Mixed Reality Future: What’s With All The Apple Glasses in The Subway? 

(And is it time for marketers, creators, and researchers to start paying attention?)

Apple Mixed Reality Glasses seem to be appearing everywhere… In the subway, on the street, at your local shop. What’s happening?.. Is the public really stepping into some kind of mixed reality steampunk future you’re not aware of? Is it just a big product placement strategy? Should you hop on the boat before it’s too late? (Should people wearing the Apple Vision Pro in public be arrested? Made fun of? Admired? Some combination of those?) Well, of course we ran a survey about it on the Glimpse platform, and asked the public some questions to get some non-advertised, real insights on what’s really happening.

We asked the public how comfortable they would be participating in a new reality where mixed reality is totally adapted to every aspect of our everyday lives. Are consumers really a no-go on Apple’s headset like Variety reports? Do those opinions about the Apple product apply to the entire mixed reality space? 

Here’s the breakdown: We found the 20% of our respondents that reported feeling extremely uncomfortable also identified with the following emotions: distrust, disinterest, fear, suspicion, and fear. So a substantial minority is afraid of mixed reality in general, regardless of the headset hardwear. Some people just feel like a deer in the headlights, that’s for sure.

So, what are people really afraid of? It can’t just be the weird shaped glasses that would give millennials extra neck pain. One concern was MR glasses leading to a decline in face-to-face interactions, social isolation, and lack of intimacy and depth in communication. To our surprise, age group was not a dominant factor in how answers were shaped. Our AI Topics tool instantly analyzed the key concerns from the survey answers as follows:

If Steve Jobs was here, he would certainly ask us to convince those who are afraid of his creations. (Would Steve Jobs have taken Apple in a mixed reality direction at all? It’s fun to speculate!) Well, we asked Glimpse AI to craft 3 key messages to persuade this segment to begin engaging with MR technology while addressing their concerns and the answers were as follows:

1. Enhancing Human Connection: Discover a world where technology fortifies your human connections, not diminishes them. MR is designed with empathy at its core, facilitating deeper bonds and creating shared memories that transcend physical barriers.

2. Balanced Living: Embrace a future where technology is an extension of our human capabilities, not a replacement. MR technology is developed with your well-being in mind, integrating seamlessly into your life without overshadowing it.

3. Safety and Ethical Responsibility: We are committed to fostering an environment where safety and ethics take center stage in the development of MR technology. By prioritizing user control over their experience, we ensure that MR technology serves as a positive addition to your life.

Looking beyond the uncomfortable folks, another 20% reported feeling somewhat uncomfortable, 17% reported feeling neither comfortable nor uncomfortable, 24% reported feeling somewhat comfortable, and 18% reported feeling extremely comfortable participating in a mixed reality future. The overall public sentiment seems to be all over the place.

The largest % of answers belonged to folks being somewhat comfortable using mixed reality glasses, and their emotions ranged from excited, interested, joyful, to optimistic. 42% of somewhat comfortable folks think that wearable mixed reality technology will have significant impact only in a few specific areas; and 30% think it will revolutionize every aspect of life and possibly lead us to an entirely new future!

Glimpse AI analyzed the answers for what the respondents are most excited to use mixed reality glasses for into main topics as follows: 

Who are the ones feeling extremely comfortable with a high-tech future you might ask. Tech CEOs? NYC teens? We asked the Glimpse AI again for quick insights, because who has time to go through all of the data manually?: Individuals who feel extremely comfortable with mixed reality technology (18.5%) are driven by positive emotions and a desire for new experiences. They perceive the technology as innovative and in line with cutting-edge trends. Demographically diverse, they represent a cross-section of the survey population.

When we asked the respondents if they were worried about how spending a lot of time in mixed reality might impact their mental health and well-being, some people seemed to be worried about the reality leaving us for good, and the majority of responses agreed that we need to address the potential negative effects of such a future on mental health, adding to all the digital world stress we may already suffer from. 

So, what do you think? Are you ready for a mixed reality future?

Get started with Glimpse now to effortlessly create your own surveys in minutes and unlock lightning-fast insights and analysis powered by Glimpse AI!

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