1 Prime Directive

A perfect storm of change will arrive during the 2020s. We predict that we will see computing switch from staring into a four-inch piece of glass in our hands to using devices on our face that bring computing to every surface. Along with that, we will see advances such as vehicles moving without humans in them for the first time. A fourth paradigm of the personal computing age is upon us, Spatial Computing, and it is one that truly makes personal computers even more personal.

With the coming of Spatial Computing and its two purest members, Virtual and Augmented Reality, we believe that businesses and human cooperation need to be aimed at one thing: working together to build complex technologies to keep us around on this planet longer and in a more satisfied and productive state, while paying attention to the effects that these technologies have on ourselves and the planet. Spatial Computing in the 2020s will see immense challenges, but great opportunities will be available for brands to use new technologies for combined social good. Just what is it about Spatial Computing that is making human beings crave it?

At stadiums around the world, they are getting ready for it. We visited a place in Las Vegas because of it. Hollywood is getting ready for it. We visited a huge studio in Manhattan Beach, California, to see it. Investors and entrepreneurs are getting ready for it. We visited several in Seattle, New York, Los Angeles, and Silicon Valley. Hospitals, shopping malls, hotels, cities, automotive companies, power companies, banks, and more are investing in it. Tens of billions of dollars are being invested in it by both big and small tech companies.

That "it," which is Spatial Computing, is computing that you, virtual beings, or robots can move around in. It includes all the software and technology needed to move around in a digital 3D world.

That is software and technology associated with AI, including Machine Learning and Natural Language Processing, Computer Vision, Augmented Reality, Virtual Reality, and all other apps that support the creation and maintenance of a digital 3D world. We see great strides that will be made in Spatial Computing uses for many industry verticals, including Technology, Media, and Telecommunications (TMT), Transportation, Manufacturing, Retail, Finance, Healthcare, and Education.

Before we dig into everything that's happening that caused us to write The Infinite Retina, let's back up and think about the Prime Directive that is driving billions of dollars in human effort into Spatial Computing. Why do human beings need robots delivering food and building things in factories, and why do we need Spatial Computing devices on our faces so that we can work, entertain ourselves, educate ourselves, and collaborate with each other in new ways?

What is the Prime Directive? Does it have something to do with why humans spend more and more on technology or tools every year? Are any new trends, like our changing understanding of climate change, causing this change? Does culture itself change in a major way because of the Prime Directive?

Photo credit: Robert Scoble. Attendees at the 2019 Game Developers Conference in San Francisco use a Magic Leap Spatial Computing headset.