Tim Cook Only half of the technology solutions we wear on our faces. Now it’s Turnus’ turn

A decade ago, I’ve worn AirPods in my ears People wondered What the heck was I doing?. No one asks this question anymore: AirPods have become one of the greatest headphones Product success stories in the Tim Cook years At Apple, it’s the signature white buds that I see people wearing practically nonstop.

Vision Pro It was another story.

It’s not the average person to spend $3,499 on a mixed reality PC, but Cook’s presentation of the Vision Pro certainly tried to get around the general discomfort with VR headsets, even to the point of projecting the wearer’s eyes onto the Vision Pro’s glass front. Having the user present while wearing the Vision Pro was a serious priority. But for several reasons, Vision Pro, Even in the latest M5 versiondid not exceed this acceptance threshold. They’re big, they’re unusual, they’re rarely seen in public (for good reason), and they’re expensive. They certainly never turned into AirPods.

But I think a lot about faces and technology. Apple has figured out a way to make AirPods work, even breaking through the acceptance barrier of scanning our faces as biometric authentication to unlock our phones. Face ID It was no small obstacle when it debuted in 2017. When I was iPhone X reviewedI had to explain this strange new world of face-centric logins. I shaved my beard to test its recognizability.

Now that Tim Cook He will step down in September Handing over CEO duties to Apple’s hardware chief, John Ternos, there will be a lot of expectations and opportunities for Apple. Artificial intelligence is a big part of the challenges That still needs to be resolved. But also, for all of Apple’s ongoing personal tech explorations — our pockets, our wrists, our ears — Apple is still trying to detect faces. Will Apple finally crack the code under Ternus?

I Used to set my face At the forefront of technology testing, because my difficult journey is everyone’s journey. How I feel, good or bad, when I wear earbuds, a VR headset, or smart glasses, may be an echo of what someone else feels. and When it comes to smart glasses – An entire emerging landscape of AI-powered devices being sold by seemingly everyone except Apple (so far) – Tech companies are pushing people’s threshold of acceptance. Including my own.

Smart glasses It is increasingly viewed as a privacy threat or socially unacceptable device, since a number of reports have focused on Meta Data privacy leak And accidents Public registration In inappropriate places. The concerns come from two directions: Are camera-connected glasses secretly recording others without their consent? Also, do AI glasses safely handle the things we record and share in ways that don’t expose that information to others?

What Apple can offer for smart glasses

Apple is likely on the cusp Announcing its own smart glasseswhich could be the next big thing for Apple after him Expected folding iPhone. They will be, by far, the biggest bet Apple has ever made on our faces. It’s likely to be much less expensive than the Vision Pro and targets a much broader market.

But Apple will also have to do this Explain whyits benefits, and making it look good enough to overcome The social stigma of “skewed glasses.” Apple needs to either make it look amazing or make it so desirable and so practical, that people will wear it anyway. Or both.

The glasses look like just one part of the enlargement, Category of AI-connected wearables For Apple. Revamped AirPods, future iterations of Apple Watches, and perhaps pins or pendants should be in the mix. And iPhones, which, although not wearable, are something we all carry and always have at the ready. Reports that the AirPods will get cameras later this year that add AI-related features could be the first stage of Apple exploring new areas of technology. Accept artificial intelligence on the face. Apple Gemini version of Siriexpected this year, will be a big part of it.

Apple is not alone in the glasses race. Meta already existsand Google is next. But of all these companies, Apple has the largest number of devices ready to connect with glasses. It already has its own extensive network of retail stores that can set up pilot or installation plants.

Tim Cook has said that augmented reality is the future, and under his leadership Apple has made its technology a much more part of our daily lives than it was under Steve Jobs. But where Apple chooses to go from here remains unwritten, and how AI can be our cognitive companion — and with what technology to enable it — is an ongoing question for assistive technology and the nature of computing itself.

Apple wasn’t wrong that spatial computing is a big part of what’s coming next. But can Apple make glasses that don’t scare people? Maybe we’ll find out soon enough.