#7 - AR Headsets Need AI the Way Smartphones Needed the Internet

We see a new computing cycle every decade or so.

The 60s gave us mainframe computers. The 70s gave us minicomputers. The 80s gave us PCs. The 90s gave us the internet. The 2000s gave us the smartphone. And the 2010s gave us AI.

Most people, myself included, believe the next platform shift will be Augmented Reality.

But clearly AR isn’t ready for prime time.

The first iPhone launched June 29, 2007 and sold their 1-millionth unit 74 days later. On the other hand, the Apple Vision Pro launched February 2nd, 2024 and is projected to sell under 500,000 units total by the end of the year.

What’s holding back AR?

Cost, size, and battery life are certainly major factors. I consider myself an early adopter, but I’m not paying thousands of dollars to walk around looking like an alien for 1-2 hours max before my battery dies or my neck breaks.

These limitations need to be addressed before this tech goes anywhere, but there’s little doubt in anyone’s mind that they will be.

That can’t be all that AR is missing though. Some of my friends own these headsets and none of them are using them on a regular basis.

I think a better question than “What’s holding back AR?” is “What unleashed computing cycles of the past?”.

The answer is “killer apps” — applications so useful that people make a serious commitment to the platforms that offer them. They’ll open their wallets, they’ll watch the tutorial videos, and they’ll change their behaviours. All so they can use the “killer apps”.

Every computing cycle has its own killer apps.

The PC had word processors and video games. The Internet had email and search engines. The smartphone had the App Store and real-time maps. AI has ChatGPT and Midjourney.

You may have noticed the same trend as me: each platform shift exists to amplify the one that came before it.

Mini computers were confined to offices and universities. The PC was “computers, now small and affordable enough for everyone”.

But PCs were still a single-player experience. The internet was “PCs, now all connected to one another”. 

But internet was something you could only use at home or at the public library. The smartphone was “the internet, now in your pocket”.

But even the staggering access to information and creative power given to us by the internet, smartphones and PCs feels too slow. AI is “information and creative power, now even faster”.

I think this trend will hold true for Augmented Reality. Its “killer apps” will be accelerants for the computing cycle that came before it — AI.

It’s been less than 2 years since ChatGPT was released and already it’s begun to feel like a sluggish experience for me.

When I have a question, I need to navigate to my “ChatGPT” tab and type it in. When I need to diagnose a bug in my code, I have to copy and paste it. When I want to know what model of Keurig I own, I have to take a photo and upload it to the app.

My experience with AI has made me do something I never used to: dream about an AR-enabled future.

I’m looking at my Keurig wearing a pair of sleek glasses. I ask aloud, “How do I descale this coffee machine?”. A friendly voice starts walking me through the process, overlaying my vision with arrows pointing at the buttons I need to press.

I believe strongly that AI is the killer app that AR needs.

Do you?