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For Decades, TVs, Cell Phones, and Computers Dominated the Way People Consume Content and Interact with the Digital World. Now, a Warning Made by Mark Zuckerberg Calls Attention to Suggest That This Era May Be Near the End. The Advance of New Technologies Could Completely Transform the Way We Use Electronic Devices.
Mark Zuckerberg has a bold vision for the future of technology. In a recent conversation with Theo Von on the podcast “This Past Weekend“, the Meta CEO explained that soon screens may be a thing of the past.
Instead of the physical devices we use today, holograms projected through augmented reality glasses would take over our daily lives.
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The proposal is simple: eliminate the “small bright rectangle” that we carry in our pockets.
The Vision of Meta by Mark Zuckerberg: Fewer Screens, More Holograms
During the interview, Mark Zuckerberg was direct. “All this digital part should basically be holograms. You shouldn’t need a physical screen“, he said.
Instead of televisions, computers, or cell phones, it would be enough to use smart glasses to view digital content overlaid onto the physical world.
Meta has already taken its first steps in this direction with the Ray-Ban smart glasses, equipped with artificial intelligence.
These glasses allow users to view digital images while still seeing their surroundings.
The company is also developing the Orion glasses, an even more ambitious project that, according to Zuckerberg, could be commercially available in four years or less.
The Holographic Ping Pong Experience
Theo Von shared an experience that illustrates well the potential of this technology. Playing ping pong with Meta’s new augmented reality glasses, Von described a match where the table, paddles, and net were all holograms. “It wasn’t real, but it was like 3D ping pong. Someone could ride a bike through our game as if it didn’t exist“, Von said.
Mark Zuckerberg commented that this is precisely the proposal: to allow immersive digital experiences without taking up physical space.
According to him, the fact that billions of people already wear glasses makes this transition even more natural and viable. “How many of the things we have physically won’t need to exist in the future?“, he questioned.
Impacts on Daily Life and Industry
For Mark Zuckerberg, almost all screens can be replaced. Books, board games, cards, and any type of media could be accessed via holograms.
This would mean a profound change not only in how people interact with technology but also in the very consumption models.
Fewer physical products would mean less need for manufacturing, transportation, and disposal, which could bring environmental benefits.
On the other hand, industries like electronics, furniture, physical entertainment, and even retail could undergo significant transformations.
Impact on Investors and the Market
This bold bet from Meta has already brought mixed reactions in the financial market. Between September 2021 and November 2022, the company’s stock fell 76%.
Part of this decline was related precisely to the high investments in the Reality Labs division, responsible for research in virtual and augmented reality. So far, Meta has already spent more than US$ 60 billion in this sector, with returns still limited.
Despite this, Mark Zuckerberg’s vision remains optimistic. He believes that if the project advances as planned, billions of people could adopt the technology in a few years.
This would create a new virtual economy, with the potential to generate trillions of dollars, replacing entire sectors that today revolve around physical goods.
The Inevitable Transition to Smart Glasses
During another interview in April, this time with Dwarkesh Patel, Zuckerberg compared the future of augmented reality glasses to the transformation of flip phones into smartphones. According to him, it will be an inevitable change.
“The chance that we’ll look back in a decade and all these glasses aren’t glasses with AI… it’s like how… obviously, all flip phones became smartphones“, he stated.
With holographic technology integrated into glasses, interaction with the digital world would no longer be mediated by screens.
“Our experience with technology today is kind of funny. You have the physical world around you. And, if you want to interact with something digital, you need a screen”, he explained.
In the future, he claims, this division would cease to exist. Everything would be integrated into the field of vision through holograms.
The Timeline and Technical Challenges
While optimistic, Zuckerberg acknowledges that development still takes time. The Orion glasses, for example, have an estimated cost of US$ 10,000 per unit for Meta, which still makes them unfeasible for the general public. However, he hopes that the first commercial versions could be launched in up to four years.
Currently, the main competition comes from more robust and bulky augmented reality headsets. Meta’s challenge is to miniaturize the technology and offer a comfortable, practical, and financially accessible experience for mass consumers.
The Path of Meta by Mark Zuckerberg So Far
Meta is not new to this field. In 2021, the company changed its name from Facebook to Meta precisely to signal its focus on virtual reality and the so-called Metaverse. Since then, it has invested heavily in the development of immersive technologies.
However, the advancement of virtual reality has not occurred as quickly as initially expected. Now, the company is directing efforts toward augmented reality with artificial intelligence, betting that this will be the true dominant computing platform by 2030.
Recently, Meta launched, in partnership with Ray-Ban, a model of glasses with integrated AI. According to Yann LeCun, the company’s AI chief, it will soon be possible, for example, to type messages with hands in pockets, just through commands detected by the glasses.
A New Human Experience
For Zuckerberg, it is not just about a technological evolution, but a complete transformation in how people live and interact. “It’s a roadmap for a transformed human experience”, he stated.
The replacement of screens with holograms would redefine basic aspects of communication, education, and entertainment. Virtual meetings could become as immersive as in-person conversations. Reading books, consuming movies, and using apps would no longer require physical devices.
The Issues at Hand
Despite all the enthusiasm, Zuckerberg himself acknowledges that there are still important issues to be discussed. Mass adoption of this technology may raise debates about privacy, data security, and equal access.
The amount of personal data needed to fuel these integrated holographic experiences will be enormous. This will require careful discussions on how to ensure user protection in an even more immersive and permanent digital environment.
The Next Step for Meta
Meanwhile, investors and consumers remain attentive to the company’s next steps. Meta will release its next quarterly earnings report soon, and the performance of the augmented reality and artificial intelligence divisions will be in the spotlight.
If Zuckerberg’s vision comes to fruition, the world may witness the end of screens as we know them today and the birth of a new era of digital interaction, where the physical and the virtual walk side by side, guided by holograms.
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