The Current and Future State of AR in Entertainment
Like virtual reality, augmented reality systems are only
now starting to fulfill their potential. As devices push technology to its
limits, progress had remained slow for years, but recently, development has
been rapidly accelerating. Contemporary interest in AR is bigger than ever,
with immense possibilities in what's soon to come.
Looking at what these systems can do and how they might be
integrated, it's exciting to ponder what's around the corner. With next-gen
tech not far away, more immersive AR landscapes could fundamentally reshape how
we look at entertainment if developers take the right approach.
The Next
Generation of Systems
The next big steps in AR systems all continue to move
towards the ideal of a wider field of view, lower weight, and more accurate
tracking. Most promising of these systems are those by Google and Apple, two
companies that have already invested heavily in VR and AR tech.
According to recent rumors, the coming Apple Glasses won’t be
ready until 2026. These are expected to follow a dual AR/VR headset from the
company, which is predicted to land in early 2023. Price is currently unknown,
with broad predictions that the system could cost anywhere between $1,000 -
$3,500. Given Apple's emphasis on premium goods, a higher price is more likely,
though units could also be subsidized to grow initial growth.
The implementation of AR will depend highly on the
software, and how well it is built to manage existing systems. An example of
this idea could be seen in how HTML 5 was designed from the ground up to better
cater to mobile systems. Thanks to this software investment, mobiles no longer
have the problems browsing websites that they once did, and this could also
apply to how AR integrates with the next few years of entertainment.
The
'Now' and the 'Soon'
When we think of AR and entertainment, the first thought
usually goes to video games. This is thanks to systems like PlayStation
VR already putting in a lot of work, but AR tends to be underrepresented
compared to its cousin here. As it now stands, the biggest AR games still tend
to revolve around the ideas popularized by Pokémon Go. Titles like The Walking
Dead: Our World and Jurassic World Alive follow this concept, and while they’re
fun, they’re still limited and built on longstanding gaming concepts.
Future AR in video games could see enormous changes with
the advent of smaller and more mobile headsets. One of the most exciting
possibilities is found in combat titles, as we already see in games like laser
tag. With VR, these types of games would be brought to a new level, where
simple battlefields could be expanded to massive AR environments. These could
include virtual explosive weapons, zombie hordes to fight back, and the best
combination of gaming and exercise to date.
AR still has some practical use cases that it can learn
from the world of VR. For example, sports fans are beginning to be able to take
advantage of VR technology to watch games in virtual stadiums. This adds to the
many new ways that technology is bringing us closer to sports and that
in-person experience.
When combined with many innovations in the world of sports
betting, such as live results and in-play bets, the best betting websites are
constantly evolving to bring a range of accessibility features that take
us closer to the action. SBO has compiled a list of the best licensed sports
betting sites that you can filter by category based on your needs, making it
simple for you to sign up and place wagers on your favorite sports. The biggest
of these websites are international hits, so they're not without the means to
move into the AR sphere too. With AR, online sportsbooks could project features
of these services within a player's home.
Movies could be a little more complicated to implement,
where advancements could be found in both bigger screens and improved social
communication. With AR, a person could project a movie theatre-sized screen, to
bolster a sense of scale. This is already possible in VR, but AR could permit
additional points of reference for greater appreciation. AR could also allow
users to stream virtual avatars of their friends into their homes, to hang out
and watch shows and films even from thousands of miles away.
Though we've probably got at least another decade before AR
begins to uncover its true potential, its current progress means that even
incremental upgrades will be groundbreaking. It might not seem to outsiders,
but this is a technology that will eventually come to dominate. Not just in
entertainment, the possibilities in communication, healthcare, navigation, and
work are too great for the systems to ever fade away. It’s a matter of when,
not if, and when could be sooner than we think.
