Apple has big ambitions in augmented reality, but has faced serious delays and development issues.
We have been talking for many years now about the Apple brand’s virtual reality headset, or even AR / VR glasses, but these products are slow to be presented by Tim Cook and his teams.
A helmet in the making since 2015
The website The Information went behind the scenes of its development and retraces the different stages of the project which began in 2015.
Before committing to heavy investments on this subject, Tim Cook, who seems to firmly believe in augmented reality, had to convince the members of the company’s board of directors. To do this, the Apple teams prepared a small demo representing a miniature rhinoceros which then reached its real size.
No prototype being ready, the engineers of Apple had to tinker with solutions under Windows or HTC Vive. Some of these builder-modified models were so heavy that they had to be supported to save council members neck pain. The latter were however impressed enough to validate the development of a device.
A project shunned by Jony Ive and limply supported by Tim Cook
Apple’s mixed reality headset also had to face an opponent, and not the least, since it is Jony Ive, the brand’s famous designer. The man and his teams thought that the general public would not adhere to the idea of wearing a virtual reality headset for several hours, regardless of the software and uses developed by the firm. It is from these confrontations that the idea of a mixed reality product was born, open to the outside, with a more attractive and less massive look.
Tim Cook himself did not give outspoken and massive support for the project, despite his apparent passion for augmented reality. True to form, the CEO only visited the engineers on very rare occasions. He preferred to focus on the group’s resources for the iPhone or Mac, well-installed products that ensure the group’s gigantic income year after year.
There is still work for Apple teams to finalize the design of this first helmet which could be announced in 2023.
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Source : The Information
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