Manager's guided to Augmented Reality

Probably a good thing to be the company providing the best displays for this technology.

Harvard Business Review (more at the source)




Augmented reality, a set of technologies that superimposes digital data and images on the physical world, promises to close this gap and release untapped and uniquely human capabilities. Though still in its infancy, AR is poised to enter the mainstream; according to one estimate, spending on AR technology will hit $60 billion in 2020. AR will affect companies in every industry and many other types of organizations, from universities to social enterprises. In the coming months and years, it will transform how we learn, make decisions, and interact with the physical world. It will also change how enterprises serve customers, train employees, design and create products, and manage their value chains, and, ultimately, how they compete.

****More broadly, AR enables a new information-delivery paradigm, which we believe will have a profound impact on how data is structured, managed, and delivered on the internet. Though the web transformed how information is collected, transmitted, and accessed, its model for data storage and delivery—pages on flat screens—has major limits: It requires people to mentally translate 2-D information for use in a 3-D world. That isn’t always easy, as anyone who has used a manual to fix an office copier knows. By superimposing digital information directly on real objects or environments, AR allows people to process the physical and digital simultaneously, eliminating the need to mentally bridge the two. That improves our ability to rapidly and accurately absorb information, make decisions, and execute required tasks quickly and efficiently.

First from Advanced Manufacturing Fund

The "all glass" iPhone probably is a thing, but probably years down the road. Apple tips their hand again...

They also bought a sleep-tracking software company (Beddit)

But long before this they bought a 3D sensing company, Primesense, and augmented reality company Metaio....

Fortune

Apple said on Friday that it's investing $200 million from its Advanced Manufacturing Fund into Corning's glass processing division. The news comes nearly a week after Apple announced that its new Fund would focus on improving advanced manufacturing worldwide. Corning produces a variety of glass products, including hardened glass that reinforces iPhone and iPad screens.

1000 Apple engineers working on AR?

This is interesting.


Business Insider

"According to some industry sources, the company may have over 1,000 engineers working on a project in Israel that could be related to AR," the note also says. Apple has also made numerous AR-related acquisitions including:

• PrimeSense (a 3D sensing company based in Tel Aviv).
• Metaio (developed software that lets users look at products and then apply different colours and finishes, based in Germany).
• RealFace (cyber-security and facial recognition, also in Tel Aviv).

Milunovich notes that Apple appears more interested in AR rather than virtual reality (VR), because the former connects people whereas the latter is often an isolating experience involving a headset that renders the user blind to the real world.

Disruptive Product - Disruptive Business Model

I found this article particularly interesting. 

MicroVision's PicoP has a significant advantage over other disruptive products, because the Disruptive business model has already been created. MicroVision working with Sony and other licensees are producing the product that will capitalize on the disruption in media consumption.

More and more media is being consumed on mobile devices, through WiFi Internet connections, Mobile networks, and through SONY with a miniature TV tuner.

Mobile access and bandwidth providers are also gearing up to provide content; for example SONY (sonyLiv, Crackle ), Verizon, (Verizon-AOL), and ATT, (ATT-DirecTV, SlingTV ). This new Sky Video Service targeted at Children's Programming

We may well catch the same kind of break when it comes to Augmented Reality products. Of being in precisely the right place at the right time.

[ a few years ago, when things went badly for MicroVision due to a lack of green lasers - we would have been in the same place as the company mentioned below. A great product with no ecosystem. The work on the ecosystem has progressed since that time, and we will now be able to launch into a fully functioning ecosystem that is made for PicoP. ]

I'm sticking with my previous analysis -- that Mobile companies MUST use PicoP

Theatre is best viewed with another person - it's best when it's shared. Mobile devices with PicoP will reform mobile media viewing from a solo activity to a shared activity.

It may also represent significant progress toward curing neck pain as a result of cell phone use. Health24

From MediaPost

Over the years, many innovative products have been misinterpreted as “disruptive.” No technology – no matter how innovative – is inherently disruptive. Google Search is a classic example of an innovative product that only truly became disruptive after a smart business model was introduced (AdWords).

Similarly, iPod and iPhone were both well-designed products, but only became disruptive due to the creation of iTunes and the App Store, respectively.

The reality is that Metaio followed the path of many other classic technology companies and focused on products rather than creating a sustainable business model to build long-term consumer behavior.

In taking the buyout, Metaio is somewhat acknowledging that it hasn’t identified a way to deliver on the potential of its range of content.

Strategically, this isn’t a bad move for either company. In fact, it’s a good one. Apple gets proven software and an established customer base to kick start its AR wearables efforts, while Metaio gets a nice exit and joins a team with a stellar reputation for innovation.

So while not a bad business decision, it’s still disappointing to see a low appetite for risk from an emerging industry that has such strong potential for growth and disruption. This space is exploding, with many predicting that AR, IR and VR technologies will drive a transformation not seen since the introduction of mobile.

And yet, despite all of the recent industry activity, it’s still a pretty nascent market as companies develop new strategies that will forever change how we consume and engage with content.

As we stand on the cusp of a new stage in how consumers will interact with the world around them, it’s important to remember the distinction between an innovative product and a disruptive business model.

While behemoths like Apple will continue to play a tremendous role in driving the market forward, there’s plenty of room for a company with a foothold today to become the next Facebook, Uber or Snapchat.

Selling a treasure chest of IP-related to AR now is analogous to being back in the 1990s -- and selling keys to the Internet.

MVIS Takeover Target?

Apple recently purchased a large holder of augmented reality patents. MicroVision is THE leader in augmented reality patents. Augmented Reality Patents...who leads

I don't mind the idea of a rejected buyout offer, but I don't like the idea of being bought out... at least not yet.

(update) I was hesitant to post this connection because of some of the absurd reactions I've seen in various places to this. It doesn't mean Apple is buying the company -- it does mean there might be some interest and it should be watched, however.

Apple buys company behind tours app

"Apple has bought a company that makes augmented-reality software, which adds information or images to real-world scenes when viewed through a special headset or even a smartphone camera.

It’s the latest sign that major tech companies see big potential for products that let users view the world with extra features added by technology. Apple, Google, Facebook and Microsoft are all working on augmented- or virtual-reality products. Augmented reality can add hand-drawn sketches, navigational directions, historic video or computer-generated, three-dimensional images to a real-world scene. Virtual reality can make viewers feel as if they are immersed in an artificial world."

At Fortune Magazine

"Metaio’s site said it wasn’t taking any new customer orders and then this document appeared, confirming all Metaio’s shares have transferred to Apple ownership. The document, which was reported by TechCrunch, shows that the share transfer took place on either May 21st or 22nd."



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