Never one to rest on its laurels, Apple has made waves again recently with the announcement of the cutting-edge Potential of AR headset named the Vision Pro. Slated for release in early 2024, previews of this system have astounded tech enthusiasts, as the device illustrates one of the first systems where performance is approaching long-held promise. We aren’t in the clumsy first-generation anymore, where the Vision Pro represents the coming potential of what will eventually become a common tool. Though much of the potential of AR lies in video game entertainment, this just scratches the surface of what AR can do, and what it could bring into our personal and professional lives. Taking a look from multiple angles, we want to explore what the future generations of AR will bring, to explain why the tech industry is convinced of its inevitable future success.

The Gaming Experience

Starting with the most obvious use, it’s games that will likely illustrate the Vision Pro’s mainstream potential to the masses. Augmented reality titles like Five Nights at Freddy’s AR and Jurassic World Alive have already found success on mobiles, but the mobile platform is limiting. Holding up and looking through a phone is nowhere near as engaging as using a full headset, which gives the Vision Pro a distinct advantage. Though the market doesn’t have many games to support headset AR integration yet, with promise, they will come. While some forms of entertainment are bound by cultural interests and regional markets, there are some, such as betting and its online form of iGaming, which transcend boundaries. Betting is a worldwide phenomenon, and it illustrates a position where Potential of AR can make fast international success. The online casino market is a perfect example here with the like of slots and table games. Titles like Epic Ape, Great Blue, roulette, and blackjack are great fits for headset VR in how well they’d superimpose tables and machines within a user’s home. From online casino Zambia fans to those in America, New Zealand, and the UK, this functionality could provide a more physical feel to digital games of chance no matter where you live. You could even place some digital AR machines outside, which you’d never see in real life, in a manner that offers appeal to every country on earth. More robust and potable headsets like the Vision Pro also hold immense potential in introducing new and active forms of digital entertainment. A game like laser tag, for example, could be modified into a far more visually impressive experience with AR.

For General Entertainment

In more general entertainment, AR could offer a way to watch movies without the need for a physical screen. AR can project a fake display in front of the user, meaning you could watch a superimposed screen hundreds of feet tall if you wish, or simply use it to fake a regular-sized screen in an area where you wouldn’t otherwise have the space. Sports could benefit through AR by allowing a match to be miniaturized and played out directly in a person’s home. A cleared coffee table, for example, could be overlaid with a  football field. Augmented reality could generate a birds-eye view of the match from the most comfortable seat in your house, alongside regular broadcast and commentary coverage. It wouldn’t quite be like being there, but the improved engagement it would offer fans would be undeniable. Similar advantages could apply to music, where appearances and performances could be overlayed directly into an empty area of your home. While the most expensive seats at a regular concert could place you in awkward locations and behind security guards, AR headsets could put a singer, or band directly in your living room from a Twitch-like service. So close you could almost reach out and touch them if it weren’t for their digital form, this level of engagement is unprecedented and highly desirable, and it’s an inevitable direction in which AR is heading.

As a Tool

Aside from fun and games, AR also holds immense potential as a tool. The simple end of this idea is already practiced via mobile phone apps like RoOomy and Homestyler. These let users place virtual furniture and décor in their homes to check out various styles before they invest. Again, headset AR would make this approach far more immersive; while also leaving the user less prone to possible buyer’s remorse. From here, AR could improve home and device repair. While there are guides on the internet for many fixes today, often from the direct manufacturers; these can be confusing in writing or poorly executed in videos. AR could help by identifying each component individually; and then overlaying a direct example of what needs to be done to proceed to the next step. Minimizing guesswork and mistakes, such implementation could end up saving significantly on the reliance on outside repair shops. This kind of repair work would also benefit a professional environment; where industries like healthcare could take the concept to the next level. Properly integrated with a medical system, AR could provide doctors with a full readout of a patient’s relevant vital information. This could streamline regular visits but might see bigger advantages in high-pressure situations like surgery. Without having to rely on checking nearby monitors or updates from assistants; a surgeon could focus entirely on the job at hand; and even have AR point out factors the doctor might otherwise have missed. For the most casual and broad-reaching tool use, AR could act as a simple replacement for a work monitor. Combined with using a mobile system as a computer (another growing approach); this combination could reduce a workstation to just a keyboard and mouse.

Conclusion:

Make no mistakes, the potential we’ve covered in this article is inevitable; the only question is how long it could take before implementation becomes common. As is typical for new technology, a killer app could be all that’s needed to popularize many forms of AR; but we have no way of knowing when these will arise. Even as promising as systems like the Vision Pro are, they’re still relatively niche; and expensive systems where software investment is a complicated and risky bet. With so many advantages on the line, AR’s dominance is a matter of when and not if; and for the potential