It was reported on June 6 that nearly 15 years after the iPhone led the smartphone revolution, apple is integrating relevant software and hardware resources and plans to launch a headset device that integrates the digital world and the real world next year, hoping to subvert the existing business again through this approach. According to three people familiar with the matter, Apple has hired Hollywood directors such as Jon Favreau to develop video content for devices that are expected to go public next year.
Favro is also the executive producer of the prehistoric planet on apple tv+. People familiar with the matter said that fafro is trying to make the dinosaurs displayed in this augmented reality headset device lifelike and provide users with a stronger virtual reality and augmented reality experience.
In addition, two people familiar with the project also disclosed that Apple plans to launch a series of software tools at the annual developer conference held on Monday local time to add new camera and voice functions to the application, so that users can finally activate navigation and other functions through the headset device.
Apple spokesman Trudy Muller declined to comment on future projects. A spokesman for fafro declined to comment.
In order to superimpose 3D digital images and the real world, Microsoft, Google and Facebook parent company meta are all at different stages of developing hybrid reality software and hardware technologies. Apple's participation will intensify market competition to see which company can define or influence the future of hybrid reality technologies.
Last year, Mark Zuckerberg, CEO of meta, announced the company's renaming plan, promising to create a world called "meta universe", integrating online and offline virtual reality. He and others believe that metauniverse may become the next wave in the computing field, replacing the era of smart phones dominated by Apple IOS and Google Android, just as these platforms replace the dominant [windows] for decades( https://microsoft.pvxt.net/x9Vg1 ) Like the Macintosh.
"This is the next frontier," said carolinamilanesi, a technology analyst at creative strategies, a technology research firm. "For apple, this is a new computing experience and an opportunity to attract consumers with new content-based devices and experiences."
Having said that, at Apple's annual Developer Conference on Monday, hybrid reality technology will not be the main role. After all, the company's existing software system is still the highlight of Apple's conference. Analysts say that at that time, Apple may also launch a redesigned macbook The air has a thinner display frame than the existing models, and the processor has also been upgraded.
But Apple's early development of virtual reality content and software tools is crucial to the user experience of this future device. Apple watch, an important new product of the company, was launched with about 3000 applications, but it has been difficult to obtain such products as iphone That kind of success. Technology reviewers say that most of these applications have little use. Similar problems also perplex quest virtual reality equipment developed by meta company; Although it sold more than 10million units last year, many people just regard it as a game device.
From the original Macintosh computer to ipad As for players, Apple has been pursuing products that can attract a large number of potential customers and have a wide range of uses. It is estimated that Apple sold 240million iPhones last year, accounting for about half of its total revenue of $366billion. Analysts said that to get value for money, the headset needs to have features that go beyond the niche of video games.
For years, Apple CEO Tim Cook has been talking about the potential of augmented reality technology. In 2016, he told investors that the company was investing heavily in related fields and considered this a "huge business opportunity". At that time, many employees of apple were reading the futuristic novel "the number one player" about virtual reality, competing to discuss the possibility of Apple developing its own hybrid real world.
Apple hired Mike Rockwell, an engineer from Dolby technology, to develop hybrid reality technology. Two people familiar with the project said that Rockwell's early progress in developing augmented reality products was affected by weak computing power. These people said that the battery power challenge forced apple to postpone the release of the product until next year.
For a long time, augmented reality technology has been divided within apple. At least two members of the company's industrial design team said that they left the company partly because they were worried about developing a product that might change the way people interact. As the public pays more and more attention to the time children watch the screen, there are more and more such conflicts within the company.
This headset device will also be one of the first products launched by Apple's engineering team under the leadership of Rockwell. Previously, the company's well-known product iPhone was launched by Steve Jobs, the co-founder who died in 2011. Jonyive, the former design director who left the company in 2019, was responsible for the apple watch project, defining the appearance, function and marketing method of the watch.
Favro's program will show how Apple tries to distinguish its own products from meta products. This also shows that since the launch of apple tv+ service in 2019, the company is using its partnership in Hollywood to promote business development.
"A magical headset device can give users a better experience than an 80 inch TV," said livingcities Said Matt miesnieks, chief executive of XYZ.
Apple's software tools have been encouraging developers to develop augmented reality applications for years. In 2017, the company launched arkit, which allows developers to use iPhone cameras and motion sensors to superimpose digital objects in the real world and allow users to interact with them.
However, according to a survey of more than 500 developers conducted by creative strategies, about 70% of Apple developers said they did not use this tool.
A person familiar with the matter said that apple is expected to launch a toolkit at the conference on Monday to provide software developers with new functions to activate application shortcut instructions through Siri and QR code, so as to make this interaction play a role in future headset devices. (Chenchen)