50 MACWORLD OCTOBER 2019
iOSCENTRAL TRAVELING WITH APPLE TECHhardware like a heads-up display.
There are so many places where AR
could be useful while traveling, from the
obvious ones like walking, driving, and
transit directions, to being able to look at
a historical landmark or interesting
building and find out information about it
without having to stare down at my
phone. And given how much of my time
was spent looking up where to eat and
combing through reviews from Yelp, Trip
Advisor, and Google, I’d love a feature
where I could glance at a restaurant and
be presented with a synthesis of reviews
and other data about it to help me make
There are many places where AR could be useful while traveling.
a decision.
This is one place where Apple’s current
level of augmented reality doesn’t really
live up to its name. Yes, the company’s
built an impressive framework for AR
technology, but it still feels like peering
through a window instead of having reality
and digital information seamlessly
intertwined. Playing Minecraft in AR is
impressive, certainly, but it still feels like a
thing you’re going to do from the comfort
of your own home—something that puts
more of the emphasis on “augmented”
when instead I’d like to see it be more
about the “reality.” ■