Facing Our AR Future

Uncanny Valley | WIRED

WIRED

Technology

4.1 • 572 Ratings

🗓️ 5 March 2021

⏱️ 38 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

While augmented reality has long been billed as the "next big thing" it hasn't quite arrived. Some pretty basic logistical problems get in the way. The headsets are too clunky, there aren't many decent apps, and the setup process can be a mess. But companies like Microsoft, Google, and (potentially) Apple are working on these problems, with the ultimate goal of creating consumer-level mixed-reality devices. AR is coming, whether people are willing to wait for it or not.

This week on Gadget Lab, we talk with WIRED digital director Brian Barrett about the future of mixed reality and when we'll all be wearing AR glasses.

Show Notes:

Read Lauren’s story about mixed-reality headsets and Microsoft Mesh here. Read more about the HoloLens 2 here. Read about the AR “Mirrorworld” here. Follow all of WIRED’s AR coverage here. Read Lily Hay Newman’s story for Slate about how baths are better than showers here.

Recommendations:

Brian recommends the novel A Children's Bible by Lydia Millet. Lauren recommends taking a bath. Mike recommends the mobile game Really Bad Chess for iOS or Android.

Brian Barrett can be found on Twitter @brbarrett. Lauren Goode is @LaurenGoode. Michael Calore is @snackfight. Bling the main hotline at @GadgetLab. The show is produced by Boone Ashworth (@booneashworth). Our theme music is by Solar Keys.

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Transcript

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0:00.0	Lauren.
0:00.7	Mike.
0:01.3	Lauren, you've played a video game in AR, but have you ever listened to a podcast in AR?
0:06.4	Hmm.
0:07.5	What is, what is that? Is that spatial audio? Maybe? I'm not sure.
0:12.6	Well, we'll have to fix that. Put on your headset now, please.
0:20.4	Hi, everyone. Welcome to Gadget Lab. I am Michael Collory, a senior editor, Wired.
0:27.0	And I'm Lauren Good, a senior writer at Wired.
0:29.1	We are also joined this week by Wired's digital director, Brian Barrett. Hello, Brian.
0:34.3	Hi, guys. Thanks for having me.
0:35.5	Of course. Welcome back to the show. Today we are talking about AR, also known as augmented reality. This week, Microsoft showed off a new augmented reality platform called Microsoft Mesh. It's designed to let people in different locations meet with each other in a space that blends a real environment with virtual avatars. Microsoft is in the only
0:56.3	company thinking that AR is going to play a big role in the future. A few other big name companies
1:00.8	are working on AR glasses too. And sooner or later, you might use one of these headsets to attend a
1:05.9	virtual birthday party while you do the dishes or sit through a PowerPoint presentation while you
1:10.6	stroll around your
1:11.3	neighborhood. Doesn't that sound nice? You've really sold us on those use cases. Well, we're not
1:18.0	quite there yet. The technology has a ways to go. And what's available now is a little janky. So later
1:24.5	in the show, we're going to talk about AR more broadly. But first, let's step into the HoloZone.
1:30.0	Lauren, you met with Microsoft this week to talk about its big news, and you had some
1:35.0	firsthand experience with the new HoloLens software in the process.
1:38.4	How did that go?
1:39.4	Right.
	...

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