Are VR and AR the Future? NewsWire

NewsWire: 10/8/21

• Are face-mounted computers the future? In an op-ed, tech writer Farhad Manjoo makes the case that “smart” glasses and VR headsets are the next big thing in tech. (The New York Times)
• NH: In 2007, Steve Jobs stood on a stage overlooking a crowd of techies. He prophetically announced that “every once in a while, a revolutionary product comes along that changes everything.” And at that moment, the first iPhone was introduced to the world. Fourteen years later, in 2021, 85% of Americans use a smartphone. 
• What will be the next piece of tech to consume our daily lives? It may be face-mounted computers. Face-tech comes in two varieties: virtual reality (VR) and augmented reality (AR). VR is fully immersive and blocks any sight of your physical surroundings. You put on a headset and can only see a digitized display. AR is less immersive and adds digital elements atop a users' physical environment. You put on a pair of smart glasses and the digital lenses interact with what is in front of you.
• Companies are racing to develop both of these technologies. Two of the biggest VR companies are Facebook (FB) with its Oculus headsets and Sony (SONY) with its PlayStation VR. Two of the biggest AR companies are Microsoft (MSFT) with its Hololens AR headset and Google (GOOGL) with its Google Glass.  
• IMO, AR has more potential than VR. Mechanically, VR will always struggle with latency, the delay between a user’s command and the action appearing on the screen. Latency causes many people to feel motion sick. Latency can also be an insuperable barrier to enabling multiple users to interact in real time--which Mark Zuckerberg has always touted as one of the biggest payoffs of VR tech. AR doesn’t have this problem because the user still sees the real world. (See “Online Dating, ‘The Metaverse,’ and Social Media.”)
• AR also has a wider variety of obvious professional uses. Smart glasses could guide a doctor through surgery, a mechanic through a repair, and a soldier through a warzone. It's AR’s worldly grounding that makes it so widely applicable. (Google Glass maintains its sales through such specialized functions.) VR does have niche uses like immersive video games, but these are not as marketable to society at large. 
• Just this month, Facebook dipped into the world of AR. Partnering with Ray-Ban, the two companies released smart sunglasses that allow users to take photos, answer calls, and listen to music. While this isn't exactly AR, Facebook says these glasses will evolve into such technology. 
• I am skeptical of Facebook's AR venture. Why now, after pouring so much effort and money into making VR the next big thing? Perhaps Zuckerberg has suddenly awoken to AR's incredible potential. Or maybe he is just desperate to refresh Facebook's reputation as an innovation company. With all the recent negative press, Facebook seems eager to grasp at anything to make itself relevant once again.