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“We were giving away the hardware but monetizing the data,” he said. “For every dollar of hardware, we were making three dollars from sales of software and data.”
That’s why companies like Apple, Google, Microsoft, and Meta are exploring similar technologies. For some, they may be a way to sell software and services. Dr. Bautista said it could be a way to sell ads for others.
But experts say it could take a decade to perfect this technology—if not more. Some augmented reality glasses are as small and light as ordinary glasses, but they do not yet offer the computing power needed to create the compelling but unobtrusive images that everyday use will require.
Developing augmented reality glasses at a company called EyeWay Vision after leaving Google, Dr. “Sometimes ’10 years’ sounds like the code for ‘I have no idea,'” Balram said.
In 2018, Intel shut down the Vaunt project before selling most of its patents to North, which was acquired by Google. As a result, Dr. Bautista said the company finds it very difficult to answer many questions about technology.
He said that due to privacy regulations in Europe and other parts of the world, the project could do more harm to the outcome than benefit. The company said it estimates 3 percent of its annual revenues could be at risk.
Now, many of the world’s most powerful tech companies face the same questions.
“We can build great things,” said Dr. Bautista “The hardware isn’t the hard part. Business models aren’t the hard part. Finding ways in which these devices can be used isn’t the hard part. The hard part is this: What happens if the data leaks out?”
Brian X Chen contributing reporting.
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