Name: 現在是2019年。我們的智能眼鏡呢！？ (It's 2019. Where are our smart glasses?!)
Uploaded: 2021-01-14T08:32:35.000Z
Duration: 5 min 56 s

For years the tech world has been fantasizing about replacing your phone with a pair of electronic glasses.

好幾年來科技界都在幻想要以一副眼鏡取代手機。

情態助動詞 B1

You might remember the hype around Google Glass back in 2013.

你可能還記得谷歌眼鏡在 2013 年時掀起的一股熱潮。

基礎被動語態

But you might also remember that people weren't exactly thrilled by the idea.

但你可能也記得人們對這個概念不是很開心。

事實上，他們甚至覺得很可怕。

And a lot of people today, think of Glass as a failed experiment.

現今很多人仍然認為谷歌眼鏡是個失敗的實驗。

But Google didn't actually give up on Glass.

不過其實谷歌並沒有放棄谷歌眼鏡。

In fact, earlier this year, it's parent company Alphabet announced a revamp Glass headset and said it was no longer in experiment at all.

其實今年稍早的時候，谷歌的母公司 Alphabet 發表了一個升級版的谷歌眼鏡組，並表示那不再是個實驗。

Meanwhile, Facebook and Apple are interested in building augmented reality glasses.

同一時間，臉書和蘋果也有興趣開發擴增實境眼鏡。

And AR start-ups like Magic Leap are getting huge investments.

像 Magic Leap 等 AR (擴增實境) 新創公司正獲取鉅額投資。

So why don't you see people wearing them on the street?

那為什麼現在路上沒有人戴那些眼鏡？

Well, the reality of AR is a lot more nuance than the fantasy.

AR 帶來的改變實際上想像中的還來得細微。

To see where these smart glasses live in the real world, we need to look at the big picture.

為了要看看這些智慧型眼鏡在現實世界中被運用在哪裡，我們必須顧全大局。

The term AR glasses or AR headsets usually means something that overlays images onto the real world.

AR 眼鏡或 AR 頭戴裝置這個詞通常表示將影像重疊到現實世界的裝置。

As opposed to virtual reality, which completely changes what you're seeing.

和完全改變所見事物的虛擬實境不同。

On one end of the spectrum, you're got products like Microsoft HoloLens which produce detailed 3D objects that look like they're actually sitting in real space.

其中最極端就是 Microsoft HoloLens，它會製造出彷彿真的存在的精細 3D 物件。

These incorporate tracking cameras and advanced optics tech, but they're often bulky and expensive.

Microsoft Hololens 融合了追蹤攝影機和先進光學技術，但是通常都很笨重且昂貴。

On the other, you've got simpler devices like Google Glass, which can look much more like normal glasses, but often just provide a flat visual overlay.

相反的就是像谷歌眼鏡一樣較簡便的裝置，它們看起來更像普通眼鏡但是通常只提供平面視覺疊影。

And some products split the difference ending up looking like bulky sunglasses.

而有些產品取中間值，結果看起來就像笨重的太陽眼鏡。

Tech companies and pop culture spend a lot of time speculating about how AR glasses will change everyday life.

科技公司和流行文化圈一直在猜想 AR 眼鏡會如何改變日常生活。

You could replace your TV with a virtual screen, for instance.

例如，你可以用虛擬螢幕代替電視。

Or hang out with a holographic friend in your living room.

或是在客廳和全像投影朋友一起玩。

Or see your entire world covered by invasive dystopian advertising.

或是看見整個世界被侵入式反烏托邦廣告覆蓋。

But whether you thing these ideas are cool or creepy, they've all got one thing in common.

無論你覺得這些概念很酷還是很可怕，他們都有一個共通點。

那為什麼谷歌要發表新的眼鏡？

And while we're at it, why is the US Army giving Microsoft 480 million dollars for Hololens headsets?

既然我們提到了，為什麼美國軍方要投資四億八千萬美元給微軟研發 Hololens 頭戴裝置呢？

It's 2019 and we keep hearing about AR, but we don't see these glasses on the street.

已經 2019 年了而且我們一直聽到 AR，但我們在路上都看不到那些眼鏡。

There are some pretty obvious reasons to not wear AR glasses everywhere.

不到處配戴 AR 眼鏡的原因有很多。

A lot of the options are uncomfortable or expensive.

很多產品選擇都很不舒服或是太昂貴。

And most of them have a limited field of view, so they're more like looking through a window, then, totally changing your view of the world.

而且大部分的眼鏡視野都有限，所以比較像是從窗戶看出去，然後完全改變你看到的世界。

AR glasses with cameras could enable a kind of nearly invisible surveillance, especially when you add a technology like facial recognition.

有相機的 AR 眼鏡可能會造成近乎無形的監視，尤其是加上了像人臉辨識這種科技。

And things that block your eyes are often just fundamentally alienating to other people.

擋住眼睛的東西很常會使人感到非常疏遠。

So most AR companies don't think of glasses as the new smart phone, at least not yet.

所以大部分的 AR 公司並不將這種眼鏡視為新的智慧型手機，至少現在還沒。

They're content with smaller sales and they're focusing on specific contexts where there're very clear benefits that outweigh the costs.

他們滿足於較低的銷量且專攻於利益明顯大於成本的特定領域。

Microsoft, for example, only sold around 50 thousand Hololens headsets in it's first two years.

舉例來說，微軟在頭兩年只賣出了大約五萬副頭戴裝置。

And it's said, it's happy with these levels.

而且他們對這個銷售量感到滿意。

These days Alphabet isn't trying to sell glass headsets like pixel phones or smart speakers.

這幾年來，Alphabet 並沒有試著把眼鏡組像 Pixel 手機或智慧型喇叭一樣來銷售。

It calls headsets enterprise editions, instead of the explorer edition it used to pitch as a prototype for consumers.

他們將 AR 眼鏡稱為企業版本，和被以消費者原型推銷的探索者版本不同。

Industrial work is probably commercial AR's biggest market.

工業作業大概是商業擴增實鏡最大的市場。

In fact the term "augmented reality" usually gets credited to a scientist at Boeing named Thomas Caudell.

其實「擴增實境」這個用語通常會歸功於波音公司的科學家 Thomas Caudell。

In the early 90's Caudell prototyped a heads-up, see-through, head-mounted display that would let factory employees get information about aircraft overlaid on the actual planes.

90 年代早期，Caudell 設計了一款平視、透視且頭戴式的顯示裝置的原型，能讓工廠員工得知重疊在實際飛機上的機件相關資訊。

They could see important points marked on the body, or read documentation about the planes incredibly complex wire harnesses.

他們看得到機身上重要的標記點或是詳讀關於極其複雜的線路文件資料。

The idea didn't pan out then, but Boeing started experimenting with Google Glass to help with harness wiring a couple of decades later.

那個概念當時沒有成功，但幾十年後波音公司開始用谷歌眼鏡來實驗協助接線。

Boeing announced an official AR glasses test on it's factory floor last year.

波音公司去年發布了在自家工廠使用 AR 眼鏡的官方測試報告。

Companies like Ussex have also been selling AR glasses to these markets.

像 Ussex 等公司也將 AR 眼鏡銷售給這些市場。

軍方是另外擴增實境的另一大市場。

軍方好幾十年來都和擴增實境有關。

The 80's Air Force super cockpit program built fighter pilot heads-up displays into some really bulky helmets.

80 年代的空軍超級駕駛艙計畫中為戰鬥機駕駛在非常笨重的頭盔中打造齊頭式顯示器。

In 2018 Microsoft got that 480 million dollar contract with the US Army which could get up to a hundred thousand HoloLens headsets, both for training and for giving soldiers a heads-up display in live combat.

2018 年微軟和美國軍簽下了四億八千萬美元的合約，高達十萬組 HoloLens，可作訓練用途也可在真實作戰中提供士兵平視顯示資料。

Marines have already used the headsets for training simulations.

海軍已經將該頭戴裝置用來模擬訓練。

Unlike with consumer AR glasses, these are situations where people are already used to surveillance and bulky specialized equipment.

和普通消費者專用的 AR 眼鏡不同，這種情況中的人們早已習慣監視裝置和大型專用設備。

You don't have to convince a bunch of individual users to each spring for a headset.

不需要說服一大群個人使用者每人付錢買一組裝置。

And the hardware's used for specific task where companies can measure their effectiveness.

而這些硬體用於特定的任務，企業也能從中衡量其效力。

The same goes for other places where AR is used, including surgeon's operating rooms and research institutions.

其他運用 AR 的領域也是如此，就像手術間和研究室。

But some companies have been trying to bridge the gap.

不過有些公司一直嘗試要消除這個隔閡。

The National Theatre in London uses EPSON MOVERIO glasses for closed captioning.

倫敦的國家劇院使用 EPSON MOVERIO 眼鏡來置入隱藏字幕。

If you're hard of hearing you can still see what the actors are saying.

就算聽力不佳還是能看懂演員們在說什麼。

Now we're talking about using AR headsets for fun.

我們現在講到的是以娛樂為目的使用 AR 頭戴裝置。

But it's still limited to a specific place and a specific use that doesn't make other people uncomfortable.

但還是侷限於不會讓他人不舒服的特定地點和用處。

Also, it's the theater so no body should be looking at you anyway.

此外，在劇院裡本來就不該有人看著你。

When companies try to build all purpose mass headsets, things get dicier.

若是企業試著打造全功能頭戴裝置，一切會變得風險更高。

Intel and North both designed sleek, relatively cheap glasses for smart watch style notifications.

Intel 和 North 兩間公司都設計了時髦且相較之下更為便宜的眼鏡來顯示像智慧型手錶樣式的通知。

But Intel decided that there wasn't a big enough market for it's product right now.

但 Intel 認為其產品現今沒有足夠的市場。

And North also faced lay-offs earlier this year, although it's still been rolling out new features.

而雖然 North 仍持續推出新功能，它今年初卻面臨了裁員問題。

Microsoft used to show-off consumer HoloLens apps, but these days it's almost totally focused on professionals.

微軟曾經都會炫耀消費者導向的 HoloLens 應用程式，但近期他們幾乎完全只專攻專業領域。

AR start-up Magic Leap, which has gotten more than two billion dollars in funding and focuses on mass market entertainment.

得到超過二十億美元資金並專攻大眾娛樂市場的 AR 新創公司 Magic Leap。

We've seen Magic Leap One goggles in art installations.

我們曾在裝置藝術中看過 Magic Leap One 眼鏡的身影。

And it's hiring developers to make cool apps and games.

而且他們正在聘請開發者來創作酷炫的應用程式和遊戲。

But we're still waiting to see if Magic Leap has a sustainable business model.

但我們還要等著看 Magic Leap 的商業模式是否能永續經營。

Do people want to wear AR glasses all the time?

人們想要時時刻刻戴著 AR 眼鏡嗎？

Right now the answer is still a clear, no.

就現在來說，答案很明顯是否定的。

And if you want to see how a company is designing a new AR headset in 2019, check out our video on Microsoft's HoloLens Two.

而如果你想知道一間公司如何在 2019 年設計出一款新的 AR 頭戴裝置，看看我們關於微軟 HoloLens Two 的影片。