“Apple wants to hire someone to help it deliver ‘the next paradigm of user interfaces and entirely new interaction models,'” Jonny Evans writes for Computerworld. “What might such user interfaces do, and why will we use them?”
“In light of Apple’s job ad, the years of work it has been doing on the development of AR glasses, and the evolution of ARKit, it feels like a good time to consider how these technologies (augmented reality, virtual reality and machine intelligence) could enter daily life,” Evans writes. “It’s important not to underestimate the mission. Apple’s own history suggests that when it comes to developing a 3D UI in AR, the company will want to develop something that defines the category as effectively as its Mac, iPhone and iPad platforms have done.”
MacDailyNews Take: Yup.
The impact of augmented reality cannot be overstated. It will be a paradigm shift larger than the iPhone and the half-assed clones it begat. — MacDailyNews, August 4, 2017
Evans writes, “To achieve that it must figure out how to create a platform that can evolve rapidly over time, unleash waves of third-party innovation and enable the creation and consumption of user experiences that provide tangible benefits to both consumer and enterprise users.”
Read more in the full article here.
MacDailyNews Take:
Stylish eyewear that actually delivers useful data to wearers is potentially a huge market and Apple is exactly the company to deliver just such a wearable. — MacDailyNews, January 25, 2017
Well, if Apple delivers glasses that take photos, record sound and video — it will be Apple’s “stylish” version of a glasshole.
Personally, I prefer REALITY over fantasy Hollywood type AR and Hollywood movies. Simply have no use for them both.
That said, keep my eyes and my mind open …
No. Apple will most assuredly not copy Google’s Glasshole Glasses; The two companies’ MOs are supremely divergent.
Fingers crossed, but I suspect you are indeed correct …
No, Apple has been following other companies since Cook took over.
Whatever Google does, Apple will either buy it for rebranding to consumers (iCloud), bake it into the Apple OS (Google Search), or make a half assed imitation of it (maps, beacons, trackers, nfc, iAds, software and iOS hardware features too numerous to count). Apple is NOT the innovative company it was when Jobs ran the show.
Sad, but true. We need a big broom to clean out the executive offices …
The glasses paradigm is a problem. People don’t want to wear them. The next evolution I see is more fusion between multi-touch and desktop class experiences and software converging. Think Surface Studio PC but Mac style, with responsive applications that are written once and work on all screens.
Think large screens that are placed on walls, that pivot, that are on streets, etc. When everything becomes a screen, an operating system needs to accommodate that world. Right now, if you take a picture of your office, it should look very different in 15 years. You will have larger screens and screens on desk surfaces and walls. They will be multi-touch and have precise input like pen and mouse.
Apple needs a new operating system and a new class of hardware for this.
Thinking that people will wear glasses and geek out on augmented reality and that’s the next paradigm is stupid. It’s too limited in ways like a smartwatch as a computing platform.
Apple could try implementing something similar to Google Lens.
https://www.techrepublic.com/article/with-update-google-lens-could-be-an-essential-ai-tool-for-business-travelers/?ftag=TREae06245&bhid=23896103580983345992207749296140
“Thinking that people will wear glasses and geek out on augmented reality and that’s the next paradigm is stupid. It’s too limited in ways like a smartwatch as a computing platform.”
Totally agree it is dumb as a box of rocks. I can’t imagine sustaining AR daily. Like sitting in a circus or a magic show 365 days a year. That will get old very fast if AR is a one-trick pony. Like I said, i’ll Keep an open mind.
Many other fine ideas in your post … 👍🏻
Exactly. Just because a technology can be done doesn’t make it desirable.
I don’t want to wear glasses that put a virtual world between me and reality. I want reality. I don’t want to evolve into some sort of creature plugged into a matrix where I just live in a virtual bubble.
But as GoeB said, I will keep an open mind about it.
You said it better, wade … 👍🏻
But these will be AR glasses not VR … it wont isolate you from reality… it will only layer it with additional useful information like HUDs in cars and fighter jet pilot’s helmets…. etc. .. (now in extreme cases it may do way more than that.. like offering a totaly immersive experiance ) but i believe the main functionality will be enhancing reality with additional layers of information.
Ex.. navigation, translations, reminders, notifications… visualization… offering information on envirnoments and objetcs, structures….. and so on and on….
Interesting application operations take, Jimbo. The devil or is it God is in the details. Be interesting to see what they come up with …
@yojimbo: I get what you are saying about AR vs VR in glasses. But even AR is a huge distraction from reality. Scientists have shown that the conscious portion of the human mind does not multitask; it only switches tasks quickly. So even an AR HUD would be a major barrier between you and reality.
But as noted before, I will keep an open mind.
AR as a helpful tool that does not distract nor become a barrier is a reality. Take Google Goggles/Lens which allows you to translate signs/text in foreign languages to English simply by pointing your camera at it. Having that function in glasses would be quite the killer app for tourists.
Maybe something along Google’s Project Soli lines would be the ‘next’ UI frontier.
The only real problem I can see of an AR/VR UI is how to give haptic or audio feedback to user actions like clicking, dragging, rotating, squeezing, etc.
Touch Bar strips on steroids for EVERYONE!
It’s a mistake to look at gadgets and machines when trying to visualize a new way of doing things. Look at the human. If you examine a HUMAN interacting with technology, you will see only two parts of the person are utilized. We receive data with our eyes, and transmit to the machine with our fingers. These two body parts are overwhelmed with use, whole little else of the human is used. (Attempts to use voice and sound exist, but get similarly overwhelmed without much bandwidth.)
How else can the human form send and receive information? It has to be something will lots of nerves and sensitivity, and muscular control so that complex information can be transmitted and received. Something that is freely available most of the time. And with current wireless technology, it needn’t be highly accessible. I therefore predict that Apple will develop an I/O interface that goes up your ass. Input sensitivity in this area is rivaled only by the eye, and output possibilities are totally unexplored. Plus, consider how well this dovetails with Apple’s current health products, such as the iWatch. The iPlug’s ability to monitor your body chemistry will revolutionize healthcare. And by harnessing muscular contraction, it has no need of any other power source. That’s right, Apple is going to help you work your ass off! Real revolutions come from inside.
This is one of those cases when sarcasm exposes a lot of truth.(I work every day with a student who literally filters everything through Star Wars movies, LITERALLY) He buys into every single thing they do as if its literal truth and that the whole world needs to live in that world.
Real world truth?: Eyes and fingers are work perfectly well for real world use.
Even my Star Wars student realizes intuitively that this is true, just can’t bring himself to say so.
College student?
I hope not. I used to be like that with “Doctor Who” but I was 12 at the time.
age18.
picked up the dopamine addiction from gaming and Star Wars “research” many years ago.
I don’t know what the remedy will be for him, and many others who, not as extreme, but still very low real world function. Incredible mind for technical details of 250+ variations of Star Wars Tie fighters, but there is no real world job for that knowledge.
But even though he thinks everything in science fiction is “real”, still realizes eyes and a mouse are the only way to actually perform real work. I will give him huge credit for that.
Well if the tech biggies think that everyone is going to embrace voice control for everything, they are in for a rude awakening. voice is neither private nor secure nor workable in many environments. Ignore computing for a moment: voice is not anywhere near the most reliable reliable means of communication since there are so many languages, homonyms within languages, and so forth. A well written letter resolves much oral confusion and we can transmit digital text faster with smaller files around the world. Siri and other idiot voice assistants will always mash up terms just as humans do. The human, however, can learn real intelligence. These overhyped artificial brains are a waste of time.
You reminded me of a parody done a while ago that imagined just what you describe. LOL
http://www.funnyordie.com/videos/1a872ba6c3/apple-ihole
Nailed it!!
The next breakthrough interface is already here, albeit in a primitive form: voice control and AI. As this gets perfected, people simply will speak to operate their devices. That’s why it’s so important to get Siri right.
In essence, Siri and other voice assistants will become a kind of OS.