It ’s been an capable closed book for years that Apple is develop AR glass , particularly since the announcement ofARKit at WWDC . And no wonderment : with Google and Microsoft and others actively developing devices for AR , it seems like a company Apple ca n’t afford to overlook .
But what on the button does Apple have in its sights , and when are we die to see the newfangled glasses ?
A act of patents grant to Apple over the years have give way us some insight into Apple ’s plans for a headset and Apple CEO Tim Cook has gone on record discourse the big possibilities he sees for AR , as we discuss below .
In this lineament , we calculate at all the modish Apple AR glasses rumours , patents and possible discharge engagement details .
What is augmented reality?
First , a quick refresher on terms , as many get AR and VR confused .
VR headsetsare mount on the drumhead in a similar way of life to ski goggles , and altogether block your view of the outside mankind . They tail your head move , and the 3D image displayed inside the headset moves accordingly . This make it look as if you ’re totally inside a 3D ‘ practical ’ world .
Augmented reality ( or AR ) , on the other hand , is where the glasses are see - through and you could still see the macrocosm around you , but an image is displayed in front of your eyes .
AR hit the headline in recent years , first thanks to Google Glass ( which displays 2D image ) and more recently with a headset develop by Microsoft called HoloLens that plant 3D images in the world around you .
Microsoft ’s 2d - gen HoloLens glasses are already usable for developer – although anyone can buy one . However , it costs the astronomical price of $ 3,500 and is focused on the enterprise market rather than consumer .
As for Google Glass , development of the consumer - focalise product was arrest back in 2015 , but Google revealed a new - and - improved Google Glass Enterprise Edition 2 in 2019 .
If Google and Microsoft are all working on AR products , you may reckon your bottom dollar that Apple also has an AR headset prototype in its lab .
However , it ’s an diligence still in its babyhood . With that in judgement , when can we expect to see Apple ’s AR headset or spyglass ?
Apple AR glasses: Release date
Assuming that Apple is working on an AR headset or AR chalk – there is plenty of evidence(gathered below)that it is – when is such a gimmick likely to plunge ?
As of January 2021 Apple is say to have entered thesecond phase of its glasses development . This could last a duet of months , after which a third form is expected to kick off before the finished prototype will be screen for six to nine month . So we could see the new AR glasses in 2022 or 2023 .
Back in May 2020 , Jon Prosser , who successfully called the iPhone SE establish a month before it happened , enounce that Apple planed to announce what it will call Apple Glass alongside theiPhone 12 in 2020 . Obviously this did n’t happen . But Prosser did n’t have a bun in the oven the new Cartesian product to be available to the public until around a year after the announcement – so Q4 2021 - Q1 2022 was his earliest expected timeframe . For more information on this leakage , readApple Glass : ‘ Leak dump ’ divulge all-inclusive detail .
Shortly before throw off the outflow video , Prosser claimed on Twitter thatother sources had got it wrong , and that Apple Glass was due to make an appearance at some point between March and June 2021 – a year earlier than all other rumours paint a picture .
I ca n’t believe I ’m locomote against Kuo on this one … but I believe he ’s wrong .
Apple Glasses are aspire for March - June 2021 .
Also . I ’ve find out them . They ’re sleek as hell on earth . 👀
Will be show you soon 🤫 https://t.co/0GaOYDA5N8
A 2020 release particular date had been rumoured for a few years , but most sources intimate that Apple has pushed the date back to 2022 .
The Information written report inNovember 2019indicated that at an national Apple meeting , company executives had shared a roadmap which include plans for two AR devices : a headset to appear in 2022 , and glasses coming a yr later in 2023 . According to the story , Apple signify to reach out to developers in 2021 with the hope that they will design software program for the headset .
At the same prison term as the Information composition come out , Bloomberg also published a report say that sources had reassert that Apple would be retard the discharge of its headset . The 2022 release date was also reassert by Ming - Chi Kuo in a May 2020 note to investors .
The first suggestion of a 2020 sacking date for the glasses came way back in November 2017 viaBloomberg , and was indorse up by reputable sources at the clip .
Loup Ventures psychoanalyst Gene Munster believes that augmented reality will be the next adult affair for Apple . Munster is the analyst who was once convinced that Apple would set up a video set .
Munster expects that Apple will loose Apple Glasses in recent 2021 , a year originally than Kuo ’s prediction but closer to what the root at Apple , and fecund leaker Jon Prosser , are now indicate . It ’s something Munster say we are n’t yet quick for , “ but finally we will be ” .
MacRumours account that documentation in an intragroup iOS 13 build indicated thatAR headset supportwas being build into iOS 13 , there was even a reference for a gimmick codenamed ‘ Garta ’ , suggest that the wheels are in motion behind shut doors .
It ’s not the only edition of iOS that mentions an AR gimmick . In September 2019 , 9to5Mac ’s Guilherme Rambo tweeted that code in Xcode 11 included a theoretical account for an ARDisplayDevice with files for AR headset codenamed ‘ Franc ’ and ‘ Luck ’ and HoloKit codenamed ‘ Garta ’ .
So the Xcode 11 GM loose today includes the ARDisplayDevice framework , including information files for Apple ’s AR headsets ( Franc , Luck ) and HoloKit ( Garta ) . WHAT?https://t.co / TxaX0un1dk
Price
We had expected Apple ’s AR headset to have a high-pitched cost , fitting with Apple ’s usage and the monetary value provide by the current competition .
Microsoft ’s HoloLens 2 glass , for example , cost $ 3,500 ( approx £ 2,661 ) , while the Google Glass Enterprise Edition cost $ 1,828 ( approx £ 1,336 ) .
But Jon Prosser says Apple Glass will be just $ 499 , plus the toll of any prescription . An Apple product undercut the remainder of the grocery store on price ? How peculiar .
Design
It appear that there are really two different AR intersection in the line .
A headset ( codenamed N301 ) will combine AR and VR feature . This is said to resemble the Oculus Quest and sport a 3D detector system that build on the technology of the Face ID camera set up to make a map of a drug user ’s environment . The headset will be used for “ gaming , watching video and virtual meeting , ” according to a Bloombergreportin November 2019 .
In addition , there will be little AR Methedrine more suited to being worn for long periods of time . According to The Information’ssource(also in November 2019 ) the current prototypes “ look like richly - priced sunglasses with deep frames that put up the battery and micro chip . ”
Back in June 2017 , an iPhone Hacksreportclaimed that Apple ’s smart glasses would have a singular design , according to their source .
Their insider allow for details on the excogitation – sport a pearl conduction earpiece , a mike , an accelerometer and a capacitive frame for navigation and interaction , the glass sound impressive .
Apple has been award patents that give some insight as to how the new glasses could count . One patent describes a way to conceal optical constituent behind an electrically - ensure layer so that they are hiden from view when not required . Another patent indicate that phone could be remove from a head - mounted display and used as speaker ( viathisAppleInsider report . )
Some creative hoi polloi have already follow up with potential design for Apple ’s looking glass . For example , this YouTube video ( which sky-high claimed that the specs would launch back in 2018 ) has some keen design .
‘Steve Jobs Heritage Edition’
Jon Prosser , less than a hebdomad after dropping the huge leak video mentioned earlier , came out with another bombshell : Apple , he claims , is working on a disjoined design with round frames , asa tribute to the late Steve Jobs .
It ’s probably fair to say that if anyone else had made this claim , we ’d be giving it short shrift . It ’s a bizarre idea : Apple takes Steve Jobs ’ legacy improbably seriously , and would be enormously wary of putting that in jeopardy by tying it to a ( potentially ill received ) product . honestly it sounds a bit like inviting people to cosplay as Steve Jobs – the Cupertino combining weight of a Groucho Marx moustache – and could well conduct to all kind of memes and mockery .
Mark Gurman , a Bloomberg writer and well-thought-of analyst , calls the idea“complete fiction”and others have suggested that Prosser could have fall for a deliberate Apple scheme of misinformation to flush out his reference . We ’re not at all sure whether to take the theme seriously and almost suspect – given the guy ’s jokey mode on YouTube – that he might be trolling us .
But it ’s worth ingeminate that Prosser is on an absolute halcyon streak at the moment , following success phone the iPhone SE and MacBook Pro 13 in , and who knows ? mayhap he ’s right again .
Partners
Numerous provider partners have , if we can think reports , been tapped up to function with Apple on its AR glasses undertaking .
In February 2021 Nikkei claimed TSMC – which already makes processors for Apple – isdeveloping micro OLED screensfor the gadget , and is currently at the trial output phase .
Back in July 2020 , meanwhile , The Informationrevealedthat Foxconn had started to cook up translucent lenses for Apple ’s chalk .
In October 2019 analyst Ming - Chi Ku claimed that Apple would be collaborating with ‘ third - company brands ’ to design the headset , as per an October 2019report(in Chinese ) .
A month later on , in November 2019 , a DigiTimesreportsuggested that Apple is partner with Valve to make the AR glass . DigiTimes reported back in July 2019 that Apple was ceasing development of the glasses , but it seems that the change was a passage to the partnership with Valve .
Another likely mate is Imagination Technologies . Apple and Imagination Technologies had a spot of a falling out a few year ago when Apple finish its licensing contract with the British firm . But now it appears that Apple has strike a mint with Imagination Technologies due to their expertness in ray trace , which is a technology that renders graphics with naturalistic kindling , reflection , and dwarf , so that they look real to the human middle . This kind of technology will be invaluable for AR lotion . ( ViaVenture Beat )
Specs
We do n’t be intimate much about the technologies being used in Apple ’s AR eyeglasses ( get it ) but there are a few rumor circulating that could give an meter reading about what to gestate .
Display
Apple has a phone number of patents touch to AR glasses , leaving fiddling dubiousness that the party is concerned in the technology . One letters patent published by the US Patent and Trademark Office in October 2019 refers to Photochromic Lenses , which are the kind of glasses lenses that get darker when in brilliant sunlight .
In the letters patent Apple note that the “ top dog - mounted gimmick such as a pair of augmented realness Methedrine ” may have an adjustable opacity arrangement , such as a photochromic layer . We assume that this engineering would make it easier to read the screen in bright sunshine .
According to a CNETreportin April 2018 , Apple ’s AR headset will extend an 8 K display for each center .
The 8 K displays will make the VR and AR images calculate more lifelike and will help avoid the nauseated feeling that can be the result of using AR / VR headsets .
An olderreportfrom June 2017 suggested that the fresh glass being used in Apple ’s AR headset was being manufactured using a Kopin NED Acetate frame .
There were also claims that Apple is looking to betray its AR glasses with prescription medicine lens or even polarise lenses in partnership with Zeiss .
Processor
A CNETreportin April 2018 evoke that the AR glasses wo n’t require a computing machine or smartphone to run .
CNET ’s source claimed that the headset will require a consecrate box powered by a custom Apple mainframe to which it will connect via a “ high - speed , short - range wireless technology ” . The boxful will use the wireless technology 60GHz WiGig , according to CNET ’s source . The 60GHz WiGig sign can not typically click walls but it can disperse off reflection from walls , ceilings , floor and objects using ray - forming . This may not weigh if the headset is used in just one location .
This does think of that users wo n’t be required to install various base stations around a room to enable to headset to determine their location ( as is the case with HTC Vive ) . Everything will be include in the one box and headset .
According to CNET , the box will feature a 5 - nanometer central processor . Apple is designing the chip in - house and the chip will be similar to the chips Apple is say to be develop for its Macs , with a switch from Intel design for 2020 .
However , that conflicts with the more late claims of Ming - Chi Kuo , a man with a proven criminal record of precise prediction . Kuo states that the first - gen AR glasses will be heavily subject on the iPhone , with the AR glass essentially only providing the display . That lead the iPhone to handle the computing , rendering , cyberspace connectivity and location services from the users pocket – hinting that , like with the Apple Watch , Android user wo n’t be able to get in on Apple ’s AR merriment .
While we assume that all this computing will be done wirelessly , it ’s not explicitly mentioned in Kuo ’s report .
If the iPhone handles all the impenetrable lifting , Apple can create a headset that is light and fashionable , but there are also concern about the impact to the barrage life of your iPhone if it has to power the AR experience .
Features
So far the evidence seems to designate to the AR glasses being dependent on the iPhone , as the Apple Watch was when that launched . They will work as a display to deliver maps , subject matter and game directly to your battleground of imagination .
Bloomberg ’s rootage take that the chalk will wirelessly connect to an iPhone and will display not only information but images and other data point right away in front of the wearer ’s discipline of view .
KGI psychoanalyst Ming - Chi Kuo believe that Apple could incorporate AR to redefine key product crinkle . For good example , an AR - power user interface could commute the way that exploiter interact with small - screen equipment like the Apple Watch , rule out subject with clunky controls .
Ability to compare two products – patent
One of the features of the rumor smart shabu may be the ability to compare two products , based on a patent practical app called Product Comparison Techniques . ViaMacrumors .
The glasses could equate whether a orotund package of a Cartesian product is really cheaper per kilo than a little computer software , for example . A user could also liken the differences between an iPhone 12 and iPhone 12 Pro .
Gaze control – patent
Apple has use for a letters patent for a technology to use sensors that read your regard to focus on what you are watching .
In the letters patent Apple describes how users can control the glasses by nictate and gaze at a sure point without have to bear on anything . ViaApple Insider .
Software
A fresh operating system , dubbed rOS ( r for reality ) , is being built for the AR headset . It is based on iOS , accordingto Bloomberg .
rOS will power the AR headset . Apparently , the ‘ Ro ’ software group is guide by Geoff Stahl , formerly a software manager for games and graphics at Apple .
As for how you will get apps , Apple has discussed pairing the headset with its own interpretation of the App Store , where users would be capable to download content , just as they do with the iPhone , Watch , Apple TV and Mac , fit in to Bloomberg .
Apple’s AR device is here now!
We do n’t actually have to wait for Apple to set up an AR headset . The caller already deal an AR gadget – the iPhone .
For most people , their first taste of AR come when they start out play the popularPokemon Go appon their iPhone in the summertime of 2016 .
Now , thanks to the TrueDepth cameras in the iPhones X , XS , XR , and 11 - serial , the bionic chipsets offered by the A12 processor and beyond , iOS 12 – which was identify as “ the populace ’s largest augmented realness platform , ” and now iOS 13 , which go far with ARKit 3 . The iPhone is take augmented reality to the next degree .
When it make it in 2017 , the iPhone X ’s AR credentials were n’t a surprise , aBloomberg reportback in March 2017 claimed that AR would be introduced on the iPhone first , with glasses come later down the line .
That account claimed that there are “ hundred of engineers devoted to the cause ” let in a number of people from Apple ’s iPhone camera team work on AR - relate features for the iPhone .
The Bloomberg report was defend by aclaim froma Business Insider source ( in November 2016 ) that Apple has teams from several acquired startups working on iPhone AR , and this shine Apple ’s inadequate - term desire to put AR into the hand of consumers .
By adding AR capabilities to the iPhone Apple tolerate consumers to direct the phone at a actual - domain object , like a statue or a car , and be proffer contextual data overlie onto the real world .
mix AR into a smartphone that gazillion of the great unwashed already have introduces the concept of AR , and may make them more potential to buy Apple - made glasses once they go on sale .
Speaking of which …
Evidence that Apple’s making AR glasses
call that an Apple AR headset is in the whole kit and caboodle at Apple load back some years and a issue of reputation have appeared presenting evidence that the projection is well underway at Apple . In fact , the project even has a code - name – T288 .
In-house team
In January 2021 Apple announced that Senior VP of Hardware EngineeringDan Riccio was propel into a young roleat the fellowship where he would be taking care of a ‘ new task ’ . It ’s take over that the Apple Glasses could be this project – although there are plenty of other rumour products he could be overseeing ( such as theApple Car ) .
Riccio tell he is look forward to : “ focusing all my time and vim at Apple on create something unexampled and wonderful that I could n’t be more frantic about . ”
If that ’s what he is doing , Riccio has a squad of experts to manage . Apple has been make AR / VR related hire for some prison term . Back in November 2016 a Business Insidersourceclaimed that Apple has hired an expert in nous - hop on display ( HMDs ) .
Also in November 2016 , a Bloombergreportclaimed Apple had consecrate a small numeral of “ near - eye displays ” for internal testing exhibit .
advert people with knowledge of the project , in a March 2017 theme , the FTclaimedthat Apple had begin to put together a squad of augmented reality experts a year previously . Apparently , more resource have been devoted to the AR project thanApple ’s bruit driverless car .
Then in April 2017 , more evidence of some sort of AR task came from leak Apple employee hurt reportsobtained by Gizmodo . While they ’re mostly about workaday workplace injuries like cafeteria burns , there were two that stand out :
One involve someone testing an unknown paradigm equipment who “ experienced discomfort in her eye and said she was able to see the optical maser flash at several full point during the study . ” She was afterward referred to an oculist .
Another involved an employee who “ report eye pain after work out with a new paradigm , though it may be relate with use ” .
While these could meditate either an AR or VR gadget , an home author told Gizmodo that the injury were likely link up to an AR epitome Apple is make on , speculating that it could be “ something like glasses with an overhead show ” .
A Bloombergreport , from November 2017 , claimed there is a squad of several hundred engineers working on AR - come to task , concord to its source .
The squad , lead by Mike Rockwell , who antecedently lead engineering at Dolby Lab , is working on several hardware and package task under the umbrella computer code name of ‘ T288 ’ , according to Bloomberg .
The team also worked on ARKit . The shaft that rent software program developers build AR apps for iPhone and iPad . We discussARKit in more item below .
More recently , as of July 2019 , Kim Vorrath was said to have joined Apple ’s AT team . This tidings hail via areportin The Information that exact Apple software executive director Vorrath had been moved within Apple to the AR team . She ’d been tasked with “ bringing some purchase order ” to the squad of about a dozen .
Earlier in July 2019 it had been rumor ( viaDigiTimes ) that Apple was shutting down the project , but Vorrath ’s move seems to suggest otherwise .
Then in September 2019 it emerged that Apple had hired Arthur van Hoff founder of VR cognitive content startup Jaunt . Hoff was hired as a Senior Architect , suggesting he will be set in the VR / AR squad .
Not everyone Apple has engage into AR / VR related roles has stay at the party . HoloLens co - creator Avi Bar - Zeev had been working at Apple for three class but had left as of around July 2019 .
Acquisitions
Apple ’s also been acquiring company in the AR quad over the past few eld .
Back in May 2015 , Apple learn a German company visit Metaio . It was a relatively well - known company with esteem to augmented reality , power many of the popular AR applications being used today – admit Ikea ’s practical catalog , and Ferarri ’s AR showroom app .
Since being bought out by Apple , Metaio has gone quiet – heading to its website will put up you a brief overview of the party , a contact electronic mail address and not much else . Mysterious .
Apple has confirmed the acquisition of Flyby Media , a party well - known for developing technology that allows smartphones to ‘ see ’ the world around them . Notably , the company has worked with Google in the yesteryear to spring up the image - realisation ability found in Google ’s Project Tango .
Though the website is now down ( typical of an Apple acquisition ) , Flyby Media described itself as “ consecrate to building unexampled technology that can elevate , rather than replace , our genuine - world experiences . ” and shoot a line a team with knowledge in the domain of orotund - exfoliation SLAM , indoor navigation , detector fusion , image recognition as well as 3D trailing .
Apple at CES
Another Bloombergreport , back in January 2018 , represent more evidence that Apple has plans in the AR infinite . The publication claims that , despite not march at the show , Apple was present at CES 2018 , with execs meet suppliers to talk over AR glasses , accord to people familiar with the meetings .
Apple’sTim Cook on AR
There is yet more grounds that Apple is working on something in the AR infinite – this time add up from Apple itself .
Apple CEO Tim Cooksaid in an August 2016 interviewwith The Washington Post that Apple is “ doing a great deal of things ” in the augmented reality blank space . He did n’t stop there though , as the Apple boss hold out on to take that he thinks of it as a “ core technology ” for the company .
“ I think AR is extremely interesting and sort of a core technology , ” Cook stated during the consultation . “ So yes , it ’s something we ’re doing a lot of thing on behind that curtain we talked about . ”
“ AR I reckon is cash in one’s chips to become really magnanimous , ” order Cook . “ VR , I think , is not gon na be that big , compared to AR … How long will it take ? AR gon na take a little while , because there ’s some really hard technology dispute there . But it will happen . It will happen in a big way . And we will question , when it does [ happen ] , how we lived without it . Kind of how we question how we lived without our [ smartphones ] today . ”
It ’s interesting that Apple is rivet more on augment reality than virtual realness , although it does make sense – especially with the booming popularity of apps that feature the technology like Pokemon Go , and the first appearance of ARKit which makes it much easy for developers to extend AR capabilities in their apps .
Cook sees AR as becoming something that a huge part of the universe will utilize on a daily basis , move on to state that he conceive “ that a significant part of the population , of make grow companies , and eventually all countries , will have AR experiences every day ” .
Speaking to The Independentduring a tripper to the UK in February 2017 , Cook pronounce that he prefer AR over VR because it “ allows individuals to be present in the world but hopefully allows an improvement on what ’s happen presently . ”
debate that VR seems to provide the more immersive and gratifying experience of the two political platform at the moment , why does Cook consider that AR is the time to come ? People do n’t require to be cut off from the world , apparently .
“ Most people do n’t require to lock up themselves out from the globe for a long period of sentence and today you ca n’t do that because you get sick from it , ” he pronounce , discussing virtual reality . “ With AR you could , not be soak up in something , but have it be a part of your existence , of your conversation . That has resonance . ”
Cook even expire as far as to compare it to the smartphone , and how that has shift the world . “ I regard it as a big idea like the smartphone ” he claimed . “ The smartphone is for everyone , we do n’t have to cerebrate the iPhone is about a sure demographic , or country or erect securities industry : it ’s for everyone . I think AR is that big , it ’s immense . ”
Tim Cook also addressed AR and ARKitduring the Q3 2017 earnings call . When expect a head about how people will be using ARKit , Cook respond “ I could not be more excited about AR and what we ’re seeing with ARKit in the other going . ” He continued to explain the form of fashion he has already seen AR used , and that he thinks “ AR is expectant and profound and this is one of those huge things that we ’ll bet back at and wonder on the start of it . ”
iOS & AR
Yet more evidence that Apple is concerned in AR : Apple added ARKit as part of iOS 11 and has since update ARKit in iOS 12 and again as part of iOS 13 .
ARKit allows developers to offer high - ending augment reality capability in their apps without having to develop the AR system , and improves exist AR solutions too – for example , Pokemon GO course ARKitlooked much smoother than it did antecedently .
PerApple ’s ARKit Sir Frederick Handley Page on its web site , it claim that ARKit is a “ cutting - edge chopine for grow augmented realism apps for iPhone and iPad ” and it offers “ powerful capabilities for positional tracking and picture understanding ” .
It pee sense for Apple to extend AR as part of the iPhone and iPad experience , as it ’s a twist already in the hands of millions of consumer . It also further developers to make AR apps that could in hereafter be port to an AR headset , if that ’s the route that Apple decide to go down .
Plus , it make iOS the biggest AR weapons platform in the man . Not too bad for emerging technology !
Interestingly , iOS 13 actually stick in financial backing for two-channel AR glasses . TheMacRumours teaminspected the most recent iOS 13 beta and spotted an app that intimate Apple ’s AR chalk are actively in development and could look earlier rather than later .
First up , the iOS 13 beta includes the STARTester app which MacRumours claims can switch in and out of a head - mount up style “ presumably to replicate the functionality of an augmented reality headset on an iPhone for testing purposes ” . Per the report , the app have two modes – worn and held – which further plunk for the idea that Apple is working on a pair of AR glasses .
There ’s also an internal Readme file hidden within the iOS 13 code that describe a Starboard system shell for role with the huge collecting of subsist AR - powered iOS apps , and also argue a possible intragroup prototype codename for the AR meth – Garta . The Starboard mode is referenced in several position in the iOS 13 code , with “ perspective ” and “ aspect ” and , more or less more blatantly , “ ARStarBoardViewController ” and “ ARStarBoardSceneManager ” .
There was no quotation of Apple ’s AR glasses during the ship’s company ’s September 2019 event , but it looks like Apple is preparing for something big …
MacOS and AR
There is also evidence in Xcode that an AR machine is in the grapevine . Code in Xcode on the Mac has confirmed Apple ’s workplace on some variety of AR headset .
In September 2019 , developer Steve Troughton - Smith tweeted that Xcode 11 touch to codenamed tryout devices as well as theoretical account and a system shield related to these gadget .
There was also a ReadMe Indian file that referenced an Apple “ HME ” headset .
Apple AR Patents
In January 2017 , Apple was cede a pair of patent that could give us a coup d’oeil at the troupe ’s AR aspirations . Patent no . 9,560,273 details the hardware framework of an AR gadget that can understand its environment thanks to enhanced computer vision capacity , while patent of invention no . 9,558,581 details the method acting of overlay virtual info on a physical environment .
Both patents were filed back in 2015 by German AR specialist Metaio shortly before Apple produce the house , and transferred to Apple in November 2016 .
Patent 273 describes a “ wearable info system experience at least one camera ” but run further and discusses the possibilities of having more television camera , a filmdom , a UI and even intragroup components dedication to computer vision . The patent details a fountainhead - mount display as the chief platform for AR , but it also suggests that a smartphone ( aka the iPhone ) could service as a nice stand - in .
However , on the whole , the patents deal more with object recognition than it does the visualisation of the AR information . The issue of object recognition is a barrier in the AR industry on the whole , as live solutions require a heavy amount of power and thus , are n’t ideal for existent - world exercise .
In Apple ’s case , the ‘ invention ’ maintains a abject - power scanning modal value for the majority of its operation , with high - power modes triggered in relatively shortsighted bursts .
Then , in May 2017 , a patent surfaced limn the head - put on display of Apple ’s upcoming augmented realness headset . The letters patent detail a gadget and proficiency for plan a generator paradigm in a HMD comprised of left and right displays , suggesting that they may look more like stock glasses than Google ’s failed Glass .
In the filing , Apple notes that some HMDs can be used to view a transparent epitome imposed upon a veridical - worldly concern view . phone familiar to augment world ? We think so too .
Another Applepatent filing , discovered in July 2017 , describes how a pair of AR - enabled glasses could interact with a smartphone . The drug user is sound out to be able to interact with the aim that come out on the eyeglasses using their smartphone . Of course , the phone would need to be equipped with the necessary hardware and software to be compatible with the glasses , and we ’re unsure if the technical school is already sport on the iPhone 7 or not .
Another concept in the patent describes how the user can interact with objects that appear on the AR glasses by channelize at them – a similar mechanic is used by Microsoft in its HoloLens field glass , so it ’s not a far - fetched idea . The letters patent claims that it ’ll be potential via an array of cameras attached to the shabu , as the tv camera will map and track the user ’s finger as it move towards the on - screen objective .
However , a patent print in Q3 2018suggests thatthe AR headset could be controlled via a feeling - enabled gimmick like the iPhone . As well as depicting a person get into a headset and interacting with a touchscreen gimmick , the patent specifically details how “ the exploiter interacts with the GUI in part through stylus and/or finger contacts and gestures on the hint - tender surface ” .
With more advanced letters patent appearing , it suggests that Apple is study augmented world very badly , and we might be seeing Apple ’s AR - enabled twist on the market preferably than originally opine .
KGI analyst Ming - Chi Kuo tell apart investors that he believe that Apple ’s track disc of delivering innovative and high - timbre user experiences will help the company move into – and succeed – in the AR market .
For more data about what Apple will launch in 2021 read : New Apple products guide to what ’s follow out in 2021
