Via Mark Gurman at Bloomberg, Apple has constructed a special hands-on area inside Apple Park in which to conduct hands-on demos of the Apple Reality Pro AR/VR headset to the press, following its unveiling at WWDC next week.
Gurman says that Apple plans to show off the headset to “some attendees and media” on June 5, as well as host future demos over the course of the summer. The headset will likely ship either at the end of the year, or early 2024.
Although the headset has been colloquially referred to as ‘”Apple Reality Pro” up to now, the final marketing name remains unclear. Apple has trademarked other names like “Reality One” and “XR Pro” as well. The operating system is believed to be called “xrOS.“
One of the expected tentpole features of the product is an advanced FaceTime experience, where headset wearers will be able to conduct one-on-one virtual meetings using near photo-realistic avatars, not merely cartoony Memoji-esque characters. The goal is to make it feel like users are interacting together in the same place.
Bloomberg says the planned demos will revolve around showcasing the immersive FaceTime calls experience, as well as Apple TV+ content and gaming in a virtual reality environment:
Apple has built a large structure on the Apple Park campus to provide controlled hands-on demos of the device to some attendees and media at the conference. The company has set up an area at the basketball courts near its employee fitness center. Apple is also planning future demos through the summer. When it shows off the device, it’s planning to focus on immersive FaceTime in VR, Apple TV+ content and gaming.
The headset will be unveiled for the first time on Monday, June 5, as part of the WWDC keynote. Other announcements will include new features coming in iOS 17, an overhauled UI for Apple Watch with watchOS 10, the debut of the 15-inch MacBook Air and more.
Stay tuned to 9to5Mac for full coverage of all the announcements.
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