Trend watch 4/7/23

Entry to the log 4/7/23, this time a discussion about some maybe soon tech. First is that Apple has announced a touch display to be “someday” built into their Airpod Case. Skeptics satirize that Apple has merely gone full circle, arriving back at a similar device as their original hit MP3 player: the iPod.

Soon enough a common sight may be folks walking around with the AirPod case in one hand, as a controller for the pods in their ears.

Take this hand-in-hand with a similar “futuristic tech” from the Netflix show Black Mirror. In one dystopian episode the plot featured “smart” contact lenses, with built-in cameras record or play-back what the wearer desired. To interface with such an enhancement, the wearer carried a palm-sized controller.

See where I’m going with this?

My bet is that if this touchscreen AirPods case catches on, Apple ultimately makes a venture into building some glasses or contacts hardware around a well-designed version of augmented reality as an extension of this device, the controller. This hardware (likely similar to spectacles) is also connected to an extension of your personal device (iPhone) but you really need the controller to interface.

Anyways, that’s my prediction: that the future of personal devices includes some palmar interface to a headset display/audio.