i don’t have snapchat. when i first heard of it i thought—another photo app? unnecessary. when i understood that u could put a dog face or a rainbow stream of vomit on a selfie, i still wasn’t interested, and the clincher (conclusive point) came several months later when i read somewhere that snapchat users over a certain age look like douchebags (think they are cool but they are not). i was over the age.
this article on cnet by joan e. solsman communicates the importance of the dog faces and rainbow vomit to snap inc. (snapchat’s owner) which is now worth (has a value of) several billion dollars.
who would have thought that augmented reality‘s best pitch would be puking rainbows and candy-colored camera glasses?
who would have thought is a hypothetical in the past (3rd conditional) that is commonly used to express surprise. augmented reality (ar) superimposes animated images on real ones. as solsman mentions a few times in the article, pokemon go is a widely recognized application of ar.
puke is a synonym for vomit.
puking a rainbow
a pitch is used to convince, e.g a sales pitch. according to the article, snap inc.’s pitch was subtle (not direct or obvious). they didn’t directly promote their filters as augmented reality.
solsman describes the evolution of snap products like this
mixed reality takes ar a step further by making [the] digital overlays react to you and the things around you. if snap dipped its toes into ar with filters, it jumped into mixed reality with its lenses. spectacles, meanwhile, transformed snap from an app company into a device maker too. in the process, the camera-equipped sunglasses shoved it further down the path toward ar.
further is the comparative for far. it indicates more distance. dip its toes is referencing how people get into a swimming pool. it means snap tried a little augmented reality with their filters, but their use of lenses shows a greater commmitment to mixed reality. meanwhile is at the same time. shove is a synonym of push. shoved it further down the path means forced it more in that direction.
dipping toes in the water=just trying it out
snapchat’s filters and lenses have been helpful for augmented reality in general.
experts say the popularity of lenses and spectacles breaks down two major barriers for ar — familiarity and social acceptance.
break down means eliminate, destroy.
is google glass creepier than snapchat spectacles?
jim merrick, marketing director for internet of things products at qualcomm agrees
it is a gateway drug to more ar. it’s the wearability of [spectacles], and it doesn’t have the google glass creepiness factor.
wearability is literally the ability to wear. snap’s spectacles are wearable technology. a gateway drug is a recreational drug people experiment with that leads to using more intoxicating and dangerous drug. creepiness means google glass makes the public feel uncomfortable; it’s scary. it’s ironic that merrick talks about the creepiness of google glass while comparing it to a product that he calls a “gateway drug”. gateway drug is a really creepy metaphor. it sounds like the companies want u to experience a growing addiction to their products.
kinda creepy (steve cutts)
osterhout design group (odg) is another company that has benefitted thanks to snapchat’s subtle presentation of ar. solsman’s article reports
odg unveiled its first consumer smart glasses, the r-8, at ces in january.
unveil means show for the first time.
odg’s r-8 glasses
odg’s glasses are designed for professional use, but pete jameson, odg’s chief operating officer explains
when we deliver glasses to new customers, we put consumer applications on the glasses so they can get used to the experience. so email, movies, internet. we see those applications as a training tool.
get used to is the same as get accustomed to; the process of something becoming normal or regular. odg uses fun ar applications like snapchat’s filters and lenses to do this.
are u on snapchat? do u own a pair of snapchat spectacles? how do u think snap and other companies will continue to integrate aggregated and mixed reality into their future products? share your observations under leave a reply
