The news is quite significant that Apple is still preparing a VR headset with strong AR-focused features for launch as early as 2022.
My colleague David Heaney and I have discussed this possibility for years. Does Apple CEO Tim Cook really see the potential of VR? Or is he too blinded by the need for a large market to make the necessary investment to fill the gap towards big AR glasses? How smart will Apple’s environmental recognition be? Will the company be independent or will it have a system that needs a nearby device to operate? How about an optional connection to a Mac or PC? Will the Apple headset be able to run Half-Life: Alyx in standalone mode? How much advantage will Apple’s internal silicon chips provide? How can Apple compete with Facebook if there is a big price difference between the offers of each company? How will Apple differentiate your product? Will the company make the exercise a focus of its offering?
Will Apple really move on and actually ship the headset? Is Apple too late for the game?
The most recent reports point to the development of an autonomous VR headset from Apple with strong AR features and a high price. A lot can change, however, as the device approaches its launch window and Apple can still kill the product altogether. The company also does not expect to sell many VR headsets in its first iteration, and many believe that wearing AR anywhere is the biggest market opportunity. Therefore, Cook may feel pressured to focus on RA. Still, developers need time to develop new experiences for AR and a VR headset with a strong knowledge of the environment can make this possible. Facebook is already on that path with the Oculus Quest and attacking the transition from another direction with the next glasses.
In Monday, January 25 at 1 pm, Pacific, Heaney and I will go live in our virtual recording studio to discuss all of this. It will certainly be a lively discussion.
We can read YouTube comments live in our studio so that we can interact with our audience. If you have a good question or comment to add, there’s a good chance we’ll read it live during the show and incorporate it into our discussion. Heaney is in Ireland and I am in the middle of the United States, but we are using the latest Facebook technologies to power our studio and interact with each other as if we are in the same room. We have a very impressive implementation of Facebook’s hand tracking technology and the software works entirely in autonomous mode. Overall, it will be a fantastic place to discuss what Apple can do better than Facebook.
We would love for you to watch. We will be live at the time of the broadcast in the video below, and if you have any ideas to share before the Apple and VR show, please share in the comments at the end of this post.
You can listen to previous episodes of the VR download on the podcast platform of your choice or watch previous episodes as well. You can see many of our previous archived streams on our Youtube playlist or even all the live streams here on UploadVR. And make sure subscribe to YouTube to stay up to date on our latest videos.