Apple's post-iPhone future got leaked: iGlasses & iHelmet (our names, not Apple's)
Augmented Reality (AR) vs. Virtual Reality (VR)... We all need a refresher. AR is reality, but augmented with stuff (picture a whackable Pikachu in Pokemon Go). VR isn't reality. You only see what the programmers want you to see. Now that that's out of the way, let's talk Apple, whose 5-year product roadmap got leaked to The Information. We just learned its next big bets:
- "iHelmet": That's what we've nicknamed Apple's AR/VR headset, which will cover your eyes completely but use cameras to also show what's actually around you. Coming in 2022.
- "iGlasses": (Also our nickname). This is the game-changer — socially-acceptable glasses that can sling whatever digital info you want up in the corner. It's Warby Parker meets RoboCop. Coming to an Apple store in 2023.
Nobody wants to "miss" augmented reality... Back when Dell, Microsoft, and HP crushed life with laptop computers, Google and Apple invested in mobile: iPhone and Android. Microsoft missed mobile phones. Now a gaggle of tech companies — including Facebook, Alphabet, Snap, Microsoft, and Sony — think AR and/or VR could be the next big thing.
The difference between a good idea and a great idea... Good businesses/entrepreneurs solve a problem that exists today. Great ones anticipate tomorrow's problems, then fix them now. iPhone is Apple's profit puppy, but it's foreseeing an era when you don't want to use your hands to access its powers. iGlasses could be that future in 5 years. Apple's working on it now.