If you are reading the latest news about Augmented Reality, you’ve probably read about Apple’s acquisition of an augmented reality headset startup and that many analysts predict that it Apple will release an AR headset in a few short years (rumors suggest 2019 unveil with devices coming in 2020).
It’s always fascinating watching Apple’s product design. If Apple releases an Augmented Reality headset, how would it look like, what features will it have?
The first thing that made me very curious is whether those AR glasses will have an onboard processor or will it uses the processing power of the iPhone?
There are a few things that trouble me about an onboard processor inside an eyewear. I don’t want electronic components staying on my head for a long period of time for health reasons.
Second, what about the size. Microsoft has done it with the HoloLens but those glasses are huge, definitely not something that I’ll be comfortable wearing for a long period of time, same goes for VR headsets. If Apple wants it to be comfortable and be comfortably used outdoors, it has to make it much smaller. The thing is that that type of miniaturization will cost a fortune to make. If there was an option, Microsoft would have done it with the HoloLens. That being said, due to the growing market of AR products, more investors invest in new technologies that will fit these AR glasses
I personally don’t want to see AR glasses used like VR glasses. I want to be able to wear them on a regular basis and get constant contextual content, notifications, real-time information, news, etc, as I walk down the street. Until someone will figure out how to access the part of the brain that can control our vision and project the information there (not in my generation), Apple has no choice but to use some sort of a screen that sits in front of our eyes and covers our entire field of view.
I have a feeling that Apple won’t put only half a leg into this product, but will go full-in and come up with an impressive and innovative smart glasses.
This brings me to another interesting point, what about people who already wear glasses.It will be really awkward wearing your own glasses and then the AR glasses on top of them. Will able release some sort of glass that will be able to replace current glasses?, I doubt it, but who knows.
The question is whether Apple can solve some of the design complexities of this wearable product and innovate well as they did with the introduction of the first iPhone. Will Apple bring another revolutionary product to the market that will make every go: “How couldn’t we think about it?”.
Thinking about usability. I think we might see a glasses frame with a retractable/folding display. This means that you can wear the glasses but the user can decide to retract the screen to use AR or fold the screen back to turn the device off.
Of course, bringing up the word glasses doesn’t mean that this rumored Apple wearable device will resemble the shape of standard glasses, but I find it hard to think of another better design for a product that supposes to perch in front of your eyes. Maybe it will be a projector that projects light onto the iris.
I’ve also read an article on cnbc.com where Tim Cook said that tech for AR glasses won’t be ready ‘anytime soon’. This article was from October 11, 2017. Like I’ve said earlier, if Apple to develop those glasses know, they will be very expensive to produce, and the HoloLens is proof for that. the AR industry has to gain more significant growth so investors will be convinced to pour millions or even billions in developing future technologies that can lead to a product that can answer the vision of Apple’s product designers and engineers and also be cheaper to produce so it can be sold to users at a reasonable price.
An expensive product means fewer users, and this means a smaller market for developers to develop apps for. This is why a product like HoloLens just can’t gain a significant market share and this is what Apple has decided to enter the market first with ARKit, and we can see the difference in the number of apps for each platform and which platform developers prefer developing for.
I am very curious to see the end product. I know that those glasses will certainly won’t be as slim and elegant as Tim Cook’s glasses, but this is Apple, just when you thought you know what’s coming, Apple pulls out a bomb and revolutionize the market by storm. It does it in the past, it adapted well to current market needs and there is no reason for Apple not to do it again with the AR Glasses.
What do you guys think, what those Apple AR glasses would be like?