Will Consumers Adopt AR Glasses? Maybe, Probably Not
Remember Google Glass, with the funky frames and that wee little camera that stuck out the side? They launched. They failed. Those wearing them were labelled “glassholes”. Google then found the niche where they’ve done quite well; industrial and manufacturing. Now, Mark Zuckerberg says they’re working on them but it’s a massive challenge. Some pundits speculate that Apple too is working on such Augmented Reality (AR) glasses.
Within a certain context, they’re pretty cool. There’s some very practical real-world use cases for them too. You could have more food labeling information on packages, we product reviews of an item on a shelf such as a coffee maker or other small appliance. Get directions walking around an unfamiliar city or see restaurant menus and staring at an office tower, get information on tenants.
As one who spends a fair bit of time working with tech startups and companies developing technology based products for consumers, as a digital anthropologist does, there are some fairly big hurdles to overcome and they’re not about the technology.
Such a device as AR glasses couldn’t be choosing a worse time to enter the mainstream consumer market. Right now, trust in consumer Big Tech companies like Facebook, Google, Amazon and others is quite low. Why? One word: privacy. And privacy means personal data. How it’s collected, stored, used and re-sold.
Consumers are starting to wake up to how their data is collected and used and they’re not amused. Democratic countries around the world are reviewing their privacy laws and regulators are looking at monopolies and how data flows in the rising digital economy. Autocracies like China or Russia don’t really care as long as they get the data first. Citizen control is far more important than human rights.
With this increased interest in privacy is cultural values that are shifting. While many of us are used to CCTV cameras on buildings and inside some buildings, societies are starting to define the boundaries of acceptability around being surveilled. This is happening with tracking on smartphones and online activities as we companies like Apple blocking tracking in its browser and now its mobile iOS with 14.5. Mozilla is adding greater privacy and no-track features. The Brave browser has been doing this for sometime.
Privacy is becoming a marketing feature for many technology companies, just as many consumer brands are pushing back against political organisations that aren’t seen as being in step with changing social values such as gender, race and environmental issues. These are important factors today for any technology.
All that said, Snapchat did release their Spectacles, but they’re not fully AR capable and they’re very obvious in their design, also slightly pricey. They may be a stepping stone to broader consumer acceptance. It is notable however, that no other brand has followed and we don’t really know sales numbers. Although they’re reportedly working on a new version.
As consumers adopt technologies, they develop new social norms and behaviours. The technology changes us, then we change the technology in a virtuous circle. If anything the consumer environment today for AR glasses, whether they are made by Apple, Google or Facebook is likely less welcoming than when Google first launched Glass years ago. Facebook already is faced with more distrust and brand dislike than any other Big Tech company. Facebook’s Portal device was massively panned by the media and market penetration has been tepid at best.
As consumers have learned over the past decade or so, smartphones and cameras can lead to a lot of awkward moments with images and video. It is not uncommon for social settings with parties, to ask people to keep their smartphone off or not be used for taking pictures without consent. It is common social behaviour now to ask if making a post is acceptable at work or social functions. With AR glasses, it creates yet another dynamic of acceptable social behaviours.
I may certainly be wrong, sure have been a few times at least. But it strikes me that AR glasses are still a little way off from mass social acceptance. And Facebook is going to need to build a little more trust with consumers as well.
