The End of Screens - Digital Explorers' Diary #39

Welcome to the Digital Explorers' Diary #39!

A curated collection of thought-provoking topics about interactive technologies, AI, web3, sense-making, entrepreneurship, and psychology.

Executive summary:

• We might not use screens in the future,
• ChatGPT mobile application,
• TikTok opens a fund for Augmented Reality creators,
• Meta and Magic Leap in discussions for an IP and manufacturing partnership.

The end of screens!

I’ve already touched a bit on this topic here, and as Apple’s headset release is coming closer, here are more details of what’s coming.

Yes, the screens as we know them now, on our TVs, smartphones, and computers, will soon be replaced.

Think about it: they are necessary to access this digital world. And indeed, they are getting bigger, thinner, more defined, and some have 3D… But it’s not a very convenient medium, right?

First, you have to look at it to use it. Duh. Bear with me; I’ll come back to that. You are constantly switching from one app to the other. They are fragile and break quite easily. The larger the screen, the more expensive it gets. And a large screen is not really portable. Remember when our phones used to fit in our pockets?

Now, imagine this: a lightweight pair of augmented reality glasses that would allow you to use all the available space around you, available anytime. You can place virtual windows anywhere, either attached to you or fixed on a table or a wall. It’s contextually aware of your surroundings and remembers each application emplacement.

When you sit at your desk, the virtual windows with your calendar, email, and everything you need are already there, in front of you.
When you sit on your sofa, the large cinema screen appears with your latest selection
In the Kitchen, the recipes you selected earlier automatically appear.

I’ll let you imagine how that could fit into your usage…

And it’s coming. I’m quite confident that the Apple headset will have similar features. The Nreal glasses have a great success and will soon support Windows. And this week, a company named Sightful announced a screenless computer.

Are you excited about what’s coming? Let me know in the comments!

PS: I should do the same article about keyboard and mouse…

This Week's News:

1. OpenAI has released ChatGPT as an iOS application, only in the US for now, with all features in addition to voice input. I told you so! Ok, that’s a hindsight bias, but head here to my article to read more of my predictions of what could happen next.
   Also, why only in the US first? Are they afraid of regulations, testing the market, or something else?
2. Meta and Magic Leap are in discussions on IP licensing and manufacturing collaboration.
   This will not lead to a co-developed headset. Instead, Magic Leap might provide optics for Meta and help with Meta’s headset production.
   Timing is essential: Apple is set to release their headset next month, and all the other big names fear a success; therefore a need to act and collaborate to be more powerful. The game is on!
3. TikTok creates a fund to reward creators of successful Augmented Reality filters. That’s excellent news for creators, and I hope Meta and Snap do the same on their platforms with a more long-term system than just a fund.
   Indeed, it would open another way for creators to earn money and drive more creativity in the field, that is - believe me - one where the budgets are the lowest.

From the Podcast

Every week, I’m teaming up with Guillaume Brincin and Sébastien Spas on the Lost In Immersion podcast. This week, we focused on Google, as many news followed the IO conference:

1. We explore the new Geospatial technology that allows precise integration of virtual scenes at any supported location. It works anywhere Google Street View is, and the first tests seem promising in ease of usage and accuracy. As I mentioned last week, expect a lot of location-based Augmented Reality experiences to show up in the following months!
2. Moving to Virtual Worlds, Metaverses, and Games, Google also announced the availability of Google Maps Tiles. Put simply, it’s a way of representing map data in a photorealistic 3D, available now in the powerful game engine Unreal.
   Worth noting: Unity, Unreal’s competitor, has a similar engine named Geopipe, but far less realistic.
3. And finally, Google showcased an upgrade to their telepresence mirror. It started during COVID while lockdowns were happening in the hope of bringing people closer; it got upgraded and now has a smaller scale. We’re curious to see actual use cases and real images, as most of what can be seen online seem fake.
   Is it another temporary project that will be left aside, or is Google using this as a means to develop software layers that would then be used in other applications in the future, such as realistic avatars or the next-gen Google Meet?

Tune in at 10 am UTC on Wednesdays on Twitch, and listen to the replays on Youtube!