For a while now there has been speculation about the possibility of Apple using illegal glasses, but it wasn't until the company announced ARKit at the WWDC 2017 when those rumors seemed to be coming true.
It is pointless to think that those of Copertino would like to join other companies' cars in an industry that already comes with RA devices, such as Google or Microsoft.
And it should come as no surprise when we consider that the latest iPhones are fully compatible with this technology thanks to the Bionic chip, which is able to process unpleasant reality and use it on the Face ID camera and TrueDepth camera.
So, it seems almost certain that Apple is working on it. The question is to know what this means. Will Apple surprise us with some RA glasses? Will they launch this 2020? How are they going to be? Find below.
What is the unpleasant truth?
Before entering the study, it seems appropriate to clarify the difference between actual and virtual reality and virtual reality. In addition to the differences in the performance of the technology itself, it is easy to separate the glasses that use one or the other according to their composition.
On the other hand, RV ports They are similar to ski goggles and completely block your view of the outside world. This helmet captures the movement of your head and uses this information to show you some 3D or other images.
On the other hand, RA glasses are transparent and allow you to see the world around you. In this case, the images are displayed in front of you. Some examples are Google Glass or Microsoft HoloLens.
Fittingly, the fact that these Apple competitors are leading the industry makes us think that those of Copertino should be working on it. So right company statistics as stated by Tim Cook or Jony Ive.
Release date: when will Apple & # 39; s RA glass be released?
If we were to take it for granted that Apple is working on unpleasant virtual reality glasses, we can say on the date of release. We originally thought it would be 2020, but now it is 2022.
Already in 2017, a Bloomberg report It has dedicated 2020 as the date of this prime minister and has since been supported by other popular sources such as CNET or an apple guru Ming-Chi Kuo.
On the other hand, Loup Ventures analyst Gene Munster believes they will not come until 2021, but also have the courage to move on: he says the fact used will be a key factor in the next generation of Apple devices.
Apple & # 39; s RA device is here
Who said you should wait until 2020 to enjoy augmented reality tool from Apple? The company has already added one sold years ago and is called the iPhone, a smartphone Compatible with this technology.
That has been the case since the iPhone X and iPhone XS feature TrueDepth camera and Bionic chip. In addition, they are working on a version of iOS 12, which Apple described as "the world's largest virtual reality platform."
By adding RA functionality to the iPhone, Apple is giving its users the ability to target smartphone in a real thing, be it a statue or a car, and find out the details of the item.
Price: How much will Apple & # 39; s RA glasses cost?
We hope that, once they are finally released on the market, Apple's upgraded virtual glasses will have a higher cost, though hopefully they can be less expensive than those of the competition.
In this sense, Microsoft HoloLens glasses are priced at € 3,299 for their range for private developers, while costing € 5,489 for development companies. Google Glass Enterprise Edition costs about $ 1,828.
Design: What will Apple's RA glasses look like?
To report In 2017, iPhone Hacks said that, according to its source, Apple's smart glasses will have a unique design, with a bone conduction headset, microphone, accelerometer and frame that will allow navigation and communication.
Several potential projects for these Apple glasses have already been published. An example of this is a YouTube video with various plans. You should take it with tweezers, as it also means it will be launched in 2018.
Details: what kind of Apple glasses will Apple have?
Little is known, to say the least, of the technology Apple will use in its virtual reality glasses. However, several rumors spread can help us understand how the screen, processor and other features will be.
Screen
According to CNET Report In April 2018, Apple's RA helmet will have an 8K panel on each eye. These types of screens make the RA and RV images more realistic and prevent the user from receiving due use.
On the other hand, months earlier, The BGR site He also revealed that Apple's AR glasses will be manufactured in the Kopin NED Acetate framework, and some rumors suggest that these glasses can be retrofitted or sold through Zeiss copied lenses.
Processor
According to a CNET source, these RA glasses will not require a computer or smartphone working, but on a special device that will include a processor made by Apple and will be connected to it using wireless technology.
And according to the same press release, it could be a 60 GHz WiGig signal. Although it is seldom penetrated into walls, it can distribute the material from the wall, roof, floor and materials used to mold the beam.
This means that users will not see the need to install several sockets in the room to be able to use the helmet, as is the case with the HTC Vive, but the tool mentioned above will do the job.
The 5 nanometer chip to be used will be developed by Apple and will be similar to that found on iMacs. In addition, it is said to include a switch that Intel plans to launch in 2020.
On the other hand, well-known analyst Ming-Chi Kuo confirms that Apple's first glasses will go mostly to the iPhone and that the mirrors themselves will offer only a screen, while the iPhone will perform all the technical tasks.
This means that Apple & # 39; s RA glasses can only be used with them Smartphones And not with Android. It also means that the helmet may be light and that the iPhone has seen a significant decrease in its battery life.
Other benefits
According to data from Bloomberg, the glasses will connect wirelessly to the iPhone and its screen will display information and images in front of the user field of view.
Ming-Chi Kuo thinks that Apple's integration of Apple's virtual reality technology could significantly change some of its products, such as how it interacts with the Apple Watch's small screen.
Software: which operating system will be used by Apple's Apple glasses?
A new operating system called rOS ("r" for "virtual") is being developed, which will be the one that will be used on these RA displays. According to Bloomberg, it would be based on iOS, a program used on iPhones and iPads.
They said the team responsible for creating rOS was led by Geoff Stahl, who previously worked for the Apple gaming and graphics department. And as a rule, the helmet will have its own version of the app store.
Proof that Apple works on virtual reality glasses is unpopular
As we mentioned, it was considered a few years ago with the next advent of the Apple RA hat. There are several reports that have provided evidence that the project, which complies with the T288 code, is real.
Test 1. Internal group
There have been rumors from time immemorial that Apple will be hiring new employees to work on an existing virtual reality and virtual project, such as the definition of HDM helmets and retina monitors.
As he said in his day the Financial times, in 2016 Apple has already assembled a team of experts for patented errors that establish a larger team than it is dedicated to working on there are rumors Apple the Car.
In April 2017, allegations surfaced again minor accidents at the Apple offices, where two employees complained of eye irritation after working on the prototype.
While the latter may have worked whether they worked on an RV or an RA, an internal source assured Gizmodo that it was the last. In addition, according to this information, there will be screenshots above the head.
A few months later, another Bloomberg report said Apple has a team led by Mike Rockwell for several hundred developers working on Augmented Reality projects. This team also works with ARKit tools.
Test 2. Corporate bankruptcy
In May 2015, Apple bought the German company Metaio, known for its work in the field of unpopular truth and is responsible for many of the RA apps we currently analyze, such as the Ikea catalog or catalog showroom from Ferrari.
Since it was discovered by Apple, Metaio has already disappeared from the map. On its website, there is only a brief history of the company, contact email and a few other offers. Without a doubt, it's a mystery.
On the other hand, Apple has also confirmed the addition of Flyby Media, an innovative technology development company Smartphones "See" the world around you. The company has been working with Google on its RA Tango platform.
Although the website is now obsolete – something typical of Apple -, in its day Flyby Media was described as a company "committed to developing new technologies that could enhance, rather than replace, our external world experience."
Test 3. Apple's presence at CES 2018
A Bloomberg report 2018 introduced more evidence about Apple's plans in the realm of augmented reality. He estimated that, although he did not give an official presentation, some of his executives met with vendors at CES 2018 to talk about their RA glasses.
Test 4. Tim Cook's words about Augmented Reality
Other tests that could indicate that Apple is working on a realistic project from the company's chief executive. In fact, Tim Cook said in 2016 that Apple did "a lot of things" in this department.
In addition, Cook also said in a similar interview The Washington Post that, to him, "the disadvantage of the technology is very interesting and at the center of technology", which is why Apple would work on it.
A few months later, the Americans did it again public statements, in this case to say that I thought the extra reality would be much bigger than the actual reality, but that it would take a while to exploit all your possibilities.
Cook believes that a significant portion of humanity will eventually make use of the unpleasantness of their daily lives and that it chooses its own reality because it allows people to remain in the world.
In this sense, according to Apple's executive director, people don't want to "leave" the world for too long, which is a reality. With RA, however, you can make technology a part of your world.
Cook has been very proud of the ARKit tools. In 2017, he said he was very excited to see how the developers would use them and that, in the future, we would be surprised at all that was achieved.
Check 5. ARKit Tools for App Developers
Want more testing? At WWDC 2017, Apple announced the new ARKit toolkit as part of iOS 11 and was updating it to iOS version 12. ARKit allows developers to provide RA solutions to their apps.
Understandably, Apple is incorporating augmented reality technology into its iPhones and iPads. Encourage app developers to include it in their creation, which can also be used when their RA helmet is used.
In this sense, the iOS 13 version can present you compatible with stereo RA displays, or at least this is guaranteed by a 9to5Mac Report. IOS 13 can allow access to personalization and control the app remotely touchscreen.
Create your first workbook Test 6. Apple's patents on dislikes
In January 2017, Apple was awarded two patents giving us details of what was to come. The application for both ownership was completed in 2015 by a German company specializing in RA Metaio, which was soon acquired by Apple.
Patent No. 9,560,273 contains details on how the AR mirror system can understand the environment thanks to computer vision functions. On the other hand, Patent No. 9,558,581 describes how to access the visual information above the physical location.
The first is talking about a portable data system that includes at least one camera, but that would have the potential to have multiple cameras, a screen, an interface and many computer vision objects.
Although the patent is said to be about head-centered display as the truly unpopular platform for data, it also suggests that a smartphone, that is, the iPhone, can easily hold on to something better than good.
In general terms, patents are more focused on the reception of objects than on the detection of real unpleasant details. Product recognition is one of the biggest heads in the industry.
In May 2017, another permit was issued. In this case, the device's details and strategies have been provided by the installation of the image on the HMD with the right and left screen, something that would make it resemble Google's failed Glass.
In a report, Apple claims that some HMD helmets can be used to detect blurry images from a real-world view, something that sounds exactly like the description of an unpleasant reality.
Two months later, another Apple patent application was filed explaining how the RA glasses could interact with smartphone. The user can interact with the visuals on their mobile device.
Of course, in this case you might have a cell phone that had four hardware and software is required in this case with the mirrors. We don't know if that technology already exists on the iPhone 7 or not.
Another thing that is explained in the patent is how the user can interact with the visual elements by simply pointing to them. That will be due to the few cameras in the glass that can track your fingers.
However, a patent published in 2018 suggests that this RA helmet can be controlled with an iPhone-like touchscreen device, image-shaped object and user interface definition.
Hopefully in the future some more detailed patents will emerge, something that will fix Apple's take on a less interesting fact. Probably the first glasses of this RA company are approaching.
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