Apple to Ramp Up Work on Augmented Reality Headset | Hacker News Reader

Apple to Ramp Up Work on Augmented Reality Headset

bloomberg.com

81 pointswalterbell15 comments

The cyberpunk and tech enthusiast in me can't wait for AR "headsets" to get to a point where they are super light and indistinguishable from normal glasses, but then the cynic in me believes we'll end in a world not far from what was portrayed in that recent short video Hyper Reality[1].

I am looking forward to those first few years of it where the tech is wild and new and people are playing with it in new and interesting ways. Just imagine how much you can do with it. You can have augmented TV and movie experiences. Pairing your AR headsets with your video game console systems (or PCs) for augmented video gaming experiences, not to mention complete self-contained AR games. Augmented concert experiences will be a thing. Museum augmented tours instead of your basic audio tour.

[1] Hyper Reality - https://vimeo.com/166807261

Entertainment is wonderful, but as a k12 teacher I simply look forward to improving live knowledge of, and communication with, my students. My job - or at least my 'face time' with students - is performance based and logistically constrained. Better tools to understand student progress and extend the variety of communications I have to guide and assist them would certainly help improve my professional practice.

It's going to be a total panopticon.

pan·op·ti·con, paˈnäptiˌkän, noun

a circular prison with cells arranged around a central well, from which prisoners could at all times be observed.

What do you consider to be "real" embedded development platforms?

They are hyping AR and the ARkit, but thus far no recent AR apps for the iPhone have blown me away. The majority of the apps just overlay info thru your camera view though those Measuring Tape apps are innovative in concept.

AR Glasses if they are not bulky and feel/look like sunglasses I can see them being adopted. Then the whole overlay of info in your real world view makes the best sense/UX.

Overall I want to see innovation like using AR Glasses to change your view like view how things looked at this spot 50 to 100 years ago. Being able to see a daylight view when it’s nighttime.

Was pretty worried when Google Glass failed that it was going to impose a decade-long 'AR winter' on us. With this and Hololens, maybe I needn't have been so concerned.

I call it the 'AR Shower'.

http://images.gawker.com/18m28bzmemr1ojpg/c_scale,fl_progres...

It's interesting to imagine what a distant future would look like where everyone wears these things. For example, if every vehicle on the roads were either a self-driving car or was driven by a driver using AR, we could get rid of traditional road signs.

Imagine speed limits that dynamically change based on time of day or traffic conditions, streets that dynamically switch between being one-way or two-way, etc.

I think the chances of that happening in my lifetime are vanishingly slim, but it's still a fun thought experiment.

Can't digital signs accomplish that? And if you're not driving the car, then the car can get notified of the changes without there needing to be a human visible sign.

I have a hard time believing the long-term future is everybody wearing something over their eyes. Seems like the better alternative is just to make the environment smarter.

That or implants.

Sure, but you could even e.g. dynamically change the number of lanes and their direction, which would be much harder to do smoothly with physical signs and lane markings. Roads could become wide unmarked surfaces of pavement where everything is dynamic.

When smartphones went from having small screens and physical buttons to iPhone-style blank slates for any content, they got a lot more powerful and people came up with lots of innovative uses for them. You could imagine the same thing happening with my example of roads when it becomes essentially free to test new ideas for how traffic should flow, etc.

But again, this is all just a thought experiment. I don't expect it to actually happen.

>Imagine speed limits that dynamically change based on time of day or traffic conditions, streets that dynamically switch between being one-way or two-way, etc.

Seattle already has both of these things using dynamic signage.

This is one of those I’ll beleive it when I see one rumours

Finally! I've been really impressed with the Microsoft Hololens and I was hoping to see more action in the AR headset arena. This is a great move in my opinion!

Augmented Reality Headset that conveniently hides the cash stashed offshore by Apple.

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