In 2019 I presented at the "Times of India" event in Mumbai about why it was a good time to look at AR again - there were some great trends, some amazing devices and some ambitious plans as to how VR and AR could be made more accessible to businesses and move beyond the only two fields that people seemed to care about which was AR for practical training, and immersive [gaming] experiences.
We all know how the next few years went - and whilst AR didn't go away - it wasn't really of much use from the confines of our own houses unless we were checking out virtual furniture to buy (not knowing how it would be delivered) or sudo AR checking out glasses shapes via webcams.
We also know that there was much Virtual World hype with metaverse experiences but that didn't really amount to much - it will I suspect one day - but not yet.
So, VR and AR lumped together? Now? Again? Really!!?
No, I'm not late to the Apple Vision party bandwagon - well, I am - but for different reasons. This is more about the balance of other integrate-able tech, the real advances in headsets and glasses and the weirdness of us all remembering being locked up but now we are not .. but we do have different experiences and expectations .. and we have changed.. And now tech that was supposed to have the answers, and didn't, but now might - MAY .. just MAY be welcomed by the majority.
Still with me.. Eye-rolling but still with me at least?
OK - a few moments of your time - I really believe we are in the bullseye of a lovely Venn Diagram (the middle most overlapping bit :p )
In one Venn circle is the obvious - tech advancement in AR and VR - the giants and the start-ups haven't stopped - if you don't believe me - go check out the differences between a Meta Quest 3 and the older 2. Go look at the Pico headsets.. Now look at the amazing advances with AR glasses - check out Rokid AR glasses, and look at their AR lite Kickstarter. These aren't 1000s of pound/dollar prototypes or massive bulky computers strapped to your nogging - these are the things that we were promised when we were kids on 'Tomorrows-World'. When you can buy this stuff on Amazon sub 400 quid - you are onto something.
Another circle - Article cheating here a bit (yes, I'm still refusing to use Chat GPT to tell me stuff I care about) - the previously mentioned acceptance of / awareness of / and perceived value of bringing Augmented Reality into your life, or immersing yourself in Virtual Reality - made easier by the often misunderstood/misused Mixed Reality (a combination of fully immersive and Augmented overlay as you -or the programmer - see fit, sometimes via AR screens that can “blank out reality” or more often these days - a hi-res forward-facing camera that allows you to see the real world inside your virtual one.
This is bigger than most people think - as we are all a little bit sceptical of the AR/VR climbs of expectation and valleys of dissolution but the massive (MASSIVE) shift of alternative technology adoption, interest in new ways, and acceptance of disruption of tools such as LLMs, massive leaps in Automation and robotics and even your nan talking about ultra personalisation like it's been around for 20 years is making us more malleable when it comes to the art of the possible- and if I'm honest - the expectation that things “should be better than this, with todays technology and all”. With clients, and students, families and general chatter - we are living in an amazing time where people are looking at their shocking bad customer experiences that can't remember their order, their calendars that seem dumb, the day-to-day spreadsheet tasks that should be “just done by the machines” so that that they can get on with more meaningful tasks. Side note - I tried to get on a GWR train last week back from London, scanned at the barrier to find a train so full I couldn't get on it. The lady I nearly mistook for my mum shouted loudly at her ticket - “How the hell can't a ticket barrier machine count tickets”
OK, fine, third circle. Remember I was trying to build a Venn Diagram back when we were all a bit younger. Platform. Interconnection. I've said it before, and I'll say it until the problem goes away - NONE of these technologies stand on their own - if you want a great AR or VR experience - you want to be able to combine great personalisation, obviously personalisation, the shiny new LLMs, the remote connections, the broad data sources, the secure transactions, the lag-free chat and anything that saves you time, adds value and brings JOY.. The best AR experiences are powered by AI, are highly personalized and feel like they have purpose.
Check out the Subtitle AR glasses if you want a wonderful example. The excellent learning platforms in VR that are powered by humans and tailored to the individual - check out Xennial's Immersive training platforms.
So for me, if you can combine all three - High fidelity great AR/VR experience, Meeting expectation and interconnected supporting tech it's a great recipe.
And why now - because:
- It is the best it's ever been
- It is a golden moment in expectation
- It is now not crap!
