‘The Future of AR is now’ is a series of blog posts in which four big companies that are developing AR wearables and technologies are aligned in a comparative research. This is the second post, read the first one here.
Several companies have been actively developing AR technology and have been thinking about how this technology will change the world around us. Which company’s vision and technology is the most appealing and which one has the most potential? Today the Meta 2 is up for research.
A tool that extends our body
Meta is a company that loves Augmented Reality way more than Virtual Reality and seizes the opportunities AR will have in the nearby future. They were able to produce their first AR wearable, the Meta 1, thanks to Kickstarter fundings.
In a TED video by CEO Meron Gribetz in February this year their second version, Meta 2, was unveiled. Gribetz is a great speaker, declaring Meta’s visions in a clear and identifiable way. The major message Gribetz is proclaiming is that most technology these days is ‘caged’ inside computer screens and therefore distracts us from the world around us. Gribetz says “tools should extend our bodies and computers these days are doing quite the opposite”.
(Meta CEO Meron Gribetz wearing the Meta 2 on stage during his TED Talk. Source: Ted/Meta)
An engaging demo
The demo of the Meta 2 shown in the talk looks valid. Its graphics look real and plausible and the field of view was surprisingly big. We saw the view from the actual device, filmed with a GoPro camera, as if we were watching through the wearable ourselves. We were shown how the Meta 2 could be used to see, grab and move holograms. You are the operating system, since the Meta 2 features natural gestural hand recognition. Other reviews of the Meta 2 use and field of view weren’t different from the TED talk, making the overall review of the Meta 2 quite positive .
A demo that engaged us, which we found believable from the first minute to the last.
Technology freed from screens
Meta focuses more on the role AR (devices) will have in our everyday life. Gribetz stated that “the future of computers is right here (in AR devices), not locked in our screens” which is in sync with Dutch Rose Media’s vision that with AR the internet is leaving our computers and taking place in the world around us.
(Shots of what users see when wearing Meta 2, shown in the TED video. Source: Youtube/Meta)
Future Growth Potential
With a demovideo this engaging and authentic-looking, Meta has created a credible potential for its hardware. The graphics in the demovideo aren’t as beautiful as the ones shown in the Hololens demo, but that’s the exact reason why people are seeing the possibilities of the Meta 2 right at this moment already. We believe Meta’s technology can go a long way and we are already mind-blown by Meta’s current hardware. And yes, technology will leave our screens in a not so distant future.
Het bericht The Future of AR is Now: #2 Meta 2 verscheen eerst op Dutch Rose Media.