On a hot, sunny afternoon in Atlanta, Kathryn stepped out of her apartment building and slid her AR glasses down onto her eyes. She was thrilled to try her latest eyewear purchase as she walked to her favorite coffee shop. She just traded in her old pair of AR smart glasses for a new pair with hologram-based technology and all the latest bells and whistles. The promise of a screenless existence was appealing to her. After all, for the last two years, she wore her very first pair of AR glasses everywhere she went, but those glasses seemed like a transitional device because her new ones were so much more advanced.
By now, she was getting tired of worrying about her lens’ cameras and needing to stitch her 3D captures to others in her social circle. Sure, it was fun to see her world lit up in digital displays and watch the car parked across the street turn into a unicorn grazing. But lately, Kathryn wondered what it would be like to disconnect from an all-digital world. Of course, that didn’t mean giving up technology. No, not at all. It just meant seeing it in a different light - literally.
Kathryn pushed open the door to the cafe and walked up to the counter to pick up her iced vanilla latte. Her AR glasses pre-ordered the drink for her when she left her apartment based on the time it would take to walk to the cafe and how busy it was.
Kathryn walked up to the bar to pick up her order, her AR glasses highlighting the latte that was hers. The barista greeted her as Kathryn picked up her latte.
“Whoa, are those the new Spatial Assists?” The barista pointed to the discrete projection feature attached to her glasses.
“Yeah! I’m trying them out today.”
“That’s so cool. Enjoy your day,” the barista said.
When Kathryn looked at the barista, her glasses recognized him as a cafe employee. A tip jar appeared above his head. Kathern shifted her gaze up to the digital tip jar to select it. She added a dollar tip with a look and went to find a private seat.
“Ok,” Kathryn said to herself. “First test, try a hologram call to Mom.”
Kathryn had purchased a hologram scanning system for her mom a few months ago when she moved away. Being away was hard but with the new glasses, distances would be shortened and they could continue to celebrate birthdays, promotions, and important milestones together in hologram form. The hologram projector worked inside their living spaces, but now it was time to try it with AR glasses. Kathryn looked to the top right of the glasses. A menu of apps appeared in her vision.
Kathryn sipped her latte and used her free hand to swipe through the virtual contacts until she landed on her mom’s photo. Kathern blinked to start the hologram call.
The menu changed to a prompt asking Kathryn to scan the space for the hologram to display. She pointed her head to the chair opposite her and tapped at her earbud to outline the chair. Then, she heard a ringing sound in her ear. The chair across from her lit up as her mom was projected into it as a full-color hologram. It worked perfectly and they had a pleasant “in-person” conversation even though her mom was hundreds of miles away in New York City.