The smartphone’s replacement is coming soon
Smartphones have been around for nearly two decades, but it was Apple’s introduction of the iPhone back in 2007 that ended up introducing the smartphone as we know it today. The smartphone, however, is aging and will soon be replaced by something much simpler and more intuitive.
Fundamentally, the smartphone has remained relatively unchanged from the form popularized by the first iPhone; a colourful brick with a touch screen in front and a camera at the back. Sure, the underlying technology has improved drastically. They’ve gotten bigger, faster and some can go days on a single charge, but smartphones have become ‘boring’ and there is something coming that will make the smartphone obsolete.
The future is a pair of glasses
Augmented Reality (AR) headsets, often referred to as Mixed Reality (MR) headsets, have been around for decades, with the first instance of this technology being introduced in the form of the Virtual Fixtures system developed at the U.S. Air Force’s Armstrong Laboratory in 1992. Since then, it’s been growing steadily as the technological advancements needed to successfully produce a commercial product became available.
Google was the first of the current tech giants to ship a pair of mixed reality glasses, when they introduced the Google Glass system in 2013. However it’s been limited to enterprise use, with its small display limiting use cases. Microsoft shipped its first HoloLens mixed reality systems in 2016, with a larger display receiving a slightly more enthusiastic reception.
The concept is relatively simple; a pair of glasses featuring a transparent display that projects virtual elements into your field of view. To keep the design relatively unobtrusive, cloud computing will handle the load from all of the data captured by the sensors needed to make the device function properly.
The smartphone, personal computer, television, gaming console and countless other devices will slowly be replaced with a simple pair of glasses, similar to how the smartphone replaced the phone, watch, alarm clock, calendar, camera and other devices that now seem archaic. This, however, will not be an easy task.
Over the next few years, these devices will be gradually introduced into the consumer market, Apple has already filed several patents that seem to suggest they are working on a pair of glasses of their own and taking their track record into account, it shouldn’t be too long before other brands follow in their foot steps and release devices of their own.
Microsoft recently announced a $22 billion deal that will see them supply the US military with over 120,000 HoloLens mixed reality devices. Although many have criticized the deal, it’s becoming apparent that the government and other sectors see them as useful tools and will pave the way for them to reach the consumer market.
Let’s imagine for a second how these devices will work. You put on a pair of glasses, the sensors capture your environment and the screen starts to display virtual items in your field of view. Need a 50" TV? It projects one onto a wall nearby. Need to check your emails? A popup opens where you can access them.
Similar to Virtual Reality (VR), Augmented Reality will change the way we consume content such as games and videos. Instead of the current 3D world on a relatively 2D display, games and other media will become more immersive, entering your surroundings and allowing you to feel more connected to the content you consume.
Google, Microsoft and Apple aren’t the only ones working on Augmented or Mixed Reality devices. Facebook announced their intentions to produce smart glasses in 2018. At the time, Ficus Kirkpatrick, Facebook’s head of augmented reality, told TechCrunch that “We want to see those glasses come into reality, and I think we want to play our part in helping to bring them there.”
Last year Facebook announced a partnership with luxury eyewear manufacturer Luxottica, with the intent of launching a pair of smart glasses sometime later in 2021 which would act as a precursor to their eventual AR offering.
Similarly, Snap released a pair of camera-equipped glasses called Spectacles in late 2016, followed by two successors in 2018 and 2019. These glasses were simply equipped with HD cameras to produce content, primarily for its Snapchat platform. For years the company has introduced many AR lenses to use in its app, and it’s becoming apparent that they see AR content as the next step in their evolution.
Then there is Niantic Labs, the company behind the hugely successful Pokemon Go augmented reality game, released in 2016. Last month their CEO, John Hanke, tweeted a teaser of their upcoming AR device saying that it is “Exciting to see the progress we’re making to enable new kinds of devices that leverage our platform…” It remains unclear if this will just be a development platform, or a full consumer product.
Unlike many other companies in this space, Amazon opted to release their audio-focused smart glasses, the Echo Frames, in 2019. These glasses focus on connecting the user with Amazon’s Alexa virtual assistant and thus have no visual aspect attached to it, but does highlight one of the different ways we would be able to control smart glasses in the future. Amazon is no stranger to AR glasses, having patented some as far back as 2015.
Of course, not everybody agrees that AR is the future of consumer technology. Intel famously announced their pair of Vaunt smart glasses in 2018, before shutting the project down entirely, with a statement saying “Intel is continuously working on new technologies and experiences. Not all of these develop into a product we choose to take to market.” The company later sold their Vault portfolio to North, maker of the Focals headset.
With so many technology giants set on producing their own smart glasses, it becomes evident that they are in agreement that AR will become a big part of the consumer electronics space in the future. When exactly this will happen, however, remains unclear.