All eyes are on Apple.
Last week, Snapchat demonstrated (through makings its tools available outside of the app amongst other things) that it’s the leading AR company. This week, all eyes will turn to Apple.
A Cloud of Controversy
WWDC is arriving under a cloud of controversy. Frankly, I think the controversy will be swept away as everyone’s focus shifts to all of the coming features, frameworks, shifts in chips and “one more things”.
For me, the best summary is by John Gruber: forget who’s right and who’s wrong in Apple’s dispute with Hey. The real issue is that the App Store isn’t “insanely great”.
Inside Apple: Debating The Future of AR/VR
The big article of the week was an inside look at Apple’s work on VR and AR headsets by Mark Gurman:
The (VR/AR) headset was to be the first major launch from the company since the Apple Watch and the debut device from the Technology Development Group, a secretive unit devoted to VR and AR. The TDG is led by an equally under-the-radar executive, Mike Rockwell. After stints at Dolby Laboratories Inc. and media-editing software company Avid Technology Inc., Rockwell, 53, was hired in 2015 by Dan Riccio, Apple’s top hardware executive…
He started building his team in late 2015, and what grew into a 1,000-strong group of engineers went to work developing two products aimed at upending the VR and AR segments.
Gurman says that Apple was ready to launch a world-changing VR headset. One in which the user would be unable to differentiate the real from the virtual. But Jony Ive pushed back on the need for an external device.
N301 was initially designed to be an ultra-powerful system, with graphics and processing speeds previously unheard of for a wearable product. The processing capabilities were so advanced—and produced so much heat—that the technology couldn’t be crammed into a sleek headset….Ive balked at the prospect of selling a headset that would require a separate, stationary device for full functionality.
Meanwhile, Gurman claims that AR-only glasses are some way off:
Rockwell, whose team also contributes to the kit, continues to push forward. Apple is slated to announce new tools for iPhone AR apps at its annual developer conference this month. The actual hardware will take longer. Although plans could change, in an all-hands meeting last fall, Rockwell said the first headset may be announced next year and released in 2022. Apple fans can expect the AR glasses by 2023 at the earliest.
My own hot take?
I still find it hard to believe Apple will enter VR. Tim Cook has publicly signalled that it’s less interesting than AR. (See Robert Scoble, and my response).
Having said that, VR might allow them to launch a new OS for AR and VR: a test bed for production, in much the same way that Oculus is a test bed for future Facebook glasses
I’m still going to bet on a shorter time frame for AR-only glasses. But they might be a ‘lighter’ version than the ones planned for 2023. Think of them as “prescription/fashion” with light overlays. (See my post on Apple vs Oakley)
WWDC: What I’m Looking For
I’m interested in ‘hints’ about Apple’s AR/VR future. You can often extrapolate a lot from the code they introduce, even if it doesn’t make complete sense at the time.
In particular:
Frameworks
Do they radically improve RealityKit? It COULD be a sort of more accessible Unity for the masses. But it has some major issues. Tony Morales outlines a few:
AR Cloud
Does Apple announce anything that looks or acts like a true AR Cloud? Think Snapchat Local Lenses. With everyone from Google to Niantic working on AR clouds (or digital twins), and with Apple focused on privacy, how they solve this will be a major stake I the ground for their approach to AR.
Swift UI
Maybe this is more of a personal preference, but I’d like to see SwiftUI gain more ‘native’ support for ARKit. This would also give us a hint about how UI design might be handled for future glasses. SwiftUI is clearly the path they want developers to take for the ‘view layer’.
5G Support
Now, this isn’t so much something that can be explicitly detailed in code, but 5G will unlock a ton of new features and potential for AR, cloud rendering, localization, etc. How 5G is represented “on stage” will be important.
As always, WWDC will put a stake in the ground for the year ahead. It helps to define what developers focus on, what features can be launched once the new generation of phones arrive, and will provide hints of new products to come.
Some Other Stuff
You really need to check out Makespace. Finally some deep innovation around online connections.
You can’t have a week go by without mentioning the Metaverse.
This 17 year old used AR and won a Apple’s WWDC coding challenge.
I’m really interested in Pixel8.
Meanwhile Facebook bought out a similar company.
This is cool:
A day without Pokemon? Never.
And I just love this little guy:
Have a great weekend everyone!!