WEBVTT - Augmented Reality

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<v Speaker 1>When Apple announced the iPhone eight and iPhone ten, the

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<v Speaker 1>company emphasized the new handsets augmented reality features. Could Apple

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<v Speaker 1>be the shot in the arm for mixed reality? This

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<v Speaker 1>is Tech Stuff Daily and I'm Jonathan Strickland. Back in

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<v Speaker 1>the ninety nineties, virtual reality was becoming a big buzzword.

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<v Speaker 1>Personal computers had emerged from hobbyist markets and entered the

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<v Speaker 1>mainstream consciousness. People were just finding their way onto the Internet,

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<v Speaker 1>and it seemed like technology would have no limits. In

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<v Speaker 1>no time, we'd be zapping ourselves or some virtual representation

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<v Speaker 1>of ourselves into a virtual environment and explore the Internet

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<v Speaker 1>as if it were the real world. You probably know

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<v Speaker 1>how that turned out. VR technology lacked the sophistication and

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<v Speaker 1>required too many concessions to make that scenario realistic. Instead,

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<v Speaker 1>we got simple games filled with crude polygons and other

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<v Speaker 1>relatively lackluster experiences. People quickly lost interest and confidence in

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<v Speaker 1>this supposedly transformative technology. Funding for VR projects seemed to

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<v Speaker 1>follow the flagging interest, and the computer scientists, designers, and

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<v Speaker 1>engineers who might have been able to urge VR closer

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<v Speaker 1>to what people wanted found themselves in search of other projects.

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<v Speaker 1>The whole discipline was put on the back burner for

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<v Speaker 1>many years. Flash forward a few decades and now things

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<v Speaker 1>are different. Not only do we have dedicated devices like

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<v Speaker 1>the Oculus Rift or HTC Vibe to handle VR, but

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<v Speaker 1>also an increasing number of smartphones can run various virtual

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<v Speaker 1>reality applications as well. A secondary industry of smartphone case

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<v Speaker 1>manufacturers sprung up around this trend, allowing you to strap

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<v Speaker 1>a smartphone right in front of your eyeballs. A new

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<v Speaker 1>host of games and experiences have popped up in the

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<v Speaker 1>VR space as well. Some of them allow you to

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<v Speaker 1>explore an exotic landscape, while others pit you in ferocious

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<v Speaker 1>combat against foes is like zombies or dinosaurs or zombie dinosaurs.

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<v Speaker 1>Then there's augmented reality or a R. This technology has

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<v Speaker 1>also been around for a few decades. Instead of substituting

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<v Speaker 1>a computer generated world in place of our real one,

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<v Speaker 1>augmented reality overlays digital information on top of our physical environments.

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<v Speaker 1>Imagine looking at a wall and using an a R

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<v Speaker 1>app to see where all the wiring goes. It would

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<v Speaker 1>almost seem like you had X ray vision, but really

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<v Speaker 1>you're just looking at a digital representation of that wiring.

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<v Speaker 1>VR and a are are big parts of what people

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<v Speaker 1>are now calling mixed reality. Think of mixed reality as

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<v Speaker 1>a spectrum. On one end, you have an almost completely

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<v Speaker 1>real physical environment with just some digital information incorporated into

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<v Speaker 1>it in some intrinsic way. On the other end, you

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<v Speaker 1>have a holy virtual environment filled with computer generated images

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<v Speaker 1>and experiences. Mixed reality can incorporate all sorts of user

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<v Speaker 1>interfaces as well, from dedicated controls to voice commands, to

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<v Speaker 1>eye tracking technology, to mapping physical objects in the area

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<v Speaker 1>to virtual ones in the experience. But despite this evolution

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<v Speaker 1>of the art, mixed reality hasn't made great strides into

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<v Speaker 1>the consumer market. It's mostly the plaything of early adopters

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<v Speaker 1>and people with a lot of disposable income. That's partly

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<v Speaker 1>because the requirements for good mixed reality experiences tend to

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<v Speaker 1>be pretty high. If you want a dedicated system, you're

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<v Speaker 1>typically talking about a headset and controls that will run

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<v Speaker 1>several hundred dollars, plus a sophisticated PC capable of providing

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<v Speaker 1>the processing needed to handle the graphics and physics engines.

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<v Speaker 1>Such a computer will run you another thousand dollars easy.

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<v Speaker 1>For that reason, much of the development and mixed reality

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<v Speaker 1>has been dedicated to specific systems and integrations that aren't

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<v Speaker 1>really suitable for the consumer market. Think of things like

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<v Speaker 1>R and D labs and manufacturing facilities, or larger entertainment

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<v Speaker 1>complex is like arcades or amusement parks. Smartphones are changing that,

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<v Speaker 1>and Apple's moved to embrace the technology could be the

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<v Speaker 1>push the industry needs to hit the big time. It's

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<v Speaker 1>not that other smartphones can't handle VR and A R.

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<v Speaker 1>Android phones like Google's Pixel fall into that category as well,

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<v Speaker 1>but Apple's devoted fan base, which is known for their

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<v Speaker 1>app store purchases, makes all the difference. To put it

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<v Speaker 1>another way, there are way more Android devices on the

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<v Speaker 1>market than iOS devices. According to the analytics company stat Counter,

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<v Speaker 1>Android devices account for more than seventy percent of all

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<v Speaker 1>the mobile devices in the world. Apple's iOS devices hover

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<v Speaker 1>around twenty percent of the market. However, until Apple's app

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<v Speaker 1>store generated more revenue than the Google Play app store,

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<v Speaker 1>so even though there are fewer Apple devices out in

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<v Speaker 1>the wild, Apple device owners spend more money on apps

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<v Speaker 1>than Android owners. Google had more than three times as

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<v Speaker 1>many gadgets and consumer hands but Apple was generating more

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<v Speaker 1>app revenue anyway. That's a powerful story with Apple's move

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<v Speaker 1>to supporting augmented reality. This could mean we'll see a

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<v Speaker 1>burst of development in the space. There's money to be

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<v Speaker 1>made there, which will fund lots more research and development. This,

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<v Speaker 1>in turn, could have a ripple effect across the industry

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<v Speaker 1>and gently push it into the mainstream market. It's too

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<v Speaker 1>early to declare mixed reality out of the woods. The

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<v Speaker 1>technology has entered the public consciousness before, only to suffer

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<v Speaker 1>tremendous setbacks when the general public realized the technology wasn't

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<v Speaker 1>nearly as far along as they had anticipated. But with

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<v Speaker 1>more standalone devices able to support mixed reality implementations, even

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<v Speaker 1>limited ones, we may finally see this move out of

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<v Speaker 1>the realm of research facilities and industrial use cases and

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<v Speaker 1>into day to day life. To learn more about mixed reality,

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<v Speaker 1>be sure to subscribe to the tech Stuff podcast, where

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<v Speaker 1>we exp more topics like this in detail. You never

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<v Speaker 1>wondered how the large Hadron collider works, or you want

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<v Speaker 1>to know the story behind the nineteen eight three video

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<v Speaker 1>game Crash, you should check out tech Stuff episodes publish

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<v Speaker 1>every Wednesday and Friday. That's all for me for now,

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<v Speaker 1>See you next time.