Killer Apps for Mixed Reality
Home screen apps for future MR headsets
- Human-Computer Interaction
People love to ask what the “killer app” for mixed reality (MR) will be: the one application so good that everyone goes out and buys a headset. But smartphones didn’t succeed because of a single app, and MR headsets probably won’t either.
In this post, I imagine a future where MR headsets are as common as smartphones and look at the app store instead. Which apps would be downloaded the most, and why?
Not a Killer App, but a Home Screen
The most downloaded phone apps are messaging, social media, maps, the camera and search. None of them is the reason people bought a smartphone. They are everyday tools that got better because the phone was always with you, always connected and knew where you were.
MR apps will likely follow the same pattern: familiar apps that improve because the headset sees what you see and leaves your hands free. I picked my apps with two questions:
- Everyday use: would people open it many times a day, not just once to try it out?
- Better in the world: is it clearly better on top of the real world than on a phone screen?
Five apps passed both: Hallo, Atlas, Scout, Sous and Déjà.
1. Hallo: Friends in Your Room
Video calls show a small face in a rectangle. You can’t make eye contact, point at something or simply sit together in silence.
The idea: Hallo combines telepresence and social media. Friends appear life-size in your room, sitting on your couch. You can watch a film together, play a board game on your real table, or leave a short 3D “story” somewhere for friends to find later.
Why it would top the charts: Communication leads the download charts on every platform. Hallo also has network effects: every friend who joins makes it more useful, which is how messaging apps spread.
Open questions: Sharing your living room is far more personal than sharing a photo. Hallo needs clear controls over who can appear where, so no one can “drop in” uninvited.
2. Atlas: Directions Drawn onto the World
The blue dot on a phone map shows where you are, but not which way you are facing. Inside a station, airport or hospital, it barely works at all.
The idea: Atlas draws directions onto the world. Buildings publish their indoor maps, so arrows on the floor lead you to the right platform, gate or ward. Outdoors, it highlights the right entrance and shows where your friends are, even behind walls.
Why it would top the charts: Maps is already one of the most used phone apps. Atlas removes the step of translating a 2D map into the 3D world in your head, and finally solves indoor navigation.
Open questions: Showing friends through walls needs careful, mutual consent. The arrows also have to stay out of the way, since an overlay that hides a step or a car is dangerous.
3. Scout: Look at Anything and Ask
On a phone, finding out what something is takes several steps: take out the phone, open the camera, take a photo, search and scroll through the results.
The idea: Scout answers “what is this?” for anything you look at. Plants, products, landmarks and car parts are identified, with prices, reviews or history shown right next to them. In stores, it leads you to what you need and compares options within your budget.
Why it would top the charts: Search is the most used tool on the internet, and Scout turns it into a glance. It’s useful at home, in shops, on holiday and at work.
Open questions: Whoever runs Scout decides what you see first. If shops can pay to rank higher, the “best option” quietly becomes an ad, so sponsored results must be clearly marked.
4. Sous: Step-by-Step Help on the Task
Following a recipe on a phone means scrolling with flour on your fingers. Assembling furniture means switching between a paper manual and the pieces on the floor.
The idea: Sous places instructions on the task in front of you. While you cook, the steps float above the counter, timers sit on the pots and the next ingredient is highlighted. Sous notices when the onions are golden and moves on. The same works for fixing a bike or walking someone through CPR.
Why it would top the charts: Tutorials are among the most watched videos online, and every one of them makes you look away from what you’re doing. Sous keeps your hands free and your eyes on the task.
Open questions: A beginner wants every step, while an experienced cook only wants the timers. Guidance has to adapt, or it quickly becomes noise.
5. Déjà: A Memory for Your Life
We take thousands of photos and rarely look at them again. We also spend a surprising amount of time looking for keys, glasses and names we’ve already seen.
The idea: Déjà lets you capture a moment as a 3D reconstruction and walk through it again later. You can ask “where did I leave my keys?” or “what was her name?”, and it answers from what you’ve seen. It can also remind you by place: “you’re at the supermarket, and you’re out of milk.”
Why it would top the charts: The camera and photo gallery are among the most used parts of a phone. Déjà is the next step: a memory you can search and relive. Only an always-on headset can offer it, because a phone can’t see what you see.
Open questions: Déjà raises the hardest privacy questions on this list. It records people who never agreed to it, and a searchable record of everything you’ve seen is valuable to anyone who gets access. Processing should stay on the device, with clear signals to people nearby when you’re recording.
Conclusion
The most downloaded MR apps probably won’t be the ones that make people buy a headset. They will be the everyday ones: talking to friends, finding your way, looking things up, getting help with a task and remembering things. These are the same needs smartphones serve today.
They also share the same risk. Each works because the headset sees what you see, which means it also sees the people around you. The app store of the future will have to answer privacy questions that today’s phone apps never faced.
