Increasing passion for VR and AR at Cupertino
VIRTUAL REALITY AND AUGMENTED REALITY ARE KEY AMBITIONS
Virtual reality (VR) and augmented reality (AR) are certainly nothing new in the consumer technology space, as shown by the emergence of headsets like the Google Glass and Oculus Rift, together with all manner of associated developments. Now, with the news that Apple has acquired the motion-capture company behind the animated characters in the latest Star Wars film, it seems that the boys and girls at Cupertino are starting to get similarly serious about all things 3D.
There may have been many a joke about what Apple has in common with the Star Wars universe since the release of The Force Awakens - the designer of the new stormtrooper armor, Michael Kaplan, even citing the relentlessly simplifying Sir Jony Ive design language as an influence - but those links became even more real in late November.
That was when it emerged that Apple had purchased the Zurich-based startup Faceshift, the technology of which enabled the 3D, nonhuman characters in the latest J.J. Abramsdirected record-breaker to imitate the facial impressions of an actual actor. But despite what the headlines may suggest, the bigger story isn’t the connections between Apple and Star Wars, but instead what the iPhone maker intends to do with its latest acquisition’s expertise, which - as often tends to be the case with Apple company purchases - is far from clear.
SERIES OF ACQUISITIONS GETS THE RUMOR BLOGS GOING
Naturally, an Apple spokesperson gave little away on the subject of what was planned for Faceshift’s technology, giving the traditional company line that “Apple buys smaller technology companies from time to time, and we generally do not discuss our purpose or plans.”
Just as predictable as that statement, however, is the rumor that has sprung up regarding what the acquisition means for Apple in the months and years to come, not least given that it has purchased various similar firms in recent times. These include, last May, the augmented reality startup Metaio, the artificial intelligence specialist Emotient in early January and - towards the end of last month - another AR firm, Flyby Media, which previously worked with Google on the search giant’s Project Tango initiative.
Indeed, Project Tango is just one more example of how Google has ploughed ahead into a world of 3D technology that Apple has thus far been reluctant to publicly commit itself to. However, it is far from uncommon for Apple to make only general or even negative comments about a certain field prior to its entry into the market. Furthermore, as we have seen from such examples as the iPad and Apple Watch, the firm has long been comfortable to debut its own version of a product long after more pioneering rivals have taken the risks associated with theirs.
MUCH SPECULATION AS TO WHAT APPLE WILL DO NEXT
Inevitably, during Apple’s earnings call for 2016’s first quarter, CEO Tim Cook was quizzed on what Apple made of virtual reality, with his answer suggesting an increasing appreciation of its potential within and beyond the walls of its Cupertino headquarters. “I don’t think VR is a niche”, he remarked, in opposition to a common criticism of the technology. “It’s really cool and has some interesting applications.”
Decoding what Apple actually intends to do in the worlds of VR, AR and 3D technology in general, however, remains much more difficult. One obvious question is whether Apple may use the technology to develop an actual hardware product, or whether it may instead simply provide a powerful software platform on which others can do so.
There seems to be much skepticism among observers that Apple would adopt the former strategy, as perhaps best summed up by 9to5Mac writer Chance Miller, who said that he didn’t “necessarily see Apple entering the market of developing its own virtual reality headsets”, but instead creating a platform akin to the company’s existing HomeKit or TVKit. He posited that any virtual reality hardware that Apple did eventually develop would not in any way resemble Google Glass, which he said “arguably proved that the average person doesn’t want a piece of hardware attached to their face at all times.”
3D, VR AND AR ‘COULD BE USED IN EXISTING APPLE DEVICES’
It seems that much of the focus on Apple’s ambitions for 3D technology is therefore on how it could be incorporated in various exciting ways into the existing Apple ecosystem. From iPhones and iPads to Macs and the Apple TV, pretty much all of the Cupertino firm’s most popular current devices have been mentioned as potential conduits of such technology.
After all, besides the well-publicized major acquisitions of the aforementioned AR companies, Apple has - according to the Financial Times - recently added Doug Bowman, the Director of the Center for Human-Computer Interaction at Virginia Tech, to its staff. His academic research interests in 3D interface design extend to his writing a book on the subject, while he has also worked on VR immersion. However, it is Bowman’s experience in the creation of Minority Report-esque 3D interfaces that has prompted much chatter that he could be put to work on AR car control systems - just imagine the use of 3D maps in an in-car navigation system, for example.
But there has also been much talk about how such technologies could be applied to the Apple TV, with Miller describing the latter device as representing “a huge opportunity for virtual reality as far as gaming goes.” Or perhaps Apple might bolster its support for 3D movies on future generations of the TV? After all, even the current model was recently revealed to incorporate support for stereoscopic 3D content. Both games and movies in 3D look set to be a major growth area for Apple TV in the future.
What about the possible applications of 3D technology on the iPhone? Well, one recent report from South Korea has suggested that Apple could be working on micro-LED technology capable of displaying holograms that are visible to the naked eye, without the need for special glasses. The iNews24 website said that this display of 3D holographic images would be made possible by the use of other specialized hardware and software.
If the above idea sounds outlandish, bear in mind that Apple has previously been awarded a patent for an “interactive holographic display device” that would enable users - through multi-touch gestures - to interact with 3D objects shown on the display of an iPhone, iPad or Mac. Such a system would trigger certain actions through interpretation of the user’s hand gestures.
An additional suggested use for 3D technology on the iPhone has been for facial recognition that would identify people in a picture as soon as it is taken. Or on the subject of facial recognition, perhaps as soon as a user sits down in front of their Apple TV or Mac, it could immediately recognize them and automatically load up their own personalized content, apps, music, TV shows, movie suggestions and more, removing the need for any manual action?
APPLE AND 3D - IT’S REAL
The above are just some of the suggestions that have been made as to what Apple could do with 3D, VR and AR technology, all of which are helping to make this an extremely exciting new frontier for the Cupertino company. Google may have already long embraced these fields, but if there’s any firm that is well-placed to finally make VR and AR mainstream technologies, we fully expect Apple - on the basis of its formidable track record in this regard - to be that company.