[AR/VR Special] Panoramic Smart City: How VR and AR can kill smartphones

Smartphones are virtual reality (VR) and augmented reality (AR)’s biggest enemy.

It puts everything at the tip of our fingertips. We read the news, we chat with friends, we take pictures, we send emails, we use GPS, we buy things, we play games. We do almost everything through our smartphones, making you feel convenient and comfortable.

And, some of us — probably most of us — look down on VR and AR.

We might hear them say...

Why do we even need to wear a VR or AR headset if we can do everything from our smartphone?

How can VR and AR be more convenient than smartphones?

Why are they so important? Because I haven't found a strong urge to use it yet.

We believe that VR and AR will be the next big thing, but what I see today is that we created fun in VR and AR (which is really good). However, we forgot to list people’s love and hate for smartphones. By understanding what people like and dislike about smartphones, you can kill smartphones.

More than half of YouTube views come from mobile devices (YouTube videos require "climbing the Great Firewall" to watch)

Now let’s enumerate the reasons why we love watching YouTube on our smartphones:

1. It is so simple that we can do anything anytime and anywhere. We can watch videos in fancy postures.

2. We don’t need to turn on and off the computer. (It’s not too much trouble to turn on the computer and turn it off, but, you know, the era of smartphones makes us so lazy.)

3.The small screen size gives us more privacy. We can watch any video you want without anyone knowing.

Why we hate it:

1. The screen is really small, but we don't have any choice. When watching videos, especially high resolution, nothing can beat a monitor or TV. I did a small survey asking the same question, and most people still prefer TV and monitor.

2. Do we feel tired holding our smartphones in a specific position to watch videos? That’s why TV still wins because we don’t need to hold anything, just sit down.

This is how VR and AR solve this problem.

YouTube in VR: VR is about virtuality, which means we can have a virtual home theater: sitting in a virtual cozy room with a virtual big screen. We don't need to hold the screen with our hands because it is a head-mounted display. Even though it will be a big screen, we still have our privacy because we have seen our own VR headset that belongs only to us. Google and HTC are working together to create standalone VR glasses, so it's as easy as using a smartphone.

YouTube in AR/MR: Imagine HoloLens or Magic Leap could make an AR version of YouTube where you could mount a virtual big screen on the wall, just use AR/MR glasses and find a comfortable seat. No need to buy a new TV and settle for a small screen.

The real downside to online shopping is that you can’t see the item before you buy it. You can’t see the true size, and you can’t touch the object.

Let's say you want to buy a T-shirt in an online store. Basically, all the information you have is a few photos of the T-shirt worn by a professional model and some small words explaining the product on the small screen of a smartphone. All this is enough to convince us to do online shopping, just because it is our only option.

This is where VR and AR will enhance the online shopping experience that you can't get from your smartphone (and PC).

VR online shopping: Last September, Daniel Beauchamp, head of VR at Shopify, announced Shopify’s first VR app, where you can design a shirt and use a 3D shirt simulated in real scale, so what you see in VR is what you can wear. We can even have a virtual mannequin representing our body’s height, weight, waist, chest size, and anything that describes body measurements – to check if the shirt fits our body perfectly. Thus, VR can give a realistic expectation that ultimately leads to a satisfying purchase.

Good news: (1) Alibaba has been developing VR online shopping experiences. (2) Amazon is preparing their VR venture.

Online shopping in AR/MR: VR can enhance your online shopping experience, while AR can improve your offline shopping experience. Imagine that you go to an AR/MR glasses store and every time you see a product, you will see a small pop-us showing the price of the product, a title explaining the product, people's reviews and ratings.

For example, you go to a bookstore, and instead of using your smartphone to search for books on Goodreads, you can simply learn how each book integrates with Goodreads (the AR version) and automatically read the entire synopsis, highlighted reviews, and people’s ratings right in front of you, without having to take out your smartphone and read this information manually.

In fact, the biggest benefit of VR and AR is that we can reduce the use of constantly changing price tag papers (we are all good environmentally friendly kids).

For someone like me, I have always needed to look at the map on the GPS while driving. No, it's not that I don't trust the voice telling me the direction. I just instinctively need my eyes to judge. Plus, trying to balance your eyes with what you see on the road is dangerous.

This is how VR and AR will help us use GPS better, safer, and smarter.

GPS in VR: VR immerses us in a virtual world and takes us away from real life, so there is no chance that you can use a VR headset while driving. However, for someone like me who is afraid of getting lost, I have actually been using Google Map (360 images and navigation) to understand the environment of the location I am going to visit. The result? I can save more time instead of getting lost somewhere. With the release of Google Earth VR, this could be a good start.

GPS in AR/MR: Imagine AR/MR glasses are the next smartphone. We use it everywhere, just like we use smartphones. And when the driver enters the car, our AR/MR glasses automatically turn on car mode. We don't get any notifications that distract us from driving. Instead, right in front of us, we can not only see the road, but also an arrow showing us the direction to our destination. If there is transportation nearby, we can also alert you. In my imagination, this will be much safer.

Our generation is probably the laziest generation. We spend our weekends in our beds with our smartphones, playing games and being bored (so blunt…). If we stick with smartphones, as we do today, we will see a rebellion from the next generation of young people, wanting to live more productive lives, play outside more, and spend more time in nature. When we were kids, we had these activities, but these young people have almost none of them, and these days young people spend their daily lives with smartphones and tablets.

That’s how VR and AR make the dream come true.

VR Gaming: VR gaming is everything as we see it today. You are not sitting in front of a screen; you are inside the screen, participating in the environment. We have never played these activities in smartphones and PCs, standing up, moving, punching, and any kind of activity. It is not only fun, but also healthy

Gaming in AR: Imagine playing Pokemon Go without having to put your smartphone anywhere. Just wear AR/MR glasses and every time there is a Pokemon, you will see it in front of your eyes. I can imagine that gaming will be more fun in AR if gaming merges real life and virtual life.

Panoramic smart cities came into being, providing the public with a platform for shopping at home, online virtual shopping, and strolling through the streets and alleys without leaving home.

Einstein once said, “Imagination is more important than knowledge. For knowledge is limited, while imagination encompasses the whole world, stimulates progress, produces evolution.” So, in your imagination, how can VR and AR replace smartphones?

Author:linlinlinda

來源：简书