Apple CEO Tim Cook poses for a portrait alongside a line of new MacBook Airs as he enters the Steve Jobs Theater during the Apple Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC) on the Apple Park campus in Cupertino, California , June 6, 2022.
Chris Tuite | AFP | Getty Images
Apple CEO Tim Cook recently gave what appears to be a confirmation that Apple is building a headset.
Cook was asked in a recent interview with China Daily USA what he believes are the key factors for augmented reality, or AR, to succeed in the consumer market.
“I’m incredibly excited about augmented reality as you know it. And the most important thing for any technology, including RA, is to put humanity at the center,” he said, echoing his comments on the past. importance of RA for reality. company.
He then described Apple’s work in space so far, which has focused on RA applications on the iPhone and iPad, before adding: “But I think we’re still in the early stages. “Don’t be too excited about the opportunities we’ve seen in this space and stay tuned and see what we have to offer.”
AR or “mixed reality” describes technology that superimposes computer-generated images on real-world views, as opposed to virtual reality, or VR, which completely immerses the viewer in a computer-generated world.
It’s one of the clearest examples so far that Cook acknowledges that Apple has something bigger in the works. While current apps can be useful for things like mapping a room or seeing if new furniture can fit, it seems more likely that Apple has been creating the library and tools for developers to create apps for something like a headset.
Bloomberg said in May that Apple recently showed off its AR / VR headphones on Apple’s board and that the company plans to announce it later this year, although it could drop next year. The same report said that Apple plans to sell the headphones in 2023.
Apple is catching up with other big tech companies, especially Meta, which changed its Facebook name last year to signify its renewed focus on immersing users in virtual worlds known as “metavers,” and Microsoft , which first introduced its Hololens AR glasses in 2016.