The news is pretty important that Apple is preparing another VR headset with strong AR-focused features to release as early as 2022.
My colleague David Heaney and I have been discussing this possibility for years now. Does Apple CEO Tim Cook really see the potential in VR? Or is he too blinded by the need for a big market to make the investment needed to bridge the gap to big AR glasses? How intelligent will Apple’s environmental recognition be? Does the business run independently or does it have a system that requires a nearby device to operate? What about an optional connection to a Mac or computer? Will Apple’s headset be able to drive Half-Life: Alyx in standalone mode? How much advantage does Apple’s internal silicone chips have? How can Apple compete with Facebook if there is a huge price gap between each company’s offering? How will Apple differentiate its product? Will the company make up exercise as a focal point of its offering?
Will Apple even track the headphones and actually ship? Is Apple too late with the game?
According to the latest reports, Apple has developed a standalone VR headset with strong AR features and a solid price. However, a lot can change as the device approaches its start window and Apple can still kill the product completely. The company also apparently does not expect to sell many VR headsets in its first version, and many believe that AR is the biggest opportunity to wear everywhere. Cook may therefore feel pressured to focus on AR instead. Yet developers need time to develop new experiences for AR, and a VR headset with a good understanding of its environment can make it possible. Facebook is already on that path with the Oculus Quest and is attacking the transition from another direction with upcoming glasses.
On Monday, January 25 at 1:00 PM in the Pacific, Heaney and I will be going straight to our virtual recording studio to discuss it all. This is definitely a lively discussion.
We can read YouTube comments directly in our studio so we can communicate with our audience. If you have a good question or comment to add, chances are we’ll read it out live during the show and include it in our discussion. Heaney is over in Ireland and I’m in the middle of the United States, but we use the latest technologies from Facebook to power our studio and interact with each other as if we were in the same room together. We have a pretty impressive implementation of Facebook’s manual tracking technology and the software is fully run in standalone mode. Overall, this would be a great place to discuss what Apple can do better than Facebook.
We would like to connect with you. We will be broadcasting live in the video below, and if you want to think about Apple and VR before the program, please share it in the comments at the bottom of this Post.
You can listen to previous episodes of the VR download on your podcasting platform of choice or also watch previous episodes. You can see many of our archived streams in the past Youtube playlist or even all the live streams here on UploadVR. And make sure Subscribe to YouTube to stay up to date with our latest videos.