Is your business ready for Spatial Computing?

Get your business ready for the next wave of technology.

People ask Irena Cronin and I what effect COVID-19 had on augmented reality and the larger field of Spatial Computing since we just finished the leading book, "The Infinite Retina" about what is happening in Spatial Computing, which includes all computing you or a robot can move around in, including virtual and augmented reality. I'm taking some time off of my summer vacation to underscore just how deeply many businesses are about to change due to new technology that you might not be aware of.

What I see is that the field has been plowed and that the tech industry now is ready for the fourth personal computing paradigm shift of my 55-year life.

Yes there are signs of life in Spatial Computing even though many of you don't yet use VR/AR or the AI that drives, say, a Tesla or a June Oven. Focals by North were purchased by Google. Magic Leap, this morning, announced a new CEO who will guide it into enterprise. HP has a new VR headset coming this fall that is getting great reviews. Niantic purchased AR Cloud company 6D.AI. And there's been tons of other news and leaks about products coming soon from Facebook, Apple, and others.

But I watch the teams that Maryam Scoble is working with at VMware (she is on the conference team there working with speakers and it is virtualizing its events that had tens of thousands of attendees last year, just like every other company is doing). Very few are using VR. Almost none are wearing augmented reality headsets. The bigger moves right now are on the continued containerization of datacenters and the rapid expansion of artificial intelligence into corporations. Much of what VMware will cover at its big conference this fall is new security technology that's important now that we are working at home (that opens companies up to new attack vectors).

Yet Irena and I see other huge moves that are going to accelerate now that even our school teachers are on Zoom. We talk about these in depth in our new book, "The Infinite Retina," which you can get on Amazon here: https://www.amazon.com/Infinite-Retina-Computing-technologies-revolution/dp/1838824049/

1?. Our factories are seeing increasing robot usage as robots fall in cost and increase in capabilities.

2. Our schools are being asked to increase the quality of remote education, even while still struggling to get some the infrastructure to do simple things like Zoom calls or Google Classroom-based assignments.

3. Self-driving cars and robots are already changing the transportation space, but most of their promise will arrive in a few years.

4. Augmented Reality is seeing more and more usage, particularly in the popular social media app SnapChat yet the promise of AR hasn't been realized and no one is wearing headsets yet. We expect that to change by 2023 as Apple enters the market and as other products get smaller, get rid of cords, and become far more capable.

5. Virtual Reality is seeing increases in usage, but still hasn't broken out to mainstream. That will start changing next year as new 4K headsets that are lighter and much more enjoyable to wear and use come along. Already the Pico Neo 2 is getting raves amongst enterprise users because of its great screens, eye tracking, and freedom from Facebook's privacy troubles. VR training has hit strides with enterprises and headsets like the Pico one and the Oculus Quest, which are both self-contained and don't need cords to expensive computers, will enable more enterprise uses.

6. Artificial Reality and Computer Vision are getting much more capable. I was just talking with the team at Chooch AI (a bleeding edge computer vision company) and many corporations don't realize that there's been real breakthroughs in training cameras to do new things, like watching employees wash their hands to ensure that restaurant and healthcare workers do a good job. Why? Training is now done in video and is a lot easier to do. Teaching cameras new tasks now takes hours, sometimes minutes, where it used to take weeks and cost a lot more.

As I take the summer off, I've been studying these new workloads and talking with even more innovators who are struggling to deal with COVID-19 and all the economic changes that have come this year and I'm seeing that Irena and I really did get the changes correct that are coming. In our book we lay out seven industries that will see radical change. Fintech, healthcare, education, telecom and entertainment, retail, transportation, and manufacturing.

This is why our book has gotten almost wholly five-star reviews on Amazon with reviews like this:

Hugo Swart (he runs Qualcomm's AR/VR businesses): Great book on Spatial Computing! Covers the fundamentals in technology and devices and provide an overview on the impact of Spatial Compute will have across various industries. Recommend for both those in the VR/AR industry and for those wanting to understand it. Five stars.

Brett King (he does the awesome Breaking Banks fintech-focused podcast): "The book is rich with context, examples, insights and secret revelations you'll hear for the very first time. It is a phenomenally crafted and well written piece for those of us following the space. Check it out. Five stars.

Michael Berman: "the authors weave a detailed landscape of the current state and future of Spatial Computing. They introduce us to not only the technologies involved, but the visionaries, industry experts, companies, and products that are powering this tech transformation and the changes it will bring. Five stars."

Cathy Hackl (she's a futurist and worked for Magic Leap): "In Infinite Retina, Cronin and Scoble present a very well informed analysis of the shift that is occurring in computing. I especially appreciate them expanding on the meaning of Spatial Computing beyond just a marketing term to one that is broader and impactful. Their insight is spot on and as a thought leader in the XR space and a futurist, I found myself engulfed in many chapters. I would highly recommend this book to any professional in business and technology that wants to better understand what the future holds and why we are all heading that direction. Five stars."

Marylene Delbourg-Delphis (she is a pioneering executive in Silicon Valley): "It’s realistic…That’s something I really like about this book. It’s not science-fictional, and you won’t be sucked into a cardboard reality. Hordes of driverless trucks won’t burst onto our highways tomorrow, and quite of a few institutional and regulatory obstacles need to be lifted before flying vehicles become mainstream… But many things will happen way before that. The authors are taking us smoothly to a point where Spatial Computing will blend into our daily lives, just as smartphones did: “Within the next three years, or certainly by 2025,” they say, “we'll see devices that let you switch between real and virtual so quickly and seamlessly that some might start to lose track of the reality of what they are experiencing. Five stars.”

Francine Hardaway (pioneering entrepreneur): "This book will overwhelm you with information about the coming change for business and humanity. And then you will have to THINK: what are the ethics surrounding all of this? What happens to privacy? At what point do we cease being human. If you are in business and want to stay competitive, or if you have kids and want to know what kind of world they will be living in, or even if you are just curious about the next new "toy," you will want to read this book. Five stars."

Brian Roemmelle (strategist for VCs and many innovative companies): "This is one of the rare books that will define an epoch and the terminology of Spacial Computing. This is the master work of Irena Cronin and Robert Scoble. They explore this new future with us along on a journey to partial and fully immersive virtual worlds. From the early history of the technology to the path it will take moving forward the authors have built a compelling roadmap to what will seem to be a complex and alien future for the uninformed. The changes ahead that AR/VR and all the variations will bring are as large as the computer revolution itself and the authors have done the research to present how true disruptions will form through the world. There has never been a more timely and prescient book written in the future of Spacial computing and the recent events of the 2020 Pandemic will likely accelerate this transformation. I recommend this book to anyone in the world of technology who may be a domain expert or to the casual reader hoping to understand and participate in some way with the Spacial Computing revolution. Five stars."

Matt Miesnieks (he started and ran 6D.AI, a pioneering augmented reality cloud company that recently was sold to Niantic): "I've contributed or co-authored a number of books about AR and Spatial Computing and have worked in the space for 10 years now. It moves incredibly fast and last year's info is probably out of date already. Robert & Irena have spoken to everyone who knows anything about this space and have provided a book that steps back & explains why the big picture is important and how this will play out over the next decades as well as providing clear & fact based evidence around how it is happening today... Read this and be able to make smart decisions and investments of your time & money to capitalize on this platform shift. Five stars."

There are many other reviews, too, on the Amazon page for "The Infinite Retina." If you have read it, please add your review here.

I've written four books that predict decade-long trends. This one took more than a decade of my life to research and write and I'm very proud of the work Irena and I did in it. We interviewed a very diverse set of people, from surgeons to autonomous vehicle pioneers. Apple cofounder Steve Wozniak thought it important enough to write the foreword.

It will help your business because it brings you not only up to date on what's happening right now, but gives you insights into some of the pitfalls, particularly with privacy and security that could cause your business real trouble (and this year already has caused quite a few companies trouble). It also gives you a framework for how to build your own strategy and shows you where the technology came from, and why we believe humans need to push into this new technology field, even with all the potential downsides.

And with that, I'm off to do more discussions with people who are pushing this field forward and in the fall will come back with more info about what the most innovative businesses are doing to get ready for the next decade, which, while it has already brought so much change, will bring even more as these new technologies get more adoption.