Televisions have ruled the world since the 1900s wearing the crown of the World’s Best Entertainers for decades. There simply wasn’t a single contender in the global market to compete against the supremacy of these big screens. From kids to adults to old age people, these screens were the apple to everyone’s eyes.
But with the introduction of Augmented Reality, the question of Television being replaced by this emerging tech has been a trending topic around the globe. Augmented Reality has already proved its worth in different areas of everyone’s daily life and it wouldn’t be long until the big box of every household is completely succeeded by this modern virtual screen restricting these blinking big television screens to just a museum artifact.
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Practically talking, if you were given an opportunity of having a virtual screen that you can carry anywhere in the world and also resize and reshape it according to your needs, then why would you stick with a real Television that isn’t mobile?
But on the other hand, it seems just the beginning and it will take at least a decade for the Virtual Reality to completely lure its consumers with an AR-enabled screen, considering the highly expensive price tag that comes along with Augmented Reality videos. Also, the technology is in its budding stage and its huge budgetary requirements aren’t compatible with everyone’s pocket. There is still a lot of research that needs to be done to make Augmented Reality version available for each and every one.
Facebook’s CEO Mark Zuckerberg in the F8 Facebook’s Conference in April 2017 quoted “You want to watch TV? We could put a digital TV on that wall and instead of being a piece of hardware; it’s a $1 app, instead of a $500 piece of equipment.”The quote is indeed the truth of the future but it surely is going to take decades to create a $1 application that gives you the luxury to watch the Augmented Reality enabled screen anywhere on the planet.
Is the AR wave big enough to engulf the Television’s rule?
The question is probably huge and there is a little doubt about the fact that AR is going to dethrone the Television and will become the sole interacting medium of information in the coming times. Although the timeline for this phenomenon to occur is not fixed but it is going to happen and there is no doubt about that.
The major tech giants Google, Facebook and Apple are the leaders of this revolution and these biggies are leaving no stone unturned to convert the AR-enabled screen into reality.
We should surely hope for a future with an AR and VR enabled glasses with additional lenses that will enable us to see through the mixed reality world and the virtual world. This phenomenon will be as revolutionary as the move from print magazines and newspapers to the web, or from the web to mobile apps. The next user experience will be a leap to AR.
We can also imagine a completely holographic television that we now see with awe in the science fiction movies. There is still a long ride to get to that point, but we can surely take the necessary steps to lessen the gap between the current physical television and futuristic holographic television. This can be done by modifying the current techniques and creating mixed experiences with Television and Augmented Reality, which is popularly known as Augmented Television.
Are we ready for the digital leap?
Not all people are aware of the fact that we can actually experience AR through different applications in our mobile and tablets even today without waiting for the fancy AR glasses. The AR framework planned by Google and Apple has actually solved this issue a long ago and all that we need to experience AR is simply our smartphones. Literally speaking, there are billions of AR compatible devices already in our hands.
But the production of fully AR video needs a twist. There needs to be an entirely unique set of video format that is compatible for pure 3D recordings. A bit of this technology is still present today, but a lot of research is still needed to generate videos that are native to AR.
Augmented Television: What are the benefits of this technology?
When we took a leap from radios to Television, we were able to understand things in a better way. While radios only provided you with the sound and left the rest to our imagination, Televisions also supplied us with a clear picture of the object or person that lead to a better understanding of things. In the same way, Augmented Reality videos will provide us with an updated version of Television where we can actually see things in three-dimensional view and be able to know about them from every angle. So, apart from just looking cool, this technology has some fantastic advantages coupled with it.
This technology will be quite useful for kids and will aid greatly in the education system. With everything present in three dimensions, the kids will be able to understand each and every aspect of the topic, be it our solar system or the genetic composition of the human body. The level of interaction with the topic will surely give the students a better chance to pause and explore it from different angles.
AR Television will also play a great role in the sports world, as watching the game live from anywhere will create more attraction to the game plays.
Marketing and advertising avenues will also be highly impacted by this new evolution as the consumers will get a chance not only to see but also to evaluate everything before spending their hard earned money.
What lies ahead?
There is very little doubt that the future is going to be ruled by Augmented Reality that will begin a new era of entertainment and information distribution coupled with a better understanding to each and everything present in the universe and beyond.
