Apple AR Glasses Available on 2020?
Apple continues to dabble in augmented reality (AR) technology. The company is reportedly working on AR glasses that should be ready for shipping by 2020.
Bloomberg's Mark Gurman says that the company is targeting to unveil their new AR technology by 2019 and to ship units as early as 2020. On the other hand, the insiders told him that nothing is final at the moment, that the timeline is subject to change.
The upcoming AR gear will, according to Gurman, run with its own display, unlike most of the current generation headsets which need a smartphone as the engine and screen. Additionally, he reports that the headset will have its own new chip, similar in concept to that of their Apple Watch, and operating system. It is expected to be powered by a new version of the Apple iOS which will be called reality OS or rOS.
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Geoff Stahl who was a software manager for games and graphics at Apple is one of the team members behind the development of the rOS.
In terms of design, the company has a long way to go. Apple has yet to figure out how they want users to control the headset and to open applications. Moreover, they are also still trying to figure out touch panels, voice activation command through Siri, and head gestures.
Rumor has it the tech giant has multiple ventures in AR, both hardware and software projects, all under the codename T288.
Since Apple has no operational AR headsets under its belt, the company is said to be using the HTC Vive for testing. They are said to be creating a device that looks pretty much like the Oculus Gear VR, only that it uses an iPhone screen, camera, and chipsets. The company, however, does not intend to produce such a gadget for profit. They will reportedly use it internally to test AR applications.
