I have a large number of uses for true augmented reality that is similar to the Apple Vision Pro. But I need it to be more like glasses. I already wear bifocal contacts, have 2 sets of glasses, one for reading and one for computer distance that go over the contacts. If I could meld them all plus all the features from my husbands’ original patents for AR (way before Apple, or Meta or Microsoft) I’d be really happy. His first AR patent was filed in 1996. And the abstract for that patent.
" Abstract: An image processing system for producing an augmented image of a real world scene uses an image capturing device that captures a digital image of the real world scene and uses a database of real world scene information. The system includes the storage resources that locate the selected real world scene information in the database using information from at least one of a position determining device for determining a real world position, an attitude determining device for determining a real world attitude, and the image capturing device. The system also includes a video interface chipset for receiving data from the image capturing device and transforming it to a format used by the data processor. The system processes the digital image of the real world scene and the selected real world scene information to form processed data that represents an augmented image of the real world scene."
Key was both adding to and subtracting from the real world scene.
I agree that’s certainly a huge noose around the neck of the Vision Pro… but limiting it to just one country (not even the blessed six that get News and TV shows) is really putting a dodgy trapdoor beneath it.
OK, I didn’t know it was available anywhere outside the US.
I’m not convinced it was. Yes, the creepy personas fit this mould, but the whole concept of spatial computing exists outside of being part of any universe. It’s just supposed to be part of the room you’re in.
I also have no intention of purchasing AR glasses or goggles. I have been trying to reduce my digital footprint for a long time and I am more than happy using my watch as my information display.
However, I believe most people differ from us here at MPU, and an average Joe would embrace constant social media engagement and continuous content feeds; most people don’t even realize it’s bad for them. It’s unfortunate, but many people I know are constantly using Meta glasses, snapping photos every moment for social media. I imagine the next phase will be seeing social media alerts directly in their vision all day, a scenario I personally consider hellish.
That had not crossed my mind. I do not have the words to describe just how awful that would be. Not to make light of hell (a horror beyond our comprehension), but ads piped directly into one’s field of vision might warrant a place in Dante’s Eighth Circle. I can already “see” the offer: “Free VR glasses, with helpful personalized ads!”
Perhaps Apple should think about smart glasses in the context of their health division or whatever it’s called. I can see enormous value for them in an aging population, particularly if all processing is local on the phone with which they are paired.
Directions are one thing, not just from A to B or finding where you left the car but for people with dementia how to complete daily tasks. There was a demo of that on the BBC recently and I thought how useful they would have been for my father in that awkward period between everyone recognising his cognitive decline and him accepting he needed help.
Speech to text for the hard of hearing is another possibility. So is text to speech for reading labels and small print. Image recognition for faces on people in your contact book. The list of uses may not be endless, but it’s pretty long and if cast as medical adjunct could protect privacy. Yes, the glasses may incorporate a video camera, but Apple could ensure that the video stream was only an available certified phone apps (like face recognition in the contacts book).
As an aside I also think Apple is missing the boat with home automation for the elderly. Elderly coupes in particular love to think themselves still fully independent when, in reality, if one, say, falls there’s nothing the other can do to help. Apple’s privacy focus makes the idea of “family monitoring” much more palatable.
I agree with you wholeheartedly. As I said above, the exception I would make would be for accessibility features. I had not thought about home automation. I’m not sure how that might work with VR glasses, but if it could be made to work or something similar, then I think that is a good use case.
