Nor is it the metaverse with avatars.
Not for mortgage advisers or even sales trainers like me. The future is AR and very close as well. AR or augmented reality is where a computer-generated image is placed on a real-life scene.
Imagine the original Mary Poppins or Bedknobs and Broomsticks with cartoon characters in a natural scene. That’s how it will happen, and you may want to prepare now.
Here’s the scene. You’re talking to a client, and they’re on their SmartPhone. They can hear you and see your video but only on a 3-inch screen. It’s not ideal, but it works just fine. They’re at home on their dining room table, and you’re in your home office.
Then they put on their new Apple Glasses, weighing not more than a chunky pair of sunglasses and suddenly you’re there in front of them, sitting at your desk, right there in their dining room.
Everything changes; you can both talk and chat just like face to face, anywhere in the world. Remarkable.
The glasses are available, Apple is unveiling theirs shortly, and you’ll be proud to wear them. Others will make theirs available as well.
Now, these wearable glasses won’t replace the smartphone. The smartphone hasn’t replaced the computer; they compliment each other. The primary growth will come from the gaming industry, with a notable inclusion of another sector I don’t want to mention in this article but has deep pockets to invest in.
Think of the uses? Advisers talking to customers, BDMs chatting with a group of advisers in the boardroom. Anywhere you can superimpose your body and image in someone’s natural world. A coach can coach sitting next to you, and a trainer can facilitate a group of people in the training room. You can present to the board.
So remember, next time someone says the future is VR, tell them the real and immediate future is AR.
