Morgan Stanley expects Apple to be 'game changer' in Augmented Reality

Hmmmm...  I still see (essentially) zero value in AR.  There will surely be some adopters of this, but unless I see some value I will not be one of them.

I put this one in the same category as A.I., quantum computing, and bitcoin.  There may be a whole lot of buzz, but very little real world value in my mind.  Perhaps at some point, but that point is still a long way off.

OctoMonkey said:

Hmmmm...  I still see (essentially) zero value in AR.  There will surely be some adopters of this, but unless I see some value I will not be one of them.

I put this one in the same category as A.I., quantum computing, and bitcoin.  There may be a whole lot of buzz, but very little real world value in my mind.  Perhaps at some point, but that point is still a long way off.

Broaden your thinking a bit. 

Imagine not needing a physical display / screen because the image is displayed by your augmented reality glasses. And the augmented reality image is high-res and the equivalent of a 100 inch screen sitting at normal laptop distance, filling your field of vision, curving in space before you. 

Imagine driving or walking with augmented reality glasses that give you the option of a “heads up” display like you see on some cars. Just like CarPlay driving directions are shown on the little screen next to the steering wheel, these driving directions would be in your field of vision, translucent, allowing you to see everything in the physical world, but never having to take your eyes off the road for directions. 

This is a game changing technology with huge engineering challenges. Apple is perhaps the only company with the skill to launch a successful and useful product. 

OctoMonkey said:

Hmmmm...  I still see (essentially) zero value in AR.  There will surely be some adopters of this, but unless I see some value I will not be one of them.
I put this one in the same category as A.I., quantum computing, and bitcoin.  There may be a whole lot of buzz, but very little real world value in my mind.  Perhaps at some point, but that point is still a long way off.

There's a chance that you are right, and there's a chance that you are wrong. All I know for sure is that I myself would purchase some sort of VR headset if there was any VR software that let me watch ABBA's past performances. And now that ABBA has recently created some VR performances, perhaps they will be willing to sell them. Maybe other people would want to see the Beatles, or Queen, or football games, or basketball games, or animated movies, or play computer games using VR. There's a lot of choices for VR material. The sky is the limit. In fact the sky isn't a limit here.

22july2013 said:

OctoMonkey said:

Hmmmm...  I still see (essentially) zero value in AR.  There will surely be some adopters of this, but unless I see some value I will not be one of them.
I put this one in the same category as A.I., quantum computing, and bitcoin.  There may be a whole lot of buzz, but very little real world value in my mind.  Perhaps at some point, but that point is still a long way off.

There's a chance that you are right, and there's a chance that you are wrong. All I know for sure is that I myself would purchase some sort of VR headset if there was any VR software that let me watch ABBA's past performances. And now that ABBA has recently created some VR performances, perhaps they will be willing to sell them. Maybe other people would want to see the Beatles, or Queen, or football games, or basketball games, or animated movies, or play computer games using VR. There's a lot of choices for VR material. The sky is the limit. In fact the sky isn't a limit here.

While I do not see value in AR...  VR is another matter!  I am waiting for Sony to release the new PS5 VR headset.  VR comes in a variety of forms, and I have very fond memories of playing BattleTech and whatever the VR center was in North Pier in Chicago back in the...  90's (if memory serves).  That BattleTech systems even ran on Quadra 700 computers...  although the remaining systems are all running on PCs these days.

jas99 said:

OctoMonkey said:

Hmmmm...  I still see (essentially) zero value in AR.  There will surely be some adopters of this, but unless I see some value I will not be one of them.

I put this one in the same category as A.I., quantum computing, and bitcoin.  There may be a whole lot of buzz, but very little real world value in my mind.  Perhaps at some point, but that point is still a long way off.

Broaden your thinking a bit. 

Imagine not needing a physical display / screen because the image is displayed by your augmented reality glasses. And the augmented reality image is high-res and the equivalent of a 100 inch screen sitting at normal laptop distance, filling your field of vision, curving in space before you. 

Imagine driving or walking with augmented reality glasses that give you the option of a “heads up” display like you see on some cars. Just like CarPlay driving directions are shown on the little screen next to the steering wheel, these driving directions would be in your field of vision, translucent, allowing you to see everything in the physical world, but never having to take your eyes off the road for directions. 

This is a game changing technology with huge engineering challenges. Apple is perhaps the only company with the skill to launch a successful and useful product. 

While many people might disagree, I am very open minded to new ideas and technologies.  However, I need to see value in them (irrespective of anybody else's - especially "experts") before I will jump on the bandwagon.  Consider me an amiable skeptic.

You description of walking / driving with AR glasses on frightens me to no end!  It's bad enough with people trying to surreptitiously text and watch videos on their phones, now people will be watching porn while driving and nobody will be the wiser (hopefully they are just watching).  Having grown up in the age of physical maps, I have little need for a big blinking red arrow in my face telling me to turn.  Amazingly people actually were able to find their way to a destination before the advent of car navigation systems.

When I drive, the fewer distractions the better...  it allows me to avoid getting hit by all the people not paying attention to where their 2 ton hunk of metal is heading, and to get around the people driving half the speed limit because the are too engaged in something other than driving.  I was once provided a Cadillac loaner car while my car was getting repaired (after getting rear ended by a driver who was texting).  The Cadillac had all sorts of driver "assistance" which drove me to distraction.  The seat would vibrate, various colored lights would flash, alarm klaxons would go off all because the car thought I was unaware of the environment around me.  I was not.  The silly thing even had a large lcd display to replace the center console controls.  The stupidity of having non-tactile controls in a moving car astounded me...  the bloody thing even had nested menus.  That was an accident waiting to happen!  Fewer distractions = safer (although not necessarily better) drivers.

Technology can offer enormous benefit to our lives, but it frequently does not.  Just like cellular phones provide great potential benefits, they are regularly and repeatedly used my the masses in an unsafe and dangerous manner.  Don't be naive in your infatuation with the "potential" AR offers, be cynical and imagine how it will be twisted and perverted by the masses.

Add to all that Apple's willingness to require on-device nanny software reporting on your actions.  Imagine getting home after a drive to find you committed half a dozen moving violations and the police are waiting with tickets in hand...  okay, the police would probably just mail them to you.

That might be your idea of Utopia, but it's not mine.