Really an AR device should be linked into any mobile device we use. A Structure Bridge https://bridge.occipital.com/ is getting closer to that but still has issues with what phone you can use with it. It's IOS only as I think Google Tango has covered the market for the Android side. A hands free comfortable headset, with a intuitive controller, entry level cost that can scan and project AR and VR is the holy grail for companies. Current AR device are quite bulky like the Google DayDream or very expensive like the Holo Lens, however as costs come down we will see more inexpensive powerful headsets that work well with our mobile devices. There is a variety of criteria that has to be met on the app side but companies like Sketchfab are moving things forward and allowing AR viewing for free to all users. It will be a huge piece for education once all the criteria is met and schools have AR devices in every classroom.
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I agree with Nate and Edric that cost is a barrier at this point, mainly hardware. The cost barrier is undoubtedly a problem for schools, but some trends are promising to bring down the cost, such as Google Cardboard. That said, I think back to the open-source discussions earlier in this course, and perhaps what might help in this area is a set of standards (say, the A.R. equivalent to HTML) as right now A.R. seems particularly sand-boxed and app-centric. One of the recurring themes in this course as different classmates post links to various mobile applications is that all mobile technology looks more and more limited to a particular platform. If we become dependent upon one or two companies and the underlying technology becomes locked to specific platforms, I cannot see AR flourishing in an education environment. BYOD is how I predict mobile education will take off, as it removes the financial cost to school districts and many students already own such devices. But if teachers become beholden to particular companies or apps, compatibility becomes a significant problem. Therefore, to answer the original question “choosing or creating” I think that platform-agnostic technologies are vital. Perhaps AR itself could become a part of a future iteration of the open-source HTML standard itself?
I think the most difficult part of making AR compatible would be that many companies would have to design a high-performance device capable of function as a mobile device and a smooth AR device. When I was using my Samsung Galaxy S7, I notice that some of the AR program would Lag or cause overheat of device as it constantly uses the camera. I hope in the future that there can be an inexpensive headset thats links to your phone. I think it has great potential, but personally I think there may be some hardware issues that we need to solve before it can be a fully compatible device.