Session Name: The Perfect Storm of the 2020’s: Spatial Computing

Robert Scoble, Chief Strategy Officer at Infinite Retina, a company that provides research and business strategy to help other companies succeed in spatial computing (AI/AR/VR), took to the stage discussing the future of technology, and how businesses are about to be disrupted by a “perfect storm” of technology changes. Scoble stated that, “We are entering, in the next five years, a perfect storm of new technology that’s going to come and change the world very, very deeply…this world is called spatial computing.” Spatial computing is a phrase that’s often disregarded as some complex aspect of technology. However, the truth is that it’s actually a term defining the way that we interact with our digital landscape.

“We are entering, in the next five years, a perfect storm of new technology that’s going to come and change the world very, very deeply…this world is called spatial computing.”

Robert Scoble, CSO, Infinite Retina

Scoble went on to explain how AR and VR are very different from one another; VR is when users see nothing but virtual things. AR is when users see virtual things on top of, or replacing, parts of the real world. VR is about immersion, and AR is about utility. He went on to discuss spatial computing in robots and autonomous cars, which use similar sensor arrays and artificial intelligence to track objects, which will enable developers to add new capabilities to spatial computing applications.

Predictions for 2020

Additionally, he revealed that there are seven industries that are going to be radically shifted by spatial computing including: healthcare, fintech, transportation, manufacturing, retail, and others. Scoble went on to further reveal a few of his predictions for 2020. A new wave of VR devices will arrive with sharper screens, better user interface and new functions made possible by new eye sensors. Secondly, new mobile phones will reach the market that will have 3D sensors and better augmented reality functions. He also added that the mobile phones will soon be able to support new kinds of AR and VR, as well as other important pieces that will use the high-bandwidth, low-latency capabilities of 5G. 

Scoble ended the talk with, “Watch the world and participate in it, and add to it because it’s going to be quite a ride in the next five years. More technology is coming, than humans have ever seen in our history.”