The State of Augmented Reality In 2021
AR Still Has a Long Way to Go
Virtual reality has seen many advancements in the last couple of years but, augmented reality headsets have lagged. Augmented reality is farther away than VR because it has to be significantly smaller than a VR headset. A great AR headset will require breakthroughs in many different technologies. A better battery, smaller sensors, and new display types are all needed for this future device. To reach this level of augmented reality, multiple companies are taking some interesting approaches.
The Current Competition
The leader of augmented reality is tough to determine at the moment. It seems like Microsoft is doing well with its HoloLens headset but, there haven’t been signs of a second device. Oculus is working on AR via passthrough mode on the Oculus Quest 2. I would consider Microsoft and Facebook tied for the lead at this moment in time. It will be interesting to see if VR headsets with AR capabilities take off before actually AR headsets. With the amount of tech needed to fit into a comfortable headset, I would bet on a VR-AR hybrid to be successful first. Then there are the smartphone companies that use smartphones for AR. IOS and Android both have this feature but, the iPhone has a lidar sensor and seems to perform better. We will have to wait and see whether these features get…
