[nnq]

> IMO the problem is a hand-held smartphone is an awkward AR platform

...doooh! ARKit might be good, but it needs to be coupled with a google-glass-successor. Imo GG was the "nokia 900" of its era, proof that it can be done and there's sort of a market, but worthless without something to make it worth the inconveniences for regular users.

To be honest I'd bet on a social-media experienced company like Facebook or on whoever does a good job at partnering with a social media giant because the only AR applications I'd imagine compelling enough for "average people" will involve social things, like walking around a bar and seeing fb and twitter and maybe tinder profiles of people around you near their heads like game stats, sourced based on facial recognitions from people who set themselves to "open"... will be creepy beyond belief, but I'd bet on a mix of social, mildly sexual, with a dash of gaming thing, like a mix of tinder and pokemon go. Now, god knows who has the chops to pull that one right without getting it too creepy...