Augmented Reality in 2017
A short list of hopes and predictions for AR in the next 12 months
PREDICTION: Less generalists, more niche.
We’ve already seen a few of the big players in the market pivot to target specific areas this year. The initial ‘wow factor’ that AR has had will start to fade away, leaving only products and experiences that solve problems or enhance enjoyment towards the end of 2017. As the wider market starts to experience more AR, the superficial layer of feedback that product designers initially receive when user testing their apps or products will fade too.
HOPE: The ‘conscious uncoupling’ of Augmented and Virtual Reality
Maybe it is because they’re both classed as immersive technologies. Maybe it is because people love latching on to buzzwords and combining two acronyms gets more clicks than one, who knows. What we do know is the constant coupling of AR/VR or VR/AR has got to stop and hopefully will stop with the rise of mixed reality in 2017. This could signal the unification of terminology too, with people using MR instead of “Holograms” or “4D” or even “AR” in the long run. I doubt this will happen especially looking at the UX industry.
PREDICTION: More underwhelming AR experiences.
With Pokemon Go bringing AR to the mainstream, marketing and advertising agencies all over the world are scrambling to work out how they can create campaign based AR experiences for their clients and capitalise. This ‘flavour of the month’ thinking will probably be bad for the industry as more and more people will get their first taste of AR as it tries to sell them something… but will do little else. Although a really primitive use of AR, Pokemon did use AR to add to the game experience, not base their whole offering around the technology which suited the game really well. Unfortunately though, I fear this wont be the case for a lot of apps and products in 2017 who will be using AR for the sake of it.
HOPE: We finally take the leap.
The super secretive Magic Leap might finally be unveiled and hopefully it’s as awesome as the naysayers and competition fear it is. Along with Magic Leap, I fully expect Apple to make their moves in 2017 even if it is towards the later stages of the year. AR still has a lot to offer in the mobile and tablet space before headsets become mainstream so expect to see apple unveil their Tango competitor.
At QuiverVision, we’re focusing our efforts in 2017 on solving problems with our continually expanding range of augmented reality technologies and line of apps. Keep an eye on us in the early stages of the new year.
