Apple prepares for augmented reality glasses – The Figaro

the creator of The iPhone may launch augmented reality glasses that displays images and various information in front of the eyes of its users.

It will suffice to raise one’s eyes to read her messages. Apple is planning to launch augmented reality glasses, according to information from BloombergBusinessweek. The product would not come out before 2018, if the project is confirmed, but is already the subject of negotiations between Apple and several potential suppliers. These glasses, connected to an iPhone put images and information in front of the eyes of its users, while giving them the vision of their environment.

augmented Reality rather than virtual

Apple had previously testified publicly of his intentions in the augmented reality, a type of technology that allows you to superimpose the real and the virtual. It therefore differs from virtual reality, which transports its users into an alternate universe. This last is for the moment mainly invested by the video games industry. The augmented reality, the less exclusionary and frightening for users, offers an attractive alternative to new technology companies wishing to reach a wider public.

“virtual reality has surely an interesting application, but I don’t think that its use can be also generalized as the one of the augmented reality”, said recently Tim Cook in an interview with BuzzFeed Japan. “It’s going to take some time, because there are real technological challenges to overcome, but when it will be ready, we will ask ourselves how it was to live without,” he added during a conference held in October. He had also discussed the matter at the quarterly results of his company in July, claiming to analysts that Apple “invests in augmented reality over the long term”. The group has acquired several start-ups that might accompany it in this technology, such as Prime Sense, Faceshit or Metaio, specialized in the uptake of digital.

Need for diversification

After several years of investment and expectations around virtual reality, it is the turn of the augmented reality to get people to talk about it. Pokémon GB, mobile game phenomenon of the summer, is the first example of a method for augmented reality, although very basic, had met a popular success. Microsoft is developing its own headset, the Hololens, which displays holograms in front of the eyes of its users, and rather aimed at the professional market. Augmented reality has also had its failures, like the failure of Google Glass, glasses connected Google presented 2013. After you have created a certain enthusiasm in the media, they were ultimately never received a mainstream launch, as impractical and unsightly. Tim Cook had at the time commented that “the glasses are connected do not have a potential for the general public. The wrist is more interesting, natural.” He has obviously changed his mind.

glasses that are connected would be a gamble, but a necessary one for Apple. The american group suffers from its dependence to the iPhone, which accounts for two-thirds of its sales, and the smartphone market are in trouble. It is already diversified in watches connected to, a sector that it dominates, but is also very unstable. An accessory of augmented reality could allow Apple to regain vision.