The Future of Virtual and Augmented Reality and Apple’s Role In It
In an age where technological advancements have become the driving force behind everything innovative, Apple’s introducing a mixed reality headset comes across as somewhat surprising. The product is aimed at combining virtual reality with augmented reality, allowing users to experience the digital realm overlaid onto the real world. At $3,000, the Apple mixed reality headset seems to be an item only affordable by a few, and the world hasn’t exactly been asking for it. Currently, generative AI has taken the industry by storm, transforming how users interact with technology. So, with the emergence of a new way of interacting with computers, how will this affect Apple’s smartphone industry dominance, and what does this new techno-revolution mean for users?
The Impact of Generative AI on The Tech Industry
Generative AI, which has taken the industry by storm this year, is a new way to interact with technology. Its impact is expected to rival that of the iPhone’s multitouch screen when it was first launched 16 years ago. Despite being a relatively new technology, it’s clear that it’s here to stay. Currently, the focus is on its experimental use, which is having a massive impact on the tech industry, introducing new possibilities that were not available before.
Apple Dominated Smartphone Industry and the Impact of ChatGPT
It’s not yet straightforward how the generative AI as the new way to interact with computers will affect the iPhone dominant smartphone industry that Apple dominates. The text-heavy interactions of ChatGPT are not suitable for small screens, and development for voice- and image-based applications of the phone technology is still ongoing. Therefore, as of now, generative AI has become the more crucial experimental focus of the tech industry, rather than the immersive world of virtual reality.
The Immersive World of Virtual Reality vs. Smartphone Dominance
Apple’s venture into the world of virtual and augmented reality must be weighed against a larger set of goals. It’s best seen as a hedge against future technology disruption, a relatively modest but still useful extension of Apple’s existing universe of services and gadgets, and a placeholder for a technological revolution likely to take many years to unfold. This new development in technology is merely an experimental phase, and it seems that it’s already becoming a thing of the past, giving room for new ways to revolutionize the technological world.
What Does the Future Hold?
It’s no secret that technology will continue to advance exponentially, making current technology obsolete in the future. The industry formerly known as Facebook attempted the leap beyond the smartphone by acquiring virtual reality company Oculus nine years ago. It failed dramatically as only 8.5 million VR headsets were sold last year, according to an estimate by Interactive Data Corporation. This leaves the door open for Apple to explore the new possibilities that this technology presents.
Looking Beyond the Headset
Even if sales for Apple’s mixed reality headset are minimal for an extended period, the headset should still be a moderately lucrative addition to Apple’s lineup, tying consumers more tightly to its forever-expanding digital universe. Apple has several highly successful digital services such as music, video content, and game subscriptions. With a suite of its own digital services, other VR experiences that drive demand for its headsets are already in the pipeline.
The Future of the Industry
As impressive as the technology behind the device is, it still suffers from the common problem of all VR and AR headsets: most people don’t want to don a bulky headset or shut themselves off from the world to enter a different digital realm. Until technology provides the same experience as lightweight eyewear, or even contact lenses that make the technology invisible, VR and AR are unlikely to infiltrate everyday life the way smartphones have. However, if Apple finally launches its headphones next week, it will have taken the all-important first step.
Additional Piece:
What Apple’s mixed reality headset says about the future of VR
In the years gone by, the tech industry landscape has been dominated by the smartphone industry, with Apple leading the pack. However, that is all set to change since several players, including Facebook, Microsoft, and Google, have started exploring other futuristic technologies. The latest entrant to this technology space is Apple’s mixed reality headset, a product with the potential of revolutionizing how we interact with reality. The question is, does it have a place in the current and future tech industry?
The Need to Adapt
The evolution of technology has made it crucial for companies to adapt and innovate if they want to stay ahead of the curve. With each new development, companies adopt a different approach to stay relevant, as was the case with Apple’s introduction of the iPhone’s multitouch screen in 2007. With the generative AI dominating the industry, it will be interesting to see what happens to the current smartphone industry in the coming years.
The Future of the Virtual Reality Industry
Apple’s release of their mixed reality headset took the world by surprise. However, for the virtual reality (VR) industry, this is a step that was long overdue. VR has always represented a new world of opportunities, creating an immersive, engaging, and interactive experience unlike anything else. For the most part, it was thought to be the future of gaming, offering a level of immersion that traditional flat-screen gaming was unable to provide. However, its application spans far beyond just gaming to areas such as education, healthcare, and others.
What the Tech Industry Thinks of Apple’s Mixed Reality Headset
In the tech industry, mixed reality is the next big thing. Unlike virtual reality, which makes it possible to build immersive digital environments that transport users away from the real world, mixed reality combines the digital and physical worlds. Therefore, for companies like Apple, releasing a mixed reality headset is a step towards claiming a stake in the direction in which the industry is going.
Challenges in the Mixed Reality Industry
The virtual and augmented reality industries pose a major challenge to the tech companies venturing into it. Firstly, although Apple’s mixed reality headset comes with an impressive set of features, it is priced at $3,000, making it an expensive luxury product. Secondly, most people do not want to shut themselves away from the world to enter into a digital realm. Therefore, the current stay-at-home requirements during the coronavirus pandemic may be the best time for these tech companies to come up with newer, less bulky, and intrusive technology.
Summary
Apple’s mixed reality headset seems to be a statement of intent, rather than an end in itself. At around $3,000, it will only appeal to a handful of enthusiasts and developers looking to build software for it. The world isn’t exactly clamoring for it, making it a relatively modest but still useful extension of Apple’s existing universe of services and gadgets, and a placeholder for a technological revolution that’s likely to take many years to unfold. It’ll serve as a hedge for future technology disruptions and give users an immersive experience of a different kind. Whether it’s enough to revolutionize how we interact with technology remains to be seen.
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What if Apple unveils its biggest new product in years and the world yawns?
Next week’s unveiling of Apple’s mixed reality headset, a product that combines virtual reality with augmented reality, which overlays a digital world onto a real one, seems eerily out of step with the times.
Generative AI has taken the tech industry by storm this year. It could be the most important new way to interact with computers in a long time, with the kind of impact that resulted from the iPhone’s multitouch screen 16 years ago.
It is not yet clear how this new form of AI will affect the Apple-dominated smartphone dominance. ChatGPT’s text-heavy interactions aren’t suitable for small screens, and voice- and image-based applications of the phone technology are still in development. But for now, this has become the more important experimental focus of the tech industry, rather than the immersive world of virtual reality.
Even without this explosion of interest in a different corner of the tech world, the headset that Apple has worked for years to perfect would still be strangely out of place for most consumers. At around $3,000, its hefty price tag will limit sales to a handful of enthusiasts, as well as developers who want to build software for it. And the world hasn’t asked for a cheaper VR device (Meta’s Quest 2 will soon be selling for just $299). Most people who have tried virtual reality are amazed by the novelty, but feel little desire to wear a headset when they want to work, play or have fun.
However, Apple’s venture into virtual and augmented reality needs to be weighed against a larger set of goals. It’s best seen as a hedge against future technology disruption, a relatively modest but still useful extension of Apple’s existing universe of services and gadgets, and a placeholder for a technological revolution likely to take many years to unfold.
The cover is against threats to Apple’s iPhone empire. It’s not clear if or when the smartphone will lose its central place in people’s digital lives, but Apple clearly needs to bet more on the future.
The company formerly known as Facebook was the first to attempt the leap beyond the smartphone, with its acquisition of virtual reality company Oculus nine years ago. It failed significantly: Only 8.5 million VR headsets were sold last year, according to an estimate by Interactive Data Corporation. That still leaves the field wide open for Apple.
Even if sales are minimal for an extended period, the headset should be a moderately lucrative addition to Apple’s line-up and another way to tie users more tightly to its expanding digital universe. With a suite of its own digital services, such as music, video content and game subscriptions, Apple will be well positioned to develop the VR experiences needed to drive demand for its headsets.
The 34 million software developers registered to work on Apple devices are an even more powerful resource. It’s unclear what the “killer apps” for VR will be, but the combined efforts of these folks make it likely they’ll make it to Apple’s headsets first.
This has left most Wall Street analysts confident about the expected extension of Apple’s hardware lineup. Goldman Sachs, for example, expects its headphone sales to reach $18 billion in five years. This would give a useful boost to Apple’s division that sells wearables, home devices and accessories, which made $41 billion in sales last year. One wild card is the high-margin services sold alongside headsets: if consumers are willing to pay for the deeply immersive experiences that come with virtual reality, software sales could eventually overshadow the amount spent each year on hardware. as they do in the console gaming market.
Finally, as a placeholder in a major new technology category, an Apple headset would be a statement of intent, rather than an end in itself. As impressive as the technology behind the device is, it will still suffer from the common problem of all VR and AR headsets: most people don’t want to don a bulky headset or shut themselves off from the world to enter a different digital realm.
Until the same experiences can be made into lightweight eyewear — or even, one day, contact lenses that make the technology completely invisible — VR and AR are unlikely to infiltrate everyday life the way smartphones have. But if Apple finally launches its headphones next week, it will have taken the all-important first step.
richard.waters@ft.com
https://www.ft.com/content/9d0aa231-40fb-4d02-8e94-79930d30c133
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