In this article, I’m going to talk about how I perceive the mainstream consumer audience to have rejected virtual reality, and suggest that its child, augmented reality, maybe the Slope of Enlightenment (of the Gartner Hype Cycle) that convinces us to buy in. While these are my views alone, towards the end of the piece, I’ve unearthed some data from software developers around the world who are working with AR and VR. Even if you don’t care about my views, you may find what they have to say interesting. And, if you’d like to express your own thoughts, I’ve included a link to a survey that’s open right now, the results of which will help key players in the industry to draw their own conclusions in 2019.
Tomorrow’s World, Today
I worked in the smartphone industry before it came of age. Our mission was “a smartphone in every pocket” at a time when simple feature phones like the Motorola RAZR were the must-have communications device. Within a few years of our early projects, the competitor, Apple, launched the iPhone. The rest is history. The App Store opened its doors, the stars aligned, the technology dream was realized, and smartphones went on to rule the world.