Augmented Reality (AR)

While Apple is getting serious with both AR and VR this year thanks to iOS 11 and more powerful Mac hardware, IDC has new data on the forecast for augmented and virtual reality mainstream adoption. IDC expects “dedicated AR and VR headsets collectively” to reach nearly 100 million units by 2021 compared to just under 10 million units last year.

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Tim Cook said in a recent interview that he was so excited about augmented reality that he wanted ‘to yell out and scream.’ He named furniture-buying as an example of something that can be completely changed by the use of AR, and gave a specific shout-out to Ikea – a company also briefly referenced in the iOS 11 keynote.

We’ve talked to Ikea, and they have 3D images of their furniture line. You’re talking about changing the whole experience of how you shop for, in this case, furniture and other objects that you can place around the home.

The company has now told a Swedish site a little about its plans …

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In a wide-ranging interview, Tim Cook has spoken about Steve Jobs‘ DNA as Apple’s ‘Constitution,’ why he thinks HomePod will be a success, wanting to ‘scream’ in excitement about augmented reality, how he thinks taxes should be applied to repatriated overseas earnings, his experience of working with Donald Trump and how he responds to the view that Apple is no longer an innovative company.

His comments are an excerpt from a detailed interview out next week …

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Apple has announced its augmented reality platform today, ARKit for iPhone and iPad…

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Google has been working on augmented and virtual reality for some time, through its Tango and Daydream projects. While there’s a great deal of overlap between the two, I’ve outlined before why it’s clear to me that Apple’s focus is very much on augmented reality: overlaying virtual content on the real world.

Google this week gave us a clearer steer on the type of AR functionality we can expect from its own platform, and it’s likely that we will see some similar features in the iPhone 8 …

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As Apple continues to ramp up its focus on augmented reality, the company has recently hired a specialist from NASA for its efforts. According to a new report from Bloomberg, Apple has hired Jeff Norris, a specialist in new technology at NASA…

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Earlier this year it was reported that Apple is developing augmented reality features that will eventually appear in glasses after coming first to iPhones. Now a newly leaked document may have accidentally acknowledged Apple’s prototype AR glasses for the first time.

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At Facebook’s developer conference F8 today, the company announced its new software platforms that mix augmented reality, artificial intelligence, and virtual reality.

The company is taking a leap into a new realm of interactions, and they’ve started by sharing a lot of them today. Some of the new software can already be seen inside of Facebook’s camera app starting today.

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KGI first reported that the iPhone 8 will be fitted with a ‘revolutionary’ 3D-sensing front camera, with multiple reports since that this will be used for augmented reality applications. More than one company has been tipped to be making components for the 3D system, with Himax Technologies the latest of these.

Barron’s notes that the company’s shares have climbed 56% this year based on expectations that it will be making ‘3D sensing components’ for the iPhone 8, with Morgan Stanley’s Charlie Chan explaining why Apple is believed to have chosen the company …

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Following up after an earlier report from Bloomberg on Apple’s behind the scenes efforts developing augmented reality tech, Financial Times is out with a profile today highlighting efforts by Apple, Facebook, and Magic Leap to build AR smart glasses.

Building on Bloomberg’s report that detailed Apple’s team of hundreds of engineers working on augmented reality features for iPhone that could later debut in a glasses product, FT says Apple has been working on the project for over a year and claims a launch is still at least a year away and “perhaps much longer.”

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While Apple has made clear that it has a keen interest in augmented reality, there have been conflicting reports about what form those features might take and how they might make their debut. A new Bloomberg report seeks to shed light on both questions.

The report echoes earlier ones that Apple has a large number of engineers working on AR features, and that they will be seen first in the iPhone …

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With growing speculation that a rumored 3D sensor on the iPhone 8 will be used for augmented reality applications, a Barclays research note has described the two different ways this could work. Based on supply-chain reports, Barclays believes Apple actually intends to use a combination of the two.

The simplest way to sense 3D space is to use what the note calls Time of Flight (ToF). An emitter transmits a signal (for example, in infrared) and times how long it takes to bounce off an object in front of the iPhone and return to a sensor. From a series of timed returns, the iPhone can build up a 3D image of what is in front of it.

But there’s a second method which uses a more sophisticated approach …

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A UBS research note seen by Business Insider says that Apple is believed to have more than 1,000 engineers working on an augmented reality project, and that the company’s first AR offering may be seen in the iPhone 8.

According to some industry sources, the company may have over 1,000 engineers working on a project in Israel that could be related to AR […] UBS expects Apple could implement new AR products as early as in the next iPhone, expected later this year, which could include “moderate 3D mapping … and possibly an AR software development kit,” the note says.

The note is consistent with a KGI one stating that the iPhone 8 will include a ‘revolutionary‘ camera able to sense 3D space …

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Today’s KGI report is just the latest piece of evidence that Apple has serious plans to somehow work with 3D space. Acquisitions, supply chain reports, patents and even comments by Tim Cook all add up to a definite interest in something in the 3D space. The question is: what?

There’s a lot of confusion surrounding terminology, so we thought it would be a good idea to start by distinguishing between the various terms being thrown around in this space – Virtual Reality (VR), Augmented Reality (AR) and Mixed Reality (MR) – before discussing Apple’s interest in 3D …

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Pokémon Go has elements of AR in its gameplay

Tim Cook really wants people to know that he’s deeply interested in AR. The Apple CEO hypes augmented reality every chance he gets, and he’s doing it in the same way he teased the wrist as an interesting space before the Apple Watch and the living room as stuck in the 70s before tvOS.

During his week-long trip across Europe, Cook went as far as saying he regards AR “as a big idea like the smartphone” in an interview with The Independent.

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A rather speculative KGI note suggests that Apple’s focus on augmented reality (AR) instead of virtual reality (VR) will give the company a 3-5 year lead on the rest of the industry when it launches its first products. The report also suggests that Apple could use augmented reality as part of an autonomous driving system.

All of Apple’s past successes were related to human-machine interfaces, such as mouse for Mac, click wheel for iPod, and multi-touch for iPhone and iPad. Assuming Apple successfully develops AR, we predict the firm will enjoy the following competitive advantages: (1) redefining existing key products and leading competitors by three to five years. For instance, this could happen for iPhone, iPad and Mac; (2) eliminating obstacles of Apple Watch and Apple TV by offering an innovative user experience; and (3) entering new business fields, such as autonomous driving system.

KGI’s Ming-Chi Kuo doesn’t, though, expect Apple to launch its first AR product any time soon …

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Snapchat has been on a roll lately introducing bigger and more creative updates to their social network. From introducing custom geofilters, to a massive overhaul in their chat system, they show no signs of slowing down. Today’s update takes video interactions a step further by allowing you to “pin” stickers and emojis to moving objects in video. The update will be rolling out to Android today and soon to iOS.

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Apple today has started selling the View-Master Virtual Reality Starter Pack on its online store. With all the news about the company building out and prototyping virtual reality tech, it’s interesting to see it offering a glimpse at what that future tech may be by selling the device on the online store. Harkening back to the classic ideals of the View-Masters from the past, the new View-Master allows users to go on exciting new adventures. Utilizing a mix of augmented reality and virtual reality, these adventures are now taken to a whole new level. Taking advantage of Experience Packs, users can navigate space, various destinations, and wildlife through a mix of AR and VR.

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An amateur astronomer friend has a motorized telescope that allows you to tap in the name of the object you want to see – a constellation, a planet, a deep-sky object – and it automatically locates them in the sky. Universe2go offers an equally hi-tech but more casual approach to stargazing suitable for beginners – including kids.

Universe2go is an augmented reality system that uses your iPhone to do the clever stuff. In essence, it’s a more sophisticated version of Google Cardboard. You open the companion app on your iPhone, snap your phone into the plastic enclosure and then look through the goggles at the night sky. An angled mirror overlays your actual view of the sky with labels from the app.

Pause with the green pointer over a planet or constellation, and the app provides visual data and an audio commentary. Alternatively, choose an object in advance and the app uses the display to direct you to the correct part of the sky before using the augmented reality system to highlight it …

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<a href="http://9to5mac.com/2016/01/05/speck-pocket-vr-viewer/" target="_blank">Speck’s VR solution on the iPhone</a>

During this week’s earnings call, Apple CEO Tim Cook answered a question on virtual reality by saying “I don’t think VR is a niche…It’s really cool and has some interesting applications.” It looks like Cook’s statements have some background to them. According to a new Financial Times report, Apple had reportedly been prototyping VR headsets in the past under Steve Jobs in the mid-2000s, but the project was eventually abandoned once the technology was found to still be immature. With new acquisitions and a dedicated VR team, the effort is said to be once again a new focus.

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Apple has long been rumored to have an interest in the virtual reality market, but the company itself has always remained quiet on the technology. That’s not an unusual strategy for Apple, though, as it often only makes very general, or even negative, comments about a technology until it is ready to announce its own foray into a market. During the company’s earnings call for the first quarter of 2016, however, CEO Tim Cook was asked about his opinions on virtual reality.

Speaking on the call, Cook said that he thinks virtual reality has some interesting applications and noted that he doesn’t think it is a niche market, a comment often used against the technology by its naysayers. “I don’t think VR is a niche,” Cook said. “It’s really cool and has some interesting applications.”

This begs the question as to what exactly Apple has planned for virtual reality. There are a variety of possibilities, some of which companies like Google have already capitalized on. As we’ve learned in the past, however, Apple has no problem with launching its own version of a technology later in the game. So, let’s talk about some of the potential places in which Apple could implement virtual and augmented reality technologies…

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