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First there were mainframe computers, then PCs. Then ten years ago, the iPhone marked the beginning of the smartphone era. Now, the Fourth Transformation is upon us, defined by VR, AR and AI to underpin it all.
This transformation is the topic of the latest book from Robert Scoble and Shel Israel; and of their fireside chat with ARtillry’s Mike Boland at last week’s VRARA SF Winter event (video below). The duo was as informative and entertaining as ever.
Having applications and use cases in everything from shopping to healthcare and education, the Fourth Transformation — starting with hardware and evolving through software development — will redefine our lives and work.
As we discussed on stage, The Fourth Transformation will play out in three waves over the next decade: VR, MR (more advanced AR); then the shift to from smartphones to ubiquitous smart glasses. The latter still has lots of adoption barriers.
And unlike past technological revolutions that started with consumers before moving to enterprise (social media, touch screens, etc.), the fourth transformation will start in the enterprise. This has a lot to do with the enterprise ROI formula.
As we recently discussed with Silicon Valley investors, there’s a greater adoption impetus for enterprises. They see a tangible business case for enterprise AR (e.g. technician productivity) as opposed to the consumer “fun & games” angle.
These and many more topics are covered in the book, which we highly recommend. Meanwhile hear the breakdown directly from the authors in the interview video embedded below.
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Disclosure: ARtillry has no financial stake in the companies mentioned in this article, nor received payment for its production. Disclosure and ethics policy can be seen here.