AR glasses are what comes after the smartphone

As the smartphone dominates today’s technological world as the primary computing device, the next big hardware platform is expected to be an augmented reality glasses version.

The big picture: Facebook, Apple, Microsoft and Google are all pursuing this vision, and a lot of things are starting to fall into place. But the holy grail of an affordable computer in something not much bulkier than a standard pair of glasses is probably still a few years away.

How it works: These glasses allow users to see what’s in front of them, but with digital information overlaid, such as map routes, contact information, and messages. Cameras and microphones capture images and sounds and allow different types of input, with speech likely to play a key role.

Who is involved: Apple, Google, Facebook and Microsoft have all shown an interest and invested heavily in the underlying technologies. Analysts also expect phone makers like Samsung and PC makers like Lenovo to jump into the action.

Be smart: If you look closely, you can visually see some of the major underlying technologies that have already been developed and tested.

• Facebook plans to launch smart glasses later this year, designed in partnership with manufacturer Ray-Ban Luxottica. These glasses – a more advanced version of the niche eyewear sold by Snap – are unlikely to offer all the capabilities, but rather serve as a stepping stone, both in terms of technology and helping people get used to such glasses. devices in their life.
• Facebook Oculus The unit focuses primarily on virtual reality rather than augmented reality, but there are a number of crossovers between the two. The Oculus Quest 2 and other VR headsets can offer AR by using cameras to see into the outside world.
• Microsoft Already sells Hololens, which packs the power of a Windows 10 computer into a headset, though it’s still too bulky and expensive to appeal to consumers. Microsoft has made it available to developers and some corporate customers, and is also working upstream with the US military.
• google glasses, the first device in this category to gain mainstream attention, collapsed as a consumer product, but a slightly updated version is still being sold to businesses.
• Apple shared a few details, but made a lot of changes – including a recent move by executive Dan Riccio, who is said to have led Apple’s VR / AR efforts. According to reports from Bloomberg and The Information, Apple is preparing a VR headset that would also use cameras to see in the real world. The device, which could cost around $ 3,000 and arrive next year, could serve both high-end consumers and developers to start testing the technology that would allow fully developed AR glasses to work.
• Apple AirPods and Apple Watch represent the efforts to miniaturize technology and ways to test individual components, such as the spatial audio feature included with the latest AirPods Pro. Several companies are hoping to solve some of the difficult technical challenges of AR glasses by distributing IT work among multiple devices. Qualcomm, among others, is aiming to offload some of the processing needs of glasses onto users’ smartphones.
• Niantic, creator of Pokemon Go has a partnership with Qualcomm and has also been busy mapping the real world and developing the types of augmented reality experiences that consumers will want.

Yes, but: There are a lot of technical hurdles, especially if the lens is really something as light and discreet as glasses.

• Miniaturization: While there are plenty of computer parts in place for such glasses, including tiny cameras, microphones, and processors, the components are not yet small enough to have something both complete and lightweight.
• Battery life: Just like you want your smartphone to last all day, you wish you could operate your smart glasses wherever you go. Most current headsets, both VR and AR, only last a few hours between charges.
• Heat: Today’s processor chips are more energy efficient than ever, but they still give off heat when they work hard, and users won’t appreciate it when the device is resting on their face.
• Display: Many AR glasses today have only a limited field of view, rather than the ideal experience of being able to place computer images anywhere the eye can see. Devices also struggle to provide a light source bright enough to make their projected information easily visible in sunlight.
• Cost: Putting all the necessary technology in one device, even with the limitations above, adds up to a product that costs several thousand dollars.

“The challenge is to make the technology more energy efficient so that it can be worn longer, without affecting the form factor,” Qualcomm vice president Hugo Swart told Axios. “AR glasses need to get smaller, lighter, and have longer battery life. Qualcomm is committed to making AR glasses the next big thing ”

Even more difficult than the technical challenges are the social dilemmas of new technology, Andrew Bosworth, director of Facebook Reality Labs, told Axios.

“How do you fit all of that into a socially acceptable and comfortable format that people think is the way they want to express themselves? And then, of course, you have to consider people who don’t have glasses. affects, how do you deal with their discomfort? How do you deal with privacy issues with still cameras and microphones? “

– Andrew Bosworth from Facebook, to Axios

That’s part of the reason Facebook started Project Aria, an effort to measure the company’s reaction to smart glasses with cameras and always-on microphones.

Our thought bubble: While users may be persuaded that their glasses aren’t spying on friends and family or recording their private conversations, the new devices will demand new standards for every social situation imaginable.

Go back: These questions returned when Google first launched Project Glass in 2012.

• Part of what doomed pioneering smart glasses as mainstream wearable – beyond immature tech – was that they were widely seen as creepy and intrusive. (You remember it?)