Why the tech industry wants to take away your screen

Some tech leaders have a vision for a world where you spend a lot less time looking at your phone. Is it the solution to screen time, or just a new dystopia?

If you've ever wanted your ears to have eyes, then I've got great news. It seems Apple is gearing up to release AirPods with cameras in them as soon as next year.

Apparently, these cameras aren't for taking pictures. According to Bloomberg, they'll feed information about your surroundings to its virtual assistant Siri, unlocking a whole set of new possibilities for how you might interact with your devices without looking at them.

Apple hasn't confirmed or denied the news, but the Bloomberg report comes from a journalist with a stellar reputation for leaking the company's secrets. And it's part of a broader trend.

For the past 60 years or so, screens have been the predominant way we have interacted with computers. Now it's possible they could fade further into the background.

Together with smart glasses and other wearable products like AI pendants you hang around your neck, some of the biggest tech companies are building a suite of devices that could let you spend far less time with screens. If this vision comes to pass, it might revolutionise the way we interact with computers.

This may or may not be a rosy picture. It would usher in either a softer and more humane relationship with the technology we use every day, or a future where tech invades even more of our lives.

But before we get there, you and millions of others will answer a more fundamental question: does anybody actually want this?

A farewell to screens?

Last week, Snap, the company behind Snapchat, unveiled a new pair of AI-powered smart glasses called Specs. They come with a spectacular price tag: £1,995 in the UK and $2,195 in the US.

And the biggest news about Specs was a TV appearance where the glasses seemed to be crushing chief executive Evan Spiegel's ears in a way that looked decidedly uncomfortable. (He later said his ears just look like that.) The Specs are significantly larger and heavier than most competing smart glasses – though a spokesperson tells the BBC they're comfortable enough to be worn for hours.

But Specs may have unprecedented features. Most importantly, the company says you can use them independently of other devices. Smart glasses usually need to be paired with your phone.

"For decades, computers have asked us to look down, sit still or step out of the moment," said Spiegel in a press release. "Specs are the beginning of a new era in computing."

To be clear, the specs have a display in the lenses, as do some models of Meta's smart glasses, but they're not designed to replace your field of vision or even be a constant presence. Instead, the glasses will temporarily overlay a display on top of the world as you see it through your........

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