Tim Cook again praises augmented reality, says there’s ‘no substitute for human contact’

In a new interview with BuzzFeed News, Apple CEO Tim Cook has delved deeper into his thoughts concerning virtual reality and augmented reality. Cook has touched on these areas before and in today’s interview, Cook again seems to favor the latter of the two technologies…

In the interview, Cook explains that there’s “no substitute for human contact,” again hinting that the Apple CEO favors augmented reality over virtual reality. These comments aren’t all that surprising considering Apple’s history of acquisitions in the field, as well as comments Cook has made before.

“There’s no substitute for human contact,” Cook told BuzzFeed News. “And so you want the technology to encourage that.”

Additionally, Cook explains that while he thinks virtual reality has some interesting applications, he doesn’t believe that it will be a “broad-based technology.” On the other hand, Cook believes that augmented is something that is “profound,” though it may take some time to get right. The ultimate benefit in Cook’s mind is that AR would amplify human contact, not be a barrier like VR would.

“VR, I think, has some interesting applications, but I don’t think it’s a broad-based technology like AR,” Cook explained. “Augmented reality will take some time to get right, but I do think that it’s profound. We might … have a more productive conversation, if both of us have an AR experience standing here, right? And so I think that things like these are better when they’re incorporated without becoming a barrier to our talking. … You want the technology to amplify it, not to be a barrier.”

BuzzFeed News also claims that Apple has recently been holding meetings with immersive content companies such as Jaunt, a cinematic virtual reality company.

Cook has long expressed his favorability towards AR, noting during an Apple earnings call that he sees Apple as being in the AR race for the “long run.” Cook also recently touched on the area during a question and answer event at the Utah Tech Tour.

While Apple hasn’t been very public about what exactly it’s planning with augmented reality, it’s clear that the company has a vested interest in the technology.