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Technological progress is an unstoppable power that brings new and new changes to all areas of our lives. The Internet is the first thing that comes to mind when we think about the revolutionizing of user experience practices. After that, we, of course, cannot omit the mass adoption of smartphones that enabled us to do literally all basic things — from shopping to dietary habits tracking — in a few clicks. Now we’re at the point when it’s difficult to ignore the advancements of AI solutions and the mass adoption of AR/VR technologies.
What changes have they already brought and which are yet to come in terms of UX? Do AR-based solutions have any chance of successfully integrating with AI? Will we all be living with Neuralink chips in our brains instead of smartphones and AR headsets? These are the questions we’ll try to answer in this review. Let’s meet the future approaches to UX/UX before they start shaping our reality!
How AR and VR Technologies Change the Perception of UX
It seems that everyone has heard about VR and AR technology. However, the adoption of these solutions isn’t as wide as you might expect after reading expert reviews in specialized media. 78% of Americans don’t use VR solutions. This means that the technology has the potential for growth and mass adoption. Here’s how it might fulfill this potential:
- Immersive design: AR and VR technologies started a big revolution in terms of immersive UX design. It’s a new step in terms of the interaction of an app with users because the solutions enable them to experience literally new reality. With VR users leap into unseen environments and might interact with them in close-to-real-life conditions, which wasn’t possible for previous digital advancements.
- Extended reality: The adoption and combination of AR and VR solutions brought up a new concept of extended reality, aka XR. Extended reality is a brand-new way to perceive digital content and engage with virtual worlds.
- Better user interaction: VR and AR solutions aren’t just for perceiving virtual content. These technologies literally enable users to interact with digital environments the way they would interact with the real world. All this is possible thanks to the integration of VR with such advancements as gesture-based controls, voice commands, and spatial awareness. We believe that a wider adoption of the Internet of Things might bring this user experience approach one more level higher.
Apple Vision Pro: The Best Example of AR Adoption?
Let’s talk not only about the prospects of the AR/VR solutions but also about their actual achievements. From this perspective, Apple Vision Pro is the best subject for discussion. Currently, Apple Vision Pro is the best device in terms of eliminating the gap between real-life and virtual realities.
First of all, Apple Vision Pro has the eye-tracking technology integrated with the device. Thanks to this, users can point to the objects of augmented reality by just looking at them, just like in real life.
Secondly, Apple Vision Pro successfully adopted the technology of voice and gesture control. What’s more, the headset is enough to utilize them. Users don’t need to hold additional devices in their hands in order to make gestures ‘valid’ for virtual reality. These advancements make the device a must-have resource for developers and designers.
The biggest and most obvious disadvantage of this gadget is that it cannot be considered a product for mass consumption yet. Although by the end of January Apple exceeded its own expectations and sold more than 200,000 of these expensive headsets, at this stage, this AR device cannot be considered a widely adoptable substitution for smartphones.
Also, some users are concerned that such a level of UX and tracking capabilities of the device might interfere with their privacy. And that seems relevant if you consider that the gadget has a pretty advanced health monitoring system. Health data might be considered sensitive.
AI Reshaping the Industry: Will AI Pin Substitute Smartphones?
Apple isn’t the only company that is going to reshape our modern perception of UX. Nevertheless, it seems funny that its former employees launched a startup that has already developed a device that is believed by many to be a substitution for smartphones. Yes, we’re going to talk about AI Pin from Humane.
In a nutshell, an AI Pin is a small wearable device that visually might resemble a simple pager. You pin it to your clothes and then project the necessary content using a laser display. The thing is that you produce it on your hand instead of a traditional screen. This device is equipped with AI developed by OpenAI. Thanks to this, it can generate text content, push notifications, or recognize things and describe them using a special integrated camera.
Since the device doesn’t have a traditional display, and projecting information in the form of a laser on your hand might not be always convenient, users can control it using voice or gestures. Although AI Pin was launched to the market only at the beginning of this year, many believe that it has the full potential to cure humanity’s addiction to smartphones. While admitting the obvious advancements of the startup in terms of a new UX approach, at this stage, we’d like to argue its capability to substitute traditional smartphones. Here are the key reasons why:
- No apps: The user experience of smartphones heavily depends on how smoothly and effectively they are able to run the most popular and useful applications. Currently, that is irrelevant for AI Pin. Although being a very useful device in terms of quick access to information, it lacks the possibility of running apps. It focuses more on our AI experience than on the general user experiences we receive when enjoying different services on smartphones. The idea of AI-based hardware is quite innovative and technologically advanced, but in order to fully substitute smartphones, it has to offer not less and even more than we get when using them. Currently, we can use AI without AI Pin but we cannot use apps without smartphones.
- No mobile payments: AI Pin includes a camera and gesture and voice controls, however, it doesn’t include any sort of solutions to process payments. Although you can make purchases online with this device, you cannot pay for them instantly, which is a considerable functional limitation compared to traditional smartphones. If you’re used to paying by just tapping your device, then you shouldn’t put your smartphone on the shelf after buying AI Pin.
- No screen: It’s believed that we use smartphones mostly to make calls, search for information online, and take pictures. Well, these functions are available with AI Pin. However, let’s not forget about a huge share of visual content. We enjoy playing games with various graphic features, watching movies and videos, and working with pictures using the screens of our smartphones. A laser display cannot provide such functionality.
Although we don’t consider AI Pin an alternative to smartphones, we still have to admit its huge contribution to the current progress in UX/CX practices.
The Prospects of Neuralink in Changing UX
Recently, it was reported that the Neuralink chip has been implanted into a human’s brain. The Neuralink methodology involves the insertion of a sealed device that processes, stimulates, and transmits neural signals, representing a cutting-edge frontier in brain interface technology. Although brain interfaces are still in their early stages, Neuralink is capable of making a real revolution and bringing the true marvels of brain interfaces to unfold as we delve deeper into their possibilities.
Envision the following capabilities with this advancing technology:
- Transmission of thoughts as images: Neural interfaces could enable the transmission of thoughts to a computer interface in the form of images, revolutionizing the way we understand UX.
- Digital telepathy and Internet connectivity: Synthetic digital telepathy could become a reality, allowing individuals to connect and communicate using brain interfaces. Additionally, seamless integration with the internet could redefine how we access and utilize online information.
- Dream recording and memory recovery: The capability to record dreams and potentially recover lost memories adds an intriguing dimension to the applications of brain interface technology.
- Prosthetic limb control: Brain interfaces hold the promise of enhancing the control of prosthetic limbs, providing individuals with improved functionality and mobility.
Moreover, brain interfaces are not limited to addressing medical concerns; they can also be harnessed by the general populace for productivity enhancement. A notable example is Neurosity, a company pioneering brain interface products designed to boost efficiency. By accurately identifying when an individual is in a peak performance state, the brain interface takes actions to maintain that optimal condition.
In essence, the evolution of AR solutions, AI-based devices, and brain interface technology holds the promise of transforming how we interact with our minds, the world around us, and digital environments. As we venture further into uncharted territory, the possibilities for UX breakthroughs, enhanced communication, and personal productivity through modern technologies appear limitless.
To conclude, all these technologies are at their early development stages. AR and VR have the potential to fully mix virtual realities with ours, AI is just making its first steps in helping you to use its capabilities without any smartphones, and Nueralink is yet to reveal the full potential of brain interface technology.
