AR is the emerging future of design and interaction
The digital impact on the future of life
For the most part, web viewing devices have not transformed into a new medium yet. We have had great advancements in screen technology and processing power, but we have yet to see the mainstream medium become something different than looking at a screen. I believe this will change within the next 20 years as virtual reality, augmented reality, and artificial intelligence grows and advances.
There are several key areas that I believe will be key factors in the future of design and overall technology.
- Artificial Intelligence
- Augmented Reality
- Mobile
THE NEXT DECADE
Today, we are already seeing services like TheGrid.io using artificial intelligence (AI) to build websites for you. This is something that should and will grow into mainstream web development, but this is not a reason to fear your web design career. In the near future (5–10 years) I don’t believe AI will reach a point to where it can fully develop an entire website and replicate the branding and human traits of a company. (At least not yet!) Some things will always need human input and customization. Probably.
I have been building websites for over 10 years, and if you have ever built more than one, you will know how much can and should be automated in the process. A.I. can do this for us very quickly cutting all of the annoyances and monotonous tasks we face, allowing us to get to the ‘good stuff’ and design nice looking websites that replicate an organization with all of the features they personally want.
Augmented Reality (AR) has recently taken over many users phones with Pokemon Go, Snapchat, and others. Adding a virtual layer to a screen has been around for quite a while with the NFL on TV. Those blue lines of scrimmage are believe it or not, not real.
Snapchat is rumored to be launching AR ads on its platform, essentially adding digital advertisements to certain locations, which is in my opinion, a great idea. I think we will see things like this play into design as a whole.
How, exactly, will that play into web development? Well, for one, a brand’s website could enable AR when the user is at their store. Giving digital maps, features, and more to show the user around the store and give them the tools to interact at the store like never before.
One example of this that is already into play is Metaio’s showroom app for Ferrari, which allows customers to edit and customize their potential ‘new whip’ using AR that adds digital layers to show what it would look like and how it would work.
You can imagine how AR can benefit education and countless other industries using the same idea, allowing students to ‘pick something up’ without actually doing it, to examine. Microsoft is a current big player in this idea with their AR/VR headset.
Medical professionals could also use AR to have a ‘cheat sheet’ with valuable information about the patient or procedure taking place. The opportunities and potential is endless here, when paired with AI it can really be extraordinary. I think the AI-AR trend won’t really boom until both of these technologies matures a bit more.
Finally, AR enables the designer themselves to create new things much faster than before. And more importantly, be able to interact with it and show their customers how something works.
As we see information becoming more and more available, we are lacking good ways to access it. Sure, today you can search something and read about it on a screen. but what if you could interact with it and actually use it? For example a printing press. This is something that is caused by the information overload of our time.
The great thing that sets AR apart from virtual reality (VR) is that it doesn’t require you to wear a headset or require a separate device than the one you already have, usually your smartphone. Plus, it doesn’t constantly become smarter by itself like AI does, do you don’t have to worry about it deciding to kill you someday. (You probably shouldn't be afraid of that either way.)
Disclaimer: All opinions stated here are from my own independent research.
