I already have a long list with predictions from 2017 to 2023. But sometime last year I stopped. What did industry people say about when consumer AR will take off? Here’s what I got so far. Sony’s Hiroshi Mukawa believes that while AR is currently thriving in commercial sectors, consumer applications will follow in the next few years with advancements in AI and hardware. Evan Spiegel from Snap thinks widespread adoption will happen by 2030 as they continue to refine their Spectacles. Mark Zuckerberg sees a future where glasses wearers transition to smart glasses over the next decade. Andrew Bosworth at Meta mentions a diverse product range is coming, with clear pathways to consumer-ready products. Anyone have more recent insights?
Omar Khan during his tenure at Magic Leap said that the inflection point for AR would probably be 2025.
I think that was pre-2024
You’re right! He said 2023 (consumer). I’m not sure why this hasn’t happened yet.
Probably because he was wrong
I think if we consider AR to be smart glasses with a microLED waveguide display being available on the market at a consumer price point then 2025 might be pretty accurate. We needed some tech advancement in the display (smaller/lighter) and AI to become more mainstream so it feels like we’re getting close to an inflection point.
I think so, too! I also still think that the Samsung x Google glasses next year will have a display
It’s interesting to see the different approaches in regard to developers. Snap is making glasses for all types of app developers. Meta, on the other hand, is using Orion internally with a few partners. Only they will make the content available on the next-gen Orion.
I wonder how much the price will drop as these products become more mainstream. Right now, it feels like a lot of speculation.
Yeah, pricing is always a big factor in adoption. If they can get it right, it’ll help a ton.