenovo to take action.
Be smart: If you look closely, you can see some of the key technologies that underlie already developed and visually tested.
- Facebook plans to launch smart glasses later this year, designed in partnership with manufacturer Ray-Ban Luxottica. It is unlikely that these glasses – a more advanced twist on the niche glasses Snap sold – offer full capabilities, but rather serve as a cornerstone, both in terms of technology and help. people get used to such devices in their lives.
- Oculus on Facebook The unit focused mostly on virtual reality, rather than augmented reality, but there is a fair amount of crossover between the two. Oculus Quest 2 and other VR headsets can deliver AR using cameras to see the outside world.
- Microsoft already sells Hololens, which wraps the power of a Windows 10 computer in a headset, although it is still too bulky and expensive to attract consumers. Microsoft has made it available to developers and enterprise customers and is also working with the US military early on.
- Google Glass, the first device in this category to attract general attention, fell as a consumer product, but a slightly updated version is still sold to companies.
- Apple he shared some details, but made many moves – including a recent move by executive Dan Riccio, who allegedly led Apple’s VR / AR efforts. According to reports from Bloomberg and The Information, Apple is preparing a VR headset that would also use cameras to see in the real world. The device, which could cost $ 3,000 and will arrive next year, could serve as a chance for both state-of-the-art consumers and developers to start testing the technology that would make fully-developed AR glasses work. work.
- Both Apple AirPods and Apple Watch represents efforts to miniaturize technology and test individual components, such as the spatial audio feature included with the latest AirPods Pro. Several companies hope to solve some tough technical challenges of AR glasses by dividing computing work between several devices. Qualcomm, among others, aims to download some of the processing needs of glasses on users’ smartphones.
- Niantic, the creator of Pokemon Go has a partnership with Qualcomm and has also been busy mapping the real world and developing the kinds of augmented reality experiences consumers will want.
Yes but: There are many technical obstacles, especially if the lens is really something as light and discreet as eyeglasses.
- Miniaturization: Although many of the computer parts are in place for such glasses, including small cameras, microphones and processors, the components are not all small enough to have something both fully equipped and lightweight.
- Battery life: Just as you want your smartphone to last all day, you want to be able to work smart glasses wherever you go. Many of today’s headphones, both VR and AR, only last a few hours between charges.
- The heat: Today’s processor faces are more energy efficient than ever, but still emit heat when working hard, and users won’t appreciate it when the device sits on its face.
- Display: Many of today’s AR glasses have only a limited field of vision, rather than the ideal experience of being able to place calculation images wherever your eyes see. The devices also have difficulty providing a light source bright enough for the projected information to be easily visible in sunlight.
- Cost: Putting all the necessary technologies in one device, even with the above limitations, adds up to a product that costs several thousand dollars.
“The challenge is to make the technology more energy efficient so that it can be worn for a longer period of time without affecting the form factor,” Hugo Swart told Qualcomm’s Swap VP. “AR glasses need to become smaller, lighter and have a longer battery life. Qualcomm is committed to making AR glasses the next important thing.”
Even harder than the technical challenges are the social dilemmas of the new technology, the head of Facebook Reality Labs, Andrew Bosworth, told Axios.
“How do you frame all this in a socially acceptable, comfortable form factor that people feel is appropriate for the way they want to express themselves? And then, of course, you have to consider people who don’t have glasses. How does this affect them, how do you solve them for their discomfort? How do you solve privacy issues with always on cameras and microphones? “
– Andrew Bosworth from Facebook to Axios
That’s why Facebook launched the Aria Project, an effort to measure society’s reaction to smart glasses that always have cameras and microphones.
Our thought bubble: Even if users can be persuaded to trust that their glasses do not spy on their friends and family or record their private conversations, the new devices will require new rules for every conceivable social situation.
Flashback: These questions arose when Google first introduced Project Glass in 2012.
- Part of what condemned pioneering smart glasses as consumables – beyond immature technology – was that they were widely viewed as creepy and intrusive. (Memorize this?)