APPLE’S LONGSTANDING INTEREST IN AR
DigiTimes has emphasized that Apple’s
upcoming headset will have an AR rather
than VR focus, as CEO Tim Cook “believes
that AR can make digital content become
part of the user’s world and will be as
popular as smartphones with consumers.”
In 2016, Cook described AR as “profound”,
clarifying that “there’s no substitute for human
contact, and so you want the technology to
encourage that.” Nonetheless, earlier that
year, he acknowledged that VR remained
“incredibly interesting”.
In recent years, Apple has beefed up its AR and
VR team with various hires and acquisitions.
The hires have included some from similar
teams at Microsoft and Lytro, while one
especially prominent hire was computer-
science professor Doug Bowman, whose
experience includes leading Virginia Tech’s
Center for Human-Computer Interaction. In
2017, another AR expert, Jeff Norris, a former
NASA employee, was recruited as a senior
manager for Apple’s AR efforts.
Of the hundreds of employees making up
Apple’s team, many may have joined through
acquisitions. In August 2018, Apple acquired
Akonia Holographics, a purveyor of lenses for
AR glasses. Years earlier, in May 2015, Apple
sealed the deal on AR startup Metaio, the
technology of which has been put to various
uses, including in an app giving Berlin tourists
the opportunity to hold up a smartphone or
tablet to see where the Berlin Wall stood, as
this revelatory video shows.