The search for the gadget that will replace the cell phone
This summer a new gadget that Apple launched a few months ago has come to my mind on several occasions. They have called it Vision Pro and they are mixed reality glasses that allow the user to immerse themselves in a mix between real and virtual reality. I'm sure an image of the product will explain it much better than I can.
However, I am still struck by this image taken from the video presentation of this product, which shows a father wearing these glasses and filming his daughters. How ironic.
And I'm not the only one, since comments about this scene and the absurdity of wearing a helmet that isolates you from the world on your children's birthday, and paying 3,500$ for the gadget, immediately appeared!
A few months ago, social networks were clamoring against screens and their use in education, while psychology researchers were launching works warning of the alleged connection between Internet use and suicide among teenagers. But nothing was said about adults, that must have been the advantage.
The fact is that the Vision Pro appeared again in the news to announce that many users were returning the glasses a few days after receiving them, as they were causing them dizziness. And we should not be surprised, since the motion sickness that causes nausea and dizziness in virtual reality has been known for some decades, and you can find many news on the web (e.g., here or here) about the problems that had this type of glasses to not cause these unpleasant sensations. Precisely, the last time this topic was mentioned was when Meta tried to make its famous Metaverse and its Oculus Rift glasses fashionable.
However much marketing and a lot of science, there are still those who do not want to learn, and Meta is still trying to develop new glasses that one could use for diving, but has also created in collaboration with Ray-Ban “normal” glasses that allow you to record and take pictures of everything around you.
Without any doubt, the big Big Tech companies are pursuing to be the first to design - or provoke us to like - how will be the next consumer electronics device to replace the smartphone, and there have been several examples about it: apart from these mixed reality glasses that would combine a lot of generative AI capabilities and free the hands, Samsung has tried to develop a ring, the Humane pin and the Rabbit R1. In the words of technology expert
:In recent weeks, the reception of two proposed new AI-based hardware - the Humane pin and the Rabbit R1 - has been somewhere between ridicule and thinly disguised disappointment. Both posited the initial thesis: with large multimodal language models and their ability to process voice, text and image, we will have assistants with which to manage the digital world. We will do so with voice and without the need to use a cell phone.
It is in this last aspect where there is an interesting debate. Escaping the smartphone seems more of a necessity for manufacturers than something that is a consequence of the technical base. The point with Meta's connected Ray-Bans is that they are a complement to the cell phone and, not aspiring to replace it, can make us use it less. Suddenly you're taking a photo or video without taking it out of your pocket.
Hardly anyone is buying into these devices. Apple's narrative reflects an optimistic technological vision, reminiscent of the golden age of the iPhone: digital technology as a tool for empowerment, creativity and connection, liberating and empowering the individual. However, the current sign of the times has changed. Like a pendulum, today we find ourselves at the opposite extreme. Today, the prevailing discourse is that technology is making us addicted, that it was an excuse for companies to keep us permanently connected to work, that we are generating free content for the big social media platforms, and that on top of that, we are being watched and spied on.
The proposal to use mixed reality glasses in intimate settings such as family gatherings or among friends clashes with our current common sense. This suggests that Apple may be out of touch with contemporary concerns, and still living in the same marketing era where the iPhone changed everything. Today's society seeks human relationships and worldly experiences less mediated by technology, while augmented/virtual reality represents just the opposite. And this summer, as I was relaxing outdoors and watching people behave, I think that's what I kept noticing, and the need for non-digital experiences that people still want to have, even if they don't let go of their cell phones.
Establishing new technology habits is a considerable challenge, especially when the climate of public opinion is misread, as seems to be the case with Apple on this occasion.
The next big thing will be “normal” glasses with augmented reality technology to mix our world with helpful information. Thanks for this entry because it’s a very interesting subject
Reading:
“Today's society seeks human relationships and worldly experiences less mediated by technology, while augmented/virtual reality represents just the opposite.”
Not sure to buy it completely. We’ve gone through a decade of huge growth of technology in our lives, and we may be experiencing kind of a burnout. The backlash against Big Tech is a natural reaction in economic and societal power terms. And efforts to tame them are necessary.
But much of the “let’s live more natural, less tech-mediated lives” is pure virtue signalling. Data and trends show that the adoption of technology keeps growing. We may abandon x or fb, but new platforms get millions of users from one day to the other… screen time keeps on the rise, ai agents will be everywhere…
Don’t get me wrong, I’m not endorsing the metaverse, here. I am talking about lives more tech mediated than ever. Current gadgets like mobile phones are staying while new ones are steadily taking up… (airpods? Smart watches?… )
I bought a pair of Meta Rayban glasses three months ago (photo chromatic, progressive lenses…) I used my glasses mostly for presbicia. Now I wear them nearly all the time. And in the EU you can only take pictures, listen to music, speak on the phone or send whatsapp messages. I cannot imagine how it will be when I am able to use Meta AI at its full capacity. Of course, theses glasses don’t interfere in our daily lives like other AR/VR headsets, and that might be part of the reason of sales growth of these devices (Luxxotica has now many tech wooers).
I know, I might not infer future uses or trends from my experience. So, I just try to look at the data. I understand why tech companies are trying to sell us new gadgets (and even dethrone the smartphone). Rewards are huge. And I think that it’s still early days to say they won’t succeed, in many different ways to how the iPhone-like gadget got into our lives.