Apple Doesn't Care About Augmented Reality: Here's Why #augmentedreality #AR #VR #MagicLeap #spatialcomputing #MixedReality https://shodu.net/apple-doesnt-care-about-augmented-reality-heres-why/

A post by @Scobleizer tipped me off to a key point: Apple will want to disrupt glasses. https://twitter.com/Scobleizer/status/1259225064777502720

But think about this further: Apple sold $10B of wearables, disrupting 13% of watch market. The eye glass market is $138B. If Apple grabs 13% of that, they have wearables revenue that's double their current haul. /3

So the first thing: Apple has stores, digital e-commerce and a 1B user market to whom they can sell something as boring and banal as PRESCRIPTION glasses. Hey, your Apple Genius might even be able to give you an eye exam. /4

Prescription glasses alone could be a $20B market for glasses before we even worry about what they do. So the next thing is the focus on "AR". Everyone talks about Apple Glasses as "AR Glasses". But Apple doesn't think that way. /5

Apple will care about creating a beautiful product that does beautiful things. And I can actually think of a ton of things that glasses can do that aren't really "AR"...or are only very lightly AR. /6

One of my favourite in synchronized night mode with your screens. Your iPad and your Apple Glasses working in perfect harmony to adjust lighting and visual temperature based on time of day, indoors/outdoors etc. Think progressive lenses... /7

But progressive lenses on steroids. And lenses which "talk" to your computer screen so that they work in perfect synch. /8

I also think Apple will develop glasses with the visual and hearing impaired as one of their primary use cases. Or what about sound enhancement? You basically have an out-of-ear method for enhancing sound which could work in perfect synch with AirPods. /9

Sound devices in the headset itself that work with AirPods to give even more superior sound. Much as out-of-ear hearing aids work. /10

Which brings me to the tie-in to services. If you have an Apple Glasses idea that doesn't address how it will boost Apple's services business then you're missing a key piece. They will evaluate EVERYTHING against whether it will help move the needle on services. /11

I think of Apple Glasses not as "augmented reality" devices but "pop reality" devices. And rich AR, 3D isn't necessary (at least not at first). We may see only the very lightest AR "touch" in the first pair of Apple Glasses. /12

#MagicLeap made a bet: that the rich 3D AR experience was the goal. And that you'd forgive the headset itself if it was good enough. But it meant they were competing for the living room! It meant they were competing with #OculusQuest etc. /13

Now, of course, they've moved to the factory floor because the users can be more forgiving of the form factor. Apple will take a different approach. They're competing, as Scoble says, for the GLASSES market /14

And so you start with just a simple pair of glasses. And you slowly layer on BEAUTIFUL experiences that give a little more "pop" to your iPhone, your Apple TV, or how you see the world. Sure, later, we'll get to rich 3D content and information overlays. /15

But I'm skeptical that we start with that. Apple doesn't work that way. So stop thinking of how "AR" will look in Apple Glasses and start thinking about what you wish your glasses would do and how they can be a platform for services and support existing devices. /16

AR Glasses are the computing platform of the future. We'll get there. And if Apple is one of the guides, it will be slow, careful, and make them a lot of money /end