End of the Smartphone Era

Some believe that AR(Augmented Reality) and VR(Virtual Reality) will drive up the demand for smart phones, others hold opinion that smart phones we know will die out. Hololens inventor Alex Kipman went on to say that the phone is already dead. He believes that AI enables devices will render the smart phone obsolete. Recently Microsoft corp. introduced a new product, an easy to carry laptop with fast boot up process and new Windows version, to compete against Apple's Mac. Microsoft has explored several other categories in the hardware area like the tablet-laptops and smart phones, but with these several other gadgets in its pipeline, the absence of smart phones is conspicuous. Although the Hardware Marketing Chief of Microsoft didn't think of the absence as a big deal.

 Virtual reality (VR) is the umbrella term for all immersive experiences, which could be created using purely real-world content, purely synthetic content or a hybrid of both.In virtual reality, everything is make-believe (simulated). In augmented reality (AR), there are virtual objects overlaid on top of real objects, but they are just little suspended movies — you can’t interact. Once you can interact with those not-really-there objects, that’s the realm of mixed reality (MR).

Smart phones transformed lives, became indispensable and continue to pervade countries and cultures. In short, they lived up to a promise made by Steve Jobs – This will change everything. They seamlessly entered every aspect of an individual’s everyday life and achieved an unprecedented rate of sales. Their portability and power to connect paved the way for them to become the first truly personal computers. Apps provided a range of services that was inconceivable before. They seamlessly entered every aspect of an individual’s everyday life. Although they did brought issues around privacy but their benefits far over-weigh their drawbacks. As their efficiency and functionality improved, so did their appeal. And while the global gap in smart phone use exists, adoption rates suggest it is closing rapidly. It would be very hard to make smart phones absolutely obsolete. As each of the offerings related to VR/AR/MR are still unfeasible for the mass market. The mass market devices do not possess the capabilities of specially-designed VR/AR but experts believe they will cater to the vast majority of VR/AR applications that will be in great demand. This mutual relationship may pave the way for a revolution. 

But Alex Kipman have points in favour of his statement too. People seem to be tiring of smartphones and have contradictory demands – they want bigger devices but also devices that have a long-lasting battery life. According to an Ericsson survey in 2015, one out of two smartphone users from one lakh respondents across 40 countries believed that smartphones will “be a thing of the past” in five years and AI would have successfully replaced it. Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella put forward this view when asked about Microsoft’s seeming reluctance to continue working in the phone market. “So when you say 'when will we make more phones' I'm sure we'll make more phones. But they may not look like phones that are there today." 

What is VR, AR and MR?

Virtual Reality(VR), Augmented Reality(AR) and Mixed Reality(MR) has completely revolutionized the digital world and are seeking to change the way we perceive our reality. But there’s a lot of confusion about what each version of reality is.

So to clear out your confusions below are some of the points that help you distinguish between the three:

VIRTUAL REALITY

All reality-altering technology changes the way we perceive the world in some way, but virtual reality (VR) completely changes the visual environment around us.

VR is an experience that takes users to a purely synthetic environment, which involves nothing of the immediate reality that surrounds them. VR involves rendered graphics that fill your entire vision and is usually complemented by 3D sounds to make the experience more real.

So where is VR used?

For the moment, gaming remains the main use case of VR. However, it is also being used in professional work, such as training athletes, or real estate business.

AUGMENTED REALITY

The crucial difference between VR and AR lies in the way digital content is mixed with reality. Augmented reality (AR) doesn’t block out the world around the user in favor of a new, fabricated one; rather, it places a digital layer between the viewer and reality.

Augmented reality is "an enhanced version of reality created by the use of technology to overlay digital information on an image of something being viewed through a device (as a smartphone camera)."

Augmented reality is the most versatile of the “VR” technologies today. Unlike VR systems that require users to remain tethered to a stationary unity, AR is typically delivered through a visor or portable screen that allows for mobile use.

So where is AR used?

Along with gaming, AR is has wide applications in fields like Education, Art, Marketing, Military(Fighter Jet Visors), The media and Business

MIXED REALITY

Mixed Reality is the newest and probably the most exciting of the terms. Even though Augmented Reality could be considered a form of Mixed Reality, true mixed reality is much greater. True Mixed Reality takes the augmented, virtually displayed information and adds it to the real world. These virtual additions can do more than simply augment what you are seeing or doing. Rather, they seem to become a part of the real world.

So where is MR used?

It’s still early for MR with most solutions being too imprecise, costly or complex to used at commercial scale. But stay tuned, over the next few years initiatives like Google’s Project Tango, Apple’s AR Kit, and Microsoft’s Hololens are going to continue to push MR towards the mainstream.

So now you know about all the three technologies, you can choose which suits you best and probably even master them to push your limits or just have fun!