Pokémon Go is a “breakthrough” for AR gaming, since the game introduced and normalised the concept for a wider audience. It may be a breakthrough for the idea of seeing stuff overlaid through your phone as if your phone is a magic lens on the world. The public hasn’t experienced that idea on a mass scale before. The knock-on effect: big business now believes in AR. This is just the tip of the iceberg.
Pokémon Go has shown the capabilities of these tools and companies all over the world are now looking into how they too can utilise the AR and VR phenomenon. From the health industry through to publishing, many are beginning to realise that the benefits of these ever-evolving technologies are enormous. One game doesn’t make for a tech revolution, of course. So what needs to happen with AR for it to take off – and how will we be using it in 2017 beyond catching Pikachus?
There is a question of what form the hardware will take. Will augmented reality be used via our smartphones or will we be viewing the world via smart glasses? Anyone who’s experienced Google Glass is unlikely to be convinced by the so-called smarts of such glasses, but that early hardware prototype wasn’t actually true AR – it merely displayed data inside your field of vision, rather than overlaying it onto reality.
Real AR will require much better hardware than Google Glass, and it’s already on the way. Perhaps the best example is Microsoft’s HoloLens headset – available to early adopters for $3,000 – but like VR headsets, it’s geared towards entertainment and gaming. HoloLens might be a bit bulky/ pervasive [to wear walking down the street]. Plus, you need to be able to function in the ‘real world’ as well as in the virtual one. Instead, AR display technology will be built into glasses, safety goggles or even helmet visors, enabling you to receive directions, instructions or view your cycling stats in an unobtrusive way.
AR isn’t only for sports data or engineering instructions, either. Google Glass attempted to show your social network notifications and other updates. AR could be how we interact with all aspects of our digital lives. Some predict that the AR platform is going to be the next big platform after the smartphone. Of course, Pokémon Go proves we don’t need headsets to engage with augmented reality. You won’t need the glasses; you’ll be able to point tables, phones, devices, screens and all sorts at the world, and get the experience. That could be the future of everything from advertising – point your phone at a film poster to watch the scene come alive – to e-commerce, where device cameras will provide a view of how that new frock will suit you. Carlton Books, for example, has adopted interactive learning, implementing AR technology into its children’s book. So instead of simply reading about a dinosaur, children can see them come alive and ‘walk’ across the table as a book is read.
I think many commentators are overplaying the potential of VR – it has limited applications, closed systems, and there’s still many barriers to overcome – and underplaying the potential of AR, which has many applications, can be integrated into your lifestyle, and has few barriers to adoption.
Image Credits: Giphy
