While the smartphone rules today’s tech world as the main computing device, the next major hardware platform is widely expected to be a version of augmented reality glasses.
The big pictureFacebook, Apple, Microsoft, and Google are all pursuing this vision, and many pieces are starting to fall into place. But the holy grail of an affordable computer in something not much bulkier than standard goggles will likely take a few more years.
How it works: With such glasses, users can see what is in front of them, but with digital information superimposed on each other, such as map directions, contact details and messages. Cameras and microphones make it possible to capture images and sounds and enable various types of input, with speech likely to play a key role.
Who is involved: Apple, Google, Facebook and Microsoft have all shown interest and invested heavily in the underlying technologies. Analysts also expect phone manufacturers such as Samsung and PC manufacturers such as Lenovo to participate.
Be smart: If you look closely, you can see in plain sight some of the key underlying technologies that are already being developed and tested.
- Facebook plans to introduce smart glasses later this year, designed in collaboration with Ray-Ban maker Luxottica. These glasses – a more advanced take on the niche glasses that Snap sells – probably don’t offer all the options, but rather serve as a springboard, both in terms of technology and to help people get used to such devices in their lives.
- Oculus from Facebook unit has mainly focused on virtual rather than augmented reality, but there is a fair amount of crossover between the two. The Oculus Quest 2 and other VR headsets can deliver AR by using cameras to look into the outside world.
- Microsoft already sells Hololens, which packs the power of a Windows 10 computer into a headset, although it’s still too bulky and expensive to appeal to consumers. Microsoft has made it available to developers and some enterprise customers, as well as early on working with the US military.
- Google Glass, the first device in this category to capture mainstream attention, flopped as a consumer product, but a slightly updated version is still being sold to businesses.
- Apple has shared some details, but has taken many steps – including a recent move from executive Dan Riccio, reportedly to lead Apple’s VR / AR efforts. According to reports from Bloomberg and The Information, Apple is preparing a VR headset that would also use cameras for viewing in the real world. The device, which may cost as much as $ 3,000 and will arrive next year, could serve as an opportunity for high-end consumers and developers alike to test the technology that fully developed AR glasses would work with.
- Both Apple’s AirPods and Apple Watch represent miniaturization efforts of the technology and ways to test individual components, such as the spatial audio feature that comes with the latest AirPods Pro. Several companies hope to solve some of the difficult technical challenges of AR glasses by distributing the computing work across multiple devices. Among other things, Qualcomm wants to transfer some of the processing needs of the glasses to the smartphones of users.
- Pokemon Go maker Niantic has a partnership with Qualcomm and has also been busy mapping the real world and developing the types of augmented reality experiences that consumers want.
Yes but: The technical hurdles are many, especially when the goal is really as light and unobtrusive as glasses.
- Miniaturization: While many of the computer components for such glasses are included, including small cameras, microphones and processors, not all of the components are small enough to have something that is both fully featured and lightweight.
- Battery life: Just like you want your smartphone to last all day, you want your smart glasses to work everywhere. Many of the current headsets, both VR and AR, only last a few hours between charges.
- Warmth: Today’s processor chips are more energy efficient than ever, but they still give off heat when they work hard, and users won’t appreciate that when the device rests on their face.
- Screen: Many of today’s AR glasses have only a limited field of view, rather than the ideal experience of being able to place computer images anywhere the eye can see. Devices also struggle to provide a light source that is bright enough to make their projected information easily visible in sunlight.
- Cost: Putting all the necessary technology into one device, even with the above limitations, adds up to a product costing 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,” Qualcomm VP Hugo Swart told Axios. “AR glasses need to be smaller, lighter in weight and have a longer battery life. Qualcomm is committed to making AR glasses the next big step.”
Even more difficult than the technical challenges are the social dilemmas of the new technology, Andrew Bosworth, head of Facebook Reality Labs, told Axios.
“How do you fit all of this into a socially acceptable, comfortable form factor that people think would suit the way they want to express themselves? And then, of course, you have to take into account the people who don’t have the glasses. them? How do you solve their inconvenience? How do you overcome the privacy issues with cameras and microphones that are always on? “
– Andrew Bosworth from Facebook, to Axios
That’s part of why Facebook launched Project Aria, an attempt to measure societal response to smart glasses with always-on cameras and microphones.
Our thought bubble: Even if users can be persuaded to trust that their glasses won’t spy on their friends and family or record their private conversations, the new devices will set new standards for every social situation imaginable.
Flashback: These questions came back when Google first introduced Project Glass in 2012.
- Part of what doomed the groundbreaking smart glasses as wearable to consumers – immature technology aside – was that they were widely perceived as creepy and intrusive. (Remember this?)