Will Homes Need to Change to Accommodate AR Tech?

Augmented reality, as demonstrated by Apple's Vision Pro, holds immense untapped potential as both work tools and in personal entertainment. It's also an area where we've yet to fully explore the possibilities of the hardware, or how that could manifest in our personal space. Like the television so many decades before, this technology could require a reshuffling of how we organise our homes. How far could this go, and what would be required to get the most from this still-growing technology?

Smaller Implementations

The most basic forms of implementation that AR setups could see is as a simple replacement for current work setups. An AR headset has the potential to completely usurp a traditional monitor, digitally inserting a display into a user's viewing space. In these instances, a regular desk would still be a capable fit, but the idea could shrink this existing and normalised setup even further.

A work desk built around a home computer is set out so that the monitor and the computer itself are the focus. They need places to sit, but AR devices can overcome these limitations. Apple's Vision Pro, while reportedly no longer in active production, included its processors right within its hardware. This meant it didn't need a separate desk setup and could be used essentially anywhere you had access to a power socket, as well as a Bluetooth mouse and keyboard for work purposes. In other words, rather than increasing the requirements for accessing the digital world, this kind of use reduces them.

Room-Scale AR

Beyond basic implementations and into the more exploratory avenues of AR, the technology benefits the most from ample space. It's in this space that AR objects will be projected, where the more area you can access, the more potential you have to work with. This is where home setups become more complicated, as maximising options here could require the planning of areas devoid of obstacles.

This could manifest as setting up a room so that only smaller objects inhabit the centre of a space. It might also encourage people to purchase more mobile or even collapsible furniture which can be more easily moved when the need or want for larger-scale AR arises.

Should the technology one day become standard, people might even choose houses with extra rooms for the use of AR. This is another area where upgrades aren't especially complicated, especially with modern sales systems like Sold online estate agents. Using digital sales platforms like this featuring free cash offers and the ability to sell in your own timeframe can help streamline the sales process. This makes it easier for people today to sell their old home and purchase one more suited to their needs, and this will prove similarly true for future use cases.

How popular at-home changes will become for augmented reality ultimately depends on the tech's ability to overcome its current challenges. It's still expensive, it can still cause eye strain, and it still lacks killer apps. All of these are issues which are consistently being worked on, however, so we expect the future to provide a constant upward trajectory. Apple's efforts might be burning out for now, but there's no telling what the future will hold.