Stop Waiting for Apple’s Smart Glasses

Act now on augmented, virtual, & mixed reality opportunities

For years, the internet has been buzzing with articles and videos about the miraculous day that Apple finally releases the Augmented Reality glasses that will “change the world.”

Here’s the good news:

Apple’s headset will be beautifully designed, highly immersive, and more accessible by developers than ever.

Here’s the bad news:

if you wait for Apple’s headset to start your company’s XR (Augmented, Virtual, and Mixed Reality) strategy, you’ll be extremely late to the playing field.

(and you’ll have missed out on lots of revenue in the meantime)

Let’s break it down.

Apple has become trend-perfecter, rather than a trend-setter. They analyze trends and recognize where the mainstream is headed, and then spend years perfecting a product that’s suited for the masses.

In this case, Apple has recognized that XR is here to stay, and they are working on building a headset primed for mass adoption. And a quick look at Apple’s history shows us that it’s upcoming headset is a sign that XR technology is further along than we might realize:

• PDAs with telephone service were first available in 1994.
  The iPhone sold the first iPhone in 2007.
• Mp3 players were created by numerous companies at least 3 years before Apple released the iPod.
• Groups on Kickstarter and other major companies began releasing in-ear wireless headphones as early as 2014–2015.
  Apple released AirPods in December 2016.

With how monumental a shift XR is proving to be in how we engage with technology, it’s clear that if Apple is close to their first product release, the tech is already ready to use.

We will dive into all of the ways to make money today off of XR tech in other articles. For now, I want to point out something that too many business leaders and owners miss.

If you look at the average time a tech startup becomes a unicorn (over a $1B valuation) most folks say it takes around 7 years. One big reason for that timeline is the time it takes to build the proper infrastructure, including a technology stack and the right personnel to maintain such a large market.

If you believe the XR market is going to be a multi-trillion dollar market by 2030 (as most firms conservatively guess), then to capture a large portion of that massive pie…

You’d probably want to start today.

So what does this have to do with Apple? Sure, you shouldn’t wait for them to get started. But there’s no doubt Apple’s headset could be a HUGE area of marketability and capture for your company.

By starting to build up your XR infrastructure now, you’ll be primed and ready to work with the Apple ecosystem, and your company will enjoy that new space in its least crowded phase.

Here’s a bit of what you’ll need to know about building infrastructure in your company:

All XR experiences are made up of at least:

• Storyboarded/scripted spatial experiences (created by a producer or product manager)
• 3D models (created by a team of designers/artists)
• Game mechanics/code (created by software developers)
• Audio files (created by audio engineers)
• Text (depends on use case, but often created by producer or copywriters)
• Images (depends on use case, but often created by design/art department)

Each of those elements take time to create, and they all require specific personnel. So whether or not you are providing an XR experience on an Apple headset in the future or an Apple iPhone today, you will need all of those components and personnel in place ASAP.

Here are the questions you can pose to your leadership team right now to make sure you’re ahead of the curve and poised to win — not only when XR tech hits mass adoption, but right now as well.

➊ Do I have the right high-level staff to create a comprehensive XR strategy for today’s experiences on mobile phones and some headsets and the future using high-end mass-adopted headsets?

➋ How can we use XR to increase REVENUE and EXPOSURE today?

➌ Do I have the right personnel in-house or an agency at my disposal to create my XR experiences? (or a hiring plan in place)

➍ How am I ensuring that as my team captures money today, it is setting my company up for success long term?

Before we know it, every college student and grandma will have an XR headset in their life — but there’s no reason to wait for that day to make money using XR tech.

Do you need further guidance on how to navigate this for your business specifically? DM me on LinkedIn and we can chat!