I just received the November 2021 print issue of Wired magazine at the house and there’s an interesting Chartgeist graphic by Jon J. Eilenberg inside.
The diagram plots the relationship of tech intended for your face in terms of both style and creepiness. I love this diagram because it fulfills its intended mission of being entertaining yet also quite telling.
The importance of product design for emerging technology—XR, the metaverse, etc.
Product design plays an integral part in technology’s acceptance—especially with the recent amplification of the ‘metaverse’ and advances in Extended Reality (XR) technologies. The user experience for these devices has an extremely high bar to meet consumer expectations.
Nobody wants to be a ‘glasshole’ again, right?
So what we find is that much the same as the early days of mobile computing everyone wants smaller devices without sacrificing any of the features. In fact, everyone wants more features!
In some ways, we want the tech but we also don’t want it obvious that we have the tech.
Subtle yet functional. Lightweight yet not burning our temples as its processor and battery heat up. Stylish but not creepy.
Style vs. creepiness
Let’s break down this small sample size a bit more.
The Nike Venturer Performance Face Mask is definitely stylish. I mean, it’s so high on the ‘stylish’ axis that it has probably reached the ‘badass’ threshold. It even comes with a hard case!
There is not much difference between the Snap and Facebook products. Facebook’s creepiness value just takes a bump simply because, well, they’re Facebook. I’m definitely staying away from that product.
The Oakleys are probably high on the creep factor due to the history of some of the folks that have worn them. For some reason Dog the Bounty Hunter comes to mind.
One thing I would change with the chart is the placement of the Hololens. It’s not stylish so they got that part right, but the creepiness factor needs a bump. If there’s ever a reason to seriously question what someone might be doing with tech on their face, that is the device. I’ve worn the Hololens in the past and I felt creepy just wearing it in the lab.
What this really means for the future of XR
As we move into an era with Augmented Reality (AR), Mixed Reality (MR), and Virtual Reality (VR)—and of course the metaverse—it will be important to make sure that the tech on our face lives up to our social expectations.
Let’s hope the market delivers products that we grow to love and accept. Those that are feature rich, performant, and stylish—with only a hint of creepiness.