AR is not just for fun. It will change our lives. Here is how.
Augmented Reality, Virtual Reality, Mixed Reality - these are the new buzzwords in the tech world.
For those who are confused between VR and AR-
Virtual Reality (VR) is a technology that immerses you in a virtual world. For example, you can walk inside Taj Mahal while sitting in your room.
Where as, Augmented Reality (AR) overlays digital elements in real world. For example, you can place a virtual TV on your wall and watch it.
I beleive that AR and VR should co-exist. Together, they can build a better world for us.
However, the present use cases of these technologies is simply for fun and entertainment. There are some industrial uses cases though. Currently, they’re not something that normal people would use in their daily lives. You might have a Google Cardboard, or a cheap VR headset with you. But you’ll never use it like your smartphone or laptop. Right?
These technologies will become mainstream, As big as the smartphone. May be in less than 10 years or so. I’m not talking about AR/VR apps on mobile phones. But, Glasses. It’s something similar to normal eye glasses that we use. You may call it Smart Glasses.
Here is how Smart Glasses will change our lives.
We’ll never have to look down to read a screen.
Our current smartphone has a limitation. The screen size. Well you may disagree with my point. But think. Haven’t you hated your smartphone atleast once when it messed up an important email, or an online registration form that you wanted to submit but accidently clicked the back button or reset button?
Imagine how awesome it would be if the whole eyeview in front of you could become a screen? Without blocking your view from the realworld?
When you receive a message, It’ll show up right in front of you. You can see your driving directions overlayed on the real road. You don’t have to look at the screen at every turn.
You can even even place a virtual laptop in front of you and work on it. You don’t need a bag to carry it with you.
We’ll see things that our normal eyes cannot see and capture moments that a normal camera can’t.
Yes. Our eyes will become smart. For example, if you visit a historic place, let’s say a Palace. All you could see with your normal eyes is just the palace. You cannot see the King or the soldiers who were there years ago. All you could do to know the history is by listening to your guide or reading an article about that place.
But with smart glasses, you can time travel. You could see the palace as you were visiting that place 1000s of years ago. You can even take a selfie with the King.
We’ll be able to virtually teleport to old memories.
We capture great moments of our lives as photos and videos. Even after years, we’ll go through those old photographs to bring back those good memories. Instead of just looking at still photographs, what if you could virtually teleport to that memory and experience it again? Wouldn’t that be awesome?
Yes, It’ll be possible with Virtual Reality.
We’ll be able to teleport to a location before we actually go there.
Well think that you’re going to book a hotel room. Currently, all you could do is to read the reviews and view some photos to make a decision about the Hotel.
But soon, you’ll be able to walk around different rooms in that hotel and pick the one that you like.
Also, You’d be able to go on a quick virtual tour to your favorite holiday destination without actually going there.
You could even attend a meeting in a virtual conference room with people from different parts of the world. You can talk to them just like you all are in a single room. Forget video conferencing!
We’ll interact with real life objects as we would interact with a smartphone application.
Just look at the AC and you’ll see virtual controls right next to it. You can simply change the temparature or fan speed by touching the virtual touch controls.
On the way to your office, you saw a poster of New Year party. At that moment, you can book your seat by clicking the virtual button floating on that poster. No need to Google the name of that party to find it’s website.
We’ll be able to try/experience an item before we buy it.
Brands are already doing this. You can try different furnitures on your home even before you buy. Just look at your empty living room wearing smart glasses and arrange the virtual furnitures. You can choose the right furniture that matches your room’s size and design. It’ll be a great benefit when it comes to online shopping for furnitures.
But, it’s not just for furnitures. You can even try watches from Amazon on your hand. Similar apps are already gaining popularity.
Our children will learn smarter
When I was in school, learning chemistry in highschool was like this -I had to look at the picture of an atom in my text book and imagine electrons revolving around the nucleus as the teacher says. It was hard. And teachers would never know if students are visualusing it the right way.
But today, classes became smart. Students can view videos of electrons moving around the nucleus. Learning became easier as they could easily understand what’s happening inside the atom. But still, it’s in a screen.
Tomorrow, they will see an atom in front of them, they could go around the atom and view how electrons are moving in the 3d space!
These are few of the use cases of smart glasses that I’m excited about. There’ll be a lot of other ways in which AR will improve our lives. How do you think these technologies will impact your life?
At Logidots, we are working on AR/VR technologies to build products that will make our lives easier. We’re working on a smart phone powered AR headset with which you can experience few of the above mentioned use cases.
