When, in the early years of this century, they began to become popular the first phones with Internet connection, many users saw something strange, almost absurd and, of course, not very useful. It must be recognized that the first WAP portals were not what we understand today as communication from mobile phones, but they were the start of something that, from the second decade onwards, exploded.
Something similar is starting to happen with mixed reality, an expression which brings together all the technologies linked to the creation of a virtual world which overlaps the real world, or which replaces it. Terms like Augmented Reality, Virtual Reality or the like are all part of a larger idea that promises to take personal connection to a much more intense level than is currently available with smartphones and computers.
It might not seem like it now, with certain models of virtual reality glasses on the market and with an extremely specific user niche and, for the moment, small. Just like the niche that smartphones occupied twenty years ago.
Generalization will come
This year 2023 was an important moment in the flow of announcements and presentations of this sector, with Apple presenting its first device, the Apple Vision Pro. Whether or not it compares to the 2007 launch moment in which Steve Jobs announced the iPhone is something that can only be known in the future, but that’s not the case. the Cupertino company is the only one to position itself.
Google’s transition with Android on mobile phones has gone very welland tried to reproduce it in cars with Android Automotive. With mixed reality it won’t be any different, and an Android for augmented reality is already in development. Of course, this is a project that could be delayed due to internal issues between Samsung and Google.
Google prepares an Android for mixed reality glasses
In 2024 we will see more launches as leading brands want a piece of the pie before everyone else tries to eat it. It is essential to arrive early and become one of the pillars of the company, because if this is not possible, there will be no margin. Companies like Samsung know this is only just beginning.
Meta, OPPO and more
During a recent trip that OPPO made to its laboratories in China at EL ESPAÑOL – El Androide Libre, we were able to see the brand’s proposal with mixed reality, how the company wants, in the long term, to create glasses extended reality to remove the mobile.
And it’s not just China. In the United States, companies like Meta continues to develop different types of glasses that, little by little, replace cell phones. And these are products launched in 2023. An example is the Meta Ray-Ban, which allows you to make and receive calls, take photos and videos or listen to music without taking your phone out of your pocket. This is already a reality and next year this trend will only increase.
Other devices are replacing the mobile phone in other aspects, such as entertainment. The Meta Quest 3 are the mixed reality virtual reality glasses that allow gaming without being tied to the position of the television in the living room
Become cheaper
When Apple introduced the Vision Pro Many were shocked by their price, over $3,000.. As a good first generation product, the cost is much higher than future versions. In fact, Apple is already working on making its next models cheaper.
As the end product becomes cheaper in glasses that replace cell phones, other industries will begin to include this technology by selling more expensive products. A good example is the automobile industry, It is clear that augmented reality will reach cars.
The general public is also getting used to this type of technology, even on television, with programs using augmented reality to illustrate certain information, even if this is sometimes criticized. This use will also be normal on a daily basis, even from cell phones, for tasks as useful as knowing if the WiFi network signal is good or bad in every corner of the house.
From rare to normal
At the end of the 20th century, people who talked on their cell phones in the street were considered strange people.. When Bluetooth headphones became popular, the jump was even greater, even from those who used them. Currently, this technology is so well understood that no one is surprised.
Excerpt from the film Ready Player One
It is important to see that It doesn’t take long for a technology to be considered disruptive or strange before it becomes popular and normalized.. The same could be said about 90s chats and the explosion of apps like WhatsApp.
With mixed reality, we are still at the first point because it has reached the streets and people look ridiculous. In the movie Ready Player One It shows a society in which everyone is connected to some sort of metaverse where even more actions are performed than in the real world.
2024 is the beginning
For him boom in interest in this technology, 2024 will be nothing more than the year in which all brands will try to approach a market segment that is not strictly new, but in which even Apple has wanted to position itself. And the company led by Tim Cook is characterized by very controlled bets with adjusted risks.
OPPO Mixed Reality Glasses in the CyberReal Lab
Even though they have seen that mixed reality is part of their future business, we can be clear that from now on we will only see growth in this market segment. It remains to be seen what the next augmented reality glasses will look like, how video games will benefit from them and how users will become increasingly accustomed to them. As happened with cell phones.
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