AR has no use case. None. Feel free to name one.
So better than VR, doesn't need generic human level artificial intelligence, and wouldn't work as well from just talking in your ear.
So better than VR, doesn't need generic human level artificial intelligence, and wouldn't work as well from just talking in your ear.
And I think that points at some consumer uses, too. Basically anything where people are already using their hands has AR potential. When I still owned a car, I would have loved to have the repair manual info overlaid on whatever I was looking at. But so far I don't think anybody's found much compelling enough to pay what AR systems cost.
[1] See "Fundamentals of Wearable Computers and Augmented Reality" ch 14.
There will be less AR manuals since they will have to produce both paper and AR.
To recognise parts will take pretty good pattern recognition, but possible, what can a phone do now?
But the next step will take AI at a fairly high level if it's guiding you through a process.
If a camera can look at a motor and 'see' what to do, then just a voice telling you want to do will be close to brilliant and useful now, camera and speakers are easy.
True a overlay would be better, but the underline tech is AI, if you can make this AI then no need for AR at this stage, sell it now if it's possible.
Automatic translation of signage as you walk through a foreign-language environment.
But I knew World Lens could do this since 2014.
I've taken it overseas on my phone and never used it.
I've never seen anyone use it in two+ years living in a country with a different script.
You think this is useful, but it's not. When do you walk down a street and really not know what's going on?
But if you need to hold your phone in front of you and squint at the screen like and idiot, nobody will use it.
So the use-case is real and valuable, it's just not achievable on a phone, it needs to be a socially acceptable wearable AR device.
It will only be able to do what current technology allows. IE Magic Lens / Google's Product
AR is not AI, it won't magically solve complex problems.
As I stated I have been in other countries with the tech, I have not been embarrassed to use it. I have never used it. Neither has anyone I have been with. In real life these situations just don't present themselves.
Have you used the current tech? I fail to believe you haven't because you are too embarrassed every time, if it's "very useful in almost any setting or environment".
1) Simple translations that google translate or similar can do sufficiently well. This exists, is useful in many scenarios, such as reading signage or posters and other stuff, but I never use it IRL because I don't want to walk around looking through my phone all the time. And for traffic signs, I obviously can't go throuh all of that while driving. AR can solve this when the tech is small enough. It's not so much a case of that I'm too embarrassed to pick up my phone, it's more that the expected value of any single translation is very low, but taken all together I'm missing a lot of information, some of which could be useful.
2) Complex translations of documents and such. I have tried google translate for this but the text is typically both too complex and also can't fit on the screenspace so it never manages to get the whole paragraph to translate. Some of this could theoretically be solved with a super high res AR device with a great translation AI, but obviously then a similar tech on my phone would also do the trick.
Do you think it would be useful to have had AR glasses to do this while walking down the street?
World Lens was free on Google Glasses, there are almost no reviews though, here's one of the few not ads -
But the same as car navigating it should be fine talking in your ear.
But you might want to walk or jog on an unknown route and listen to music, so ok this is a use case.
1.
So yep, 2.