Apple leads with Augmented Reality and Machine Learning at WWDC 2017

As its WWDC developer conference on Monday, Apple gave a clear indicator that disruptive technologies such as augmented reality, virtual reality and machine learning will be playing a key role in its products and services going forward.

With its new ARKit augmented reality platform, Apple released a set of tools for developers to build augmented reality into their apps. And, with hundreds of millions of iPhones and iPads out there, Apple suggested that ARKit will become the largest augmented reality platform in the world ‘overnight’.

Machine learning was another key theme, serving as an intelligent practical assistant within iPhone apps, as an intelligent tracking prevention monitor for web browsing, and supporting facial recognition for iPhoto.

Another key announcement was the integration of Apple Pay within the upcoming iOS 11 software release. Living inside iMessage, Apple Pay will support P2P payments through an Apple Pay Cash Card. Again, with hundreds of millions of users, that’s going to see lots of cash flowing outside of the traditional banking networks.

Given the focus on developers, it was hardly surprising that there was an emphasis on apps development. Indeed, Apple’s impressive Appocalypse intro movie told the story of what life would be like if all apps suddenly disappeared. We’re less convinced of the long-term role of dedicated apps for customer engagement. For a different take on today’s apps reality, it’s worth reading Dan Whaley from Sabio’s recent article in Digital Marketing Magazine.

This week’s SabioSense features stories from BuzzFeed News, New Atlas, ShortList and McKinsey:

• The Battle for your Voice – Whether it’s Amazon Echo or the new Apple HomePod, it’s increasingly clear that voice will be the biggest shift in human-computer interaction since the smartphone
• 30 billion transistors on your fingertip? – Worried about whether computer hardware can keep up with today’s emerging disruptive applications. IBM’s new 5 nm chips are set to pack some 30 billion transistors onto a chip the size of a fingernail
• Robots Better at Everything by 2060? – A new study from Oxford and Yale Universities suggests that machines will translate languages better than us by 2024, write school essays better by 2026 and be driving trucks by 2027
• Digital Transformation Requires a Different Model – New McKinsey study suggests that to compete against digital-born firms, traditional companies will need to adopt a ‘perpetual evolution’ approach to designing and managing their enterprise technology