Augmented Reality (AR)

Backing up claims made by Bloomberg last week, Apple is once again reported to be working on microLED displays for future products, in a Digitimes article published today.

The report says the screens are destined for future high-end Apple Watch models and an augmented reality wearable device, measuring around 1.4 and 0.8 inches respectively.

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We learned yesterday that there have been 13 million downloads of augmented reality apps powered by ARKit, and USA Today has plans to increase that number.

It has announced that it will soon be launching an AR app that allows you to do some launching of your own. 3-2-1 Launch is an app that allows you to assemble, launch and land an AR rocket …

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Several Apple engineers are scheduled to talk augmented and virtual reality, and other display technologies at Display Week coming up in May. More interestingly, there are several sessions focused on microLED.

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[Update: EMagin’s CFO has said today that Apple has not invested in the company, but that EMagin included the Cupertino company in its January filing “because it had discussions with them at industry events.” and added that the document was “misinterpreted.”]

Apple is making further investments into bringing augmented reality devices to market. The latest news is the company backing a small AR display component maker along side LG and others.

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Even when moving home is for all the right reasons, it still has to count as one of life’s most mixed experiences. While the end result is hopefully a better home in a better location, the process also involves a great deal of stress, work and expense. In the case of our own recent move, we can tick all five boxes …

But one of the fun parts is the chance to start again with a blank sheet in terms of designing your home the way you’d like it to be. For most of us, that’s a DIY process. We look for inspiration online and in stores, then sit down at the computer – or pencil and paper – to play with ideas.

The posher approach is to hire an interior designer to do it all for you. You tell them your tastes, and what you’re looking to achieve, and let them come up with designs. You then say yes or no to the various elements, and they rework the designs until you end up with a final one you approve …

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A new report from Bloomberg today shares that Apple manufacturer Quanta has closed a deal to start producing lenses for augmented reality smart glasses. While this deal isn’t specifically with Apple, it could pave the way for Apple to bring its next wearable to market.

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Nikkei is out today with a new report that one of Apple’s assemblers expects a “significant AR device” to launch by 2019. Similar to the news last week from another Apple supplier, today’s report doesn’t specifically name Apple, but expectations are starting to build for the company and a future AR device release even though Tim Cook has recently said “but today I can tell you the technology itself doesn’t exist to do that in a quality way.”

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Back in the summer, when rumors of Apple working on augmented reality glasses gained momentum, I wrote an opinion piece addressing the question of whether the Cupertino company could succeed where Google failed.

I ran through the six reasons why I believe Google Glass failed as a consumer product, and looked at the lessons Apple would need to learn.

We heard earlier today that Apple is working toward a target date of no earlier than 2020 for its rumored augmented reality headset, or glasses. And that date gives me more faith in the idea that Apple could indeed pull it off …

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Apple is reportedly gearing up to release its own augmented reality ‘headset’ as early as 2020, according to a new report from Bloomberg. The device would feature an independent screen and integrated chipsets. Bloomberg says the device could ship by 2020, but the plan is ‘very aggressive’ and timelines can always slip back.

Apple is engineering its own system-on-a-package for the headset, similar to the Apple Watch S1 chip. The product would run a new ‘rOS’ operating system, based off of an iOS core.

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Tim Cook may have recently poured cold water on rumors that Apple was on the verge of announcing its own version of Google Glass, but that isn’t stopping the supply chain from pushing the rumors forward. Nikkei reports that Apple casing supplier Catcher Technology may be developing lightweight frames for Apple AR glasses.

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Target is the latest retailer to offer augmented reality shopping, allowing customers to see how furniture would look in their own homes. It currently offers the feature with 200 items, but says it plans to offer hundreds more by the end of the year and ‘thousands’ of products next year.

The feature works much the same way as Ikea’s app, but doesn’t (yet) take advantage of ARKit …

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Buzzfeed briefly interviewed Apple CEO Tim Cook and retail head Angela Ahrendts at the recent opening of the new waterfront Chicago store, with Cook discussing augmented reality, rumors of his successor, and making a one-sentence comment on iPhone X availability.

Cook thinks AR is going to be as big in the future as mobile apps are today …

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An augmented reality drone simulator powered by Apple’s ARKit allows users to fly a virtual quadrocopter wherever they are.

“ARKit is a game-changer,” says Taylor Moore, co-founder of CircleSquare Entertainment. “We were actually working very hard on a drone racing game – but dropped everything when we realized that we could offer iOS users the kind of augmented reality no one has ever seen before. DroneTopolis AR is like having a Drone in your Pocket.”

You can fly your virtual drone in places the real thing wouldn’t be allowed, fly through virtual ‘hoops’ and record and stream your flights to share with friends …

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Phil Schiller teased an augmented reality overlay on a live baseball game during the iPhone 8 keynote presentation. Fans viewing the match could instantly see things like how far a ball was thrown, how hard it was hit and how fast a player is running.

But while those features are coming to the MBL At Bat app, fans won’t get them until the 2018 season …

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An augmented reality Sudoku-solving app that only works with completely empty puzzles might be kind of pointless, but it definitely serves as an impressive demonstration of just what can be done when you use the combined power of three Apple frameworks.

Magic Sudoku uses Apple’s image analysis software Vision to read the puzzles, the Core ML framework to solve them and ARKit to present the solution as an overlay on the puzzle itself …

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