Why Apple Owns the AR Industry Even Without Owning AR Glasses (Comment of the Week)

"Joey1058" has an excellent rant responding to my speculation on just when (probably not any time soon) Apple will announce the launch of its much-awaited augmented reality glasses. To which he replies:  

HMDs do exist in the wild. A company called Vuzix has been tackling hardware issues for decades. Their flagship product is called the Vuzix Blade. [Pictured here] In my humble opinion, their glasses are every bit as good as Magic Leap, Hololens, or the current darling that is sparkling everyone's eyes, Nreal. The hardware isn't an issue. My issue is Apple.

For some ungodly reason, the industry has taken a "wait-and-see" approach in development that centers around Apple. We all know that Apple has been working on developing AR for some number of years. At first, buying up companies and patents. Then releasing ARKit. And now the buzz is all about its U1 chip and Ultra Wideband tech. But somehow, they've been dragging their butts in releasing an HMD. So in the meantime, smaller companies are developing on what already exists.

That's not to ignore the big tech company other than Google (LOL Glass) which jumped into AR early:

Microsoft, true to form, had a great lead with its Hololens. Yes, the first hardware released was bulky. So was the headset released from Meta. Meta, sadly succumbed to internal pressures. It comes with the business. In doing my research for this rant, I found this link, so the possibility exists for their return. But that's another story for another day. But MS had the opportunity to knock Apple and the rest of the industry on its butt with the release of Hololens 2. So what do they do instead? They make it exclusive to enterprise, and ignore the general public. Even though they marketed it to the general public on its release! So, like their lead in the cell phone market, they once again just stepped aside with a "wait-and-see" approach, focusing on the enterprise, rather than the potential they have in front of them. MS makes me crazy.

So now, it all boils down to Apple. Again. And they know it. And they are going to call the shots. Every last one of them. Never mind that the industry has been in development for literally years. Creating a set of standards like WebXR. Or SLAM. They will rub dirt in the faces of companies like Vuzix when they FINALLY announce their own hardware, as though they were the only ones to "get it right". And all the Apple fanboys will lie prostrate on the ground, facing Cupertino, and chant mantras to Tim Cook, their hardware saviour. Then after the hype is all done, I'll go to the bathroom in frustration and throw up...

Much more on related topics on Joey's blog here. Joey's generally right to be annoyed that Apple gets to dominate a market that others have been pioneering for decades. At the same time (in my opinion) AR doesn't have any chance to become a mainstream consumer product unless Apple (and only Apple) gets involved. No other company has the brand recognition as a great technology developer and a great consumer retailer to truly and fully introduce AR to the masses. (Not to mention the vast reserves of cash to fund a massive marketing campaign to make that possible.)

Image credit: Vuzix.com.

Comments

[Joey1058]

Thanks for the link-back, Wagner. :-)

[TonyVT Skarredghost]

Amen to that, I completely agree with his rant. And one of the reasons everyone is waiting for Apple is that no one is getting AR right. But most probably it is because the technology is not ready enough