Apple's Next Big Thing: Augmented Reality (bloomberg.com)

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Apple's Next Big Thing: Augmented Reality (bloomberg.com)

Posted by msmash on Monday March 20, 2017 @06:40AM from the shape-of-things-to-come dept.

Apple is beefing up its staff with acquisitions and some big hires to help design augmented reality glasses and iPhone features, according to Bloomberg. From a report: Apple is working on "digital spectacles" that could connect to an iPhone and beam content like movies and maps, Bloomberg's Mark Gurman reported on Monday. The Cupertino, Calif.- based company is also working on augmented reality features for the iPhone that are similar to Snapchat, Bloomberg said. To make its augmented reality push, Apple has acquired augmented reality start-ups FlyBy Media and Metaio, and hired major players from Amazon, Facebook's Oculus, Microsoft's HoloLens, and Dolby.

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Meh by scunc · 2017-03-20 06:51 · Score: 2, Insightful

I don't care what their plans are for augmented reality when their actual reality doesn't even support using a headphone jack.
I knew it by 110010001000 · 2017-03-20 06:52 · Score: 2

I knew the industry would abandon VR and focus on AR. VR will never work due to how it creates motion sickness in most people. Please note: I didn't say it creates motion sickness in the special snowflakes here on Slashdot, or any of the tons of people they know. I mean most people. So put down that pen and stop writing that angry letter to me.
1. Re:I knew it by killfixx · 2017-03-20 07:03 · Score: 4, Insightful
  
  AR was always going to be the "Next Big Thing". VR is a fun, limited-use-case solution looking for a problem. AR keeps the user productive. AR keeps the user engaged in the world around him/her.
  
  --
  "Helping to keep you two steps ahead of the Thought Police!"
2. Re:I knew it by RatBastard · 2017-03-20 07:18 · Score: 1
  
  My Vive doesn't give me motion sickness. My PlayStation VR is puke city in three minutes or less. :(
  
  --
  Boobies never hurt anyone. - Sherry Glaser.
3. Re:I knew it by 110010001000 · 2017-03-20 07:29 · Score: 1
  
  Of course it doesn't.
4. Re:I knew it by mean+pun · 2017-03-20 07:47 · Score: 4, Insightful
  
  This is Apple investing in Google Glass. Remember that thing that Google did that failed miserably and that they gave up on years ago?
  Apple is going to do that now, with the exact same result.
  I've heard that one before about MP3 players, mobile phones, and tablets. All great examples of products where Apple was predicted to fail miserably, and failed miserably to fail miserably.
  Don't bet against Apple in cases like this. On technical grounds I am not convinced AR can be done well, but if someone can do it, it is Apple.
5. Re: I knew it by HumanWiki · 2017-03-20 07:58 · Score: 1
  
  Google Glass wasn't a failure dumbshit.
  It's literally going into production already.
  So did the Samsung Note7 and look how that turned out.. Just because something goes in to production and even enters the market doesn't preclude it from being a failure.
  Google Glass was outright HATED by many.. To the point of people wearing them being physically assaulted, yelled out and called Glassholes.
6. Re: I knew it by HumanWiki · 2017-03-20 08:57 · Score: 1
  
  No dumbass, GG is going into production again.
  You're so out of touch. Glassholes was just a smear campaign started by drunk people. Who cares what they think?
  Even with the smear GG was a success and is now being produced again.
  You seem to lack reading comprehension
  "So did the Samsung Note7 and look how that turned out.. Just because something goes in to production and even enters the market doesn't preclude it from being a failure."
7. Re:I knew it by faedle · 2017-03-20 09:12 · Score: 1
  
  I've logged hours, in one sitting, on Cardboard-based and Oculus-based VR systems. Cardboard does have a bit of a lag on some phones (performance isn't that great on my Galaxy S4, for example), but on a Pixel it's just fine. And Oculus is pretty smooth as well in both its Samsung phone-based iteration and the stand-alone PC-based hardware. By in large the motion sickness problems have been solved by a combination of high refresh rates, very sensitive positional data, and "blurring on movement".
8. Re:I knew it by faedle · 2017-03-20 09:13 · Score: 1
  
  You've obviously never seen a Pokemon GO or Ingress player fumbling through a crowded place eyes glued to their handset.
9. Re:I knew it by MachineShedFred · 2017-03-20 09:39 · Score: 1
  
  You can't fix stupid.
  
  --
  Slashdot still doesnâ(TM)t support Unicode after it was added to the HTML standard in 1997.
10. Re:I knew it by chispito · 2017-03-20 11:19 · Score: 1
  
  AR was always going to be the "Next Big Thing". VR is a fun, limited-use-case solution looking for a problem. AR keeps the user productive. AR keeps the user engaged in the world around him/her.
  I would think the ultimate trend will be convergence. AR glasses with a wide field of view, that can completely block out the environment if you wish.
  
  --
  The Daddy casts sleep on the Baby. The Baby resists!
11. Re:I knew it by Dracolytch · 2017-03-20 12:58 · Score: 3, Interesting
  
  As a VR/AR researcher, I have to disagree. The two are similar technologies, but they have fundamentally different use cases. VR isn't "looking for a problem", the problems are all around. Any area where you want to do fully-immersive experiential training, for example (shock/trauma training on board a Navy vessel / Basic firearms training with any weapon and no risk of injury / cyber visualizations where traditional rules of distance don't always apply). In those cases, VR can often make more sense than AR (where sunlight, clutter, or room geometry may degrade the experience).
  Is AR a superset of VR? From a technical standpoint, you could make that claim, but from a design standpoint, that's like saying a heads-up display is a superset of a television. Maybe true, but they're not really used for the same things.
  The fact that AR is less likely to make someone motion sick is a great benefit to AR, but it also belies one of the underlying shortcomings as well: AR is not as fully as immersive as VR is right now (The degree of immersion in commodity hardware with a good room configuration is startling). It's unclear if AR ever will be, and if it is, will it just be because it blocks out the real-world?
  Consider this:
  If you're locally piloting a robot, AR is often more convenient because you can be aware of the robot in the context of your current surroundings. However, when remotely piloting a robot, it's often preferable to get the increased situational awareness from the robot's perspective.
  Humans can only pay attention to so many things. Ultimately, it comes down to the design and purpose of communication.
  
  --
  This sig has been enciphered with a one-time pad. It could say almost anything.
12. Re:I knew it by rtb61 · 2017-03-20 13:08 · Score: 2
  
  VR is troublesome in terms of head motions and screen motions but of course if you take the motion out and just go with a fixed view, is becomes the cheapest way to provide a massive screen in terms of viewer viewpoint. So glasses done properly at an optometrist to minimise size, no adjustable lenses, just user specific fit, it hugely expands the use of smart phones. Augmented reality is a part of that, low process, see through the glasses, high process, cameras mounted on the glasses that present an external view.
  Could you not imagine lying back in bed, glasses on watching what appears to be a 150" screen, with either really pleasant video https://www.youtube.com/watch?... (just the thing for you next augmented reality business meeting) or even fixed field of view gaming.
  
  --
  Chaos - everything, everywhere, everywhen
13. Re:I knew it by mean+pun · 2017-03-20 20:53 · Score: 1
  
  But there are plenty of markets where Apple did fail miserably - enterprise/servers, TV, netbook competition (the air), to name a few.
  Servers I grant you; that just isn't Apple's strong point. TV was always presented as a hobby, and is not a market where anybody has done remarkably well. I don't see how you can describe the Air as a failure. Just about their entire laptop lineup has some Air DNA nowadays, and they are still doing pretty well in a shrinking market. No, the Air was not a netbook killer, but Apple never pretended it was, and netbooks did not need a killer.
  
  Apple's success rate is well below 50%, so betting against them is actually a pretty good bet, especially in the post Steve era where all innovation has been killed off by Mr Cook.
  Measuring success rates is a bit more complicated than just counting the products that failed and succeeded. More telling is: what significant new product markets did Apple miss after the Jobs era? The best example I can come up with is drones, but that is already pretty remote from Apple's core business. Ebooks perhaps, but that's also not a strong example. Possibly the interactive stuff Microsoft is coming up with nowadays. Apart from that I can't think of anything really significant.
  Therefore, to me AR is the first post-Jobs technology that Apple cannot afford to miss. At least they are working on it. Again, for technical reasons I have my doubts anyone can do this well, but since Apple seems to be determined to make a splash here, I am not betting against them.
Define "big thing" by Dunbal · 2017-03-20 06:57 · Score: 1

Are we talking iphone 17% of global market share after 10 years of hype big thing, or the flop that is "Apple Watch" big thing?

--
Seven puppies were harmed during the making of this post.
Virtual reality à la Apple way by ruir · 2017-03-20 06:57 · Score: 1

They took the headphone jack from the iPhone, next will be the home button, and the arrow of keys from the keyboards....
What will be next, virtual reality without the graphics?
Amazing...
hello_reality.m by Kunedog · 2017-03-20 07:00 · Score: 1

Here's the only reality I need Cook to worry about getting right:

#import <Cocoa/Cocoa.h>

int main(int argc, const char * argv[]) {

NSDecimalNumber *oneish =
[NSDecimalNumber decimalNumberWithString:@"1.1111111111111111111"];

NSInteger two = 3 - [oneish intValue];
NSInteger othertwo = 3 - [oneish integerValue];

NSLog(@"2 + 2 = %ld", two + othertwo);

return 0;

}
Let me get this right... by mindwhip · 2017-03-20 07:02 · Score: 2

Apple's next big thing is basically a white walled garden rehash of Google's old things? (Google Glass/Phone VR)

--
[The Universe] has gone offline.
1. Re:Let me get this right... by fluffernutter · 2017-03-20 07:15 · Score: 2
  
  Just wait until Apple heralds in the return of the headphone port. On that day the citizens will rejoice.
  
  --
  Laws are rules for the court, but merely a bottom bar to hit for life. Think beyond laws in your actions always.
Actual Actual Reality by SuperKendall · 2017-03-20 07:08 · Score: 1, Informative

Headphone jack ships via adapter sold with every single iPhone7.
if you don't know that by now... Apple Haters have to be the stupidest and most ignorant people on the planet.
Just how stupid? Apparently this person thinks you need a headphone jack to connect Augmented Reality glasses.

--
"There is more worth loving than we have strength to love." - Brian Jay Stanley
1. Re:Actual Actual Reality by Anonymous Coward · 2017-03-20 07:13 · Score: 1
  
  Seriously dude, Steve is dead. You can stop sucking him off.
2. Re:Actual Actual Reality by fabriciom · 2017-03-20 07:15 · Score: 2
  
  Apple has transformed from a market leader to a follower or as Steve just to say toner heads. I think this is why so many people are disappointed.
3. Re:Actual Actual Reality by R3d+M3rcury · 2017-03-20 07:22 · Score: 1
  
  Headphone jack ships via adapter sold with every single iPhone7.
  And they make the coolest adapters...
4. Re: Actual Actual Reality by cyber-vandal · 2017-03-20 08:11 · Score: 1
  
  How do you plug it into an Aux port and keep it charged at the same time without spending even more money for an easily lost adapter?
5. Re: Actual Actual Reality by Plumpaquatsch · 2017-03-21 13:01 · Score: 1
  
  H9w the hell do you "easily lose" a dock? Do you also lose your car all the time?
  
  --
  Of course news about a fake are Fake News.
6. Re: Actual Actual Reality by cyber-vandal · 2017-03-21 20:42 · Score: 1
  
  A dock? Why should I have to buy that or an adapter which is what I was talking about? I'm going to save my money by keeping my 6s for a few years. Maybe Apple will have pulled their heads out of their arses and added the socket back by the time I need to replace it. If not then it's back to Android.
7. Re: Actual Actual Reality by Plumpaquatsch · 2017-03-22 06:19 · Score: 1
  
  IOW you do lose your car on a regular basis. Thanks for the confirmation.
  
  --
  Of course news about a fake are Fake News.
8. Re: Actual Actual Reality by cyber-vandal · 2017-03-22 10:23 · Score: 1
  
  What the fuck are you talking about? Of course I don't lose my car. Exactly how big is this unnecessary dock and what advantage would owning it and an iPhone 7 give me over owning a 6s with a headphone jack? You fucking fanbois are insane. If Apple made a phone you had to stick up your arse to use, you'd be first in line for the fucking lube and you'd be all over the internet shitting on people for objecting.
Anything Like Alternative Facts? by lbmouse · 2017-03-20 07:09 · Score: 1

Apple could hire that burnt-out bar tart Kellyanne Conway to run the program.
Re:Comey to Congress: TRUMP DID IT! by jfdavis668 · 2017-03-20 07:11 · Score: 3, Funny

We should never have let the Cubs win the World Series. The world has gone downhill ever since.
I've said it once and I'll say it again by DontBeAMoran · 2017-03-20 07:12 · Score: 1

The first company to bring anime-style virtual waifus to nerds will dominate the market.
Bonus points if you establish partnerships with companies to license already-existing characters.

--
#DeleteFacebook
1. Re:I've said it once and I'll say it again by faedle · 2017-03-20 09:15 · Score: 1
  
  Check out some of the apps for Cardboard. They're coming.
Apple by fluffernutter · 2017-03-20 07:13 · Score: 1

I find it interesting that Apple's next big corporate direction may have been inspired by Pokemon Go.

--
Laws are rules for the court, but merely a bottom bar to hit for life. Think beyond laws in your actions always.
Wasn't it already here? by kiviQr · 2017-03-20 07:14 · Score: 1

Apple lived for a while in a augmented reality!
With What? by RatBastard · 2017-03-20 07:20 · Score: 1

AR with what? Phones? Maybe. Their desktops? Please. The GPUs in their desktops are garbage. Even the ones in the Mac Pros. I was a Mac user for ten years (sold my 2012 Mac Pro last month) and I I have always been disappointed by their choice of graphics chips.

--
Boobies never hurt anyone. - Sherry Glaser.
You mean they're becoming news media? by TodoRojo · 2017-03-20 07:26 · Score: 1

I thought there was already a plentiful supply of augmented reality.
iSpect-hol by 8282now · 2017-03-20 07:37 · Score: 1

No innovation left uncopied.
Surprised they're not already calling it "iGlass" ! may be "iSpectacle"?
Wrong again AC by SuperKendall · 2017-03-20 07:58 · Score: 1

This is Apple investing in Google Glass. Remember that thing that Google did that failed miserably and that they gave up on years ago?
I do. Do you? Apparently not, because Glass was not AR. It was a floating display without relation to the real world, nor any possibility of such because it lacked any kind of sensors to do so. From the article, it is apparent that what Apple is doing is way more Hololens (actual AR) than Glass.

--
"There is more worth loving than we have strength to love." - Brian Jay Stanley
Success is not a flop... by SuperKendall · 2017-03-20 08:02 · Score: 1

or the flop that is "Apple Watch" big thing?
Apple is second only to Rolex in sales.
So even that is not a "flop".
It's actually a much bigger thing than you are giving it credit for. Yet another person blindsided by Apple's approach to incremental success; in just a year or two even people such as yourself will be unable to ignore the obvious success Apple is having.

--
"There is more worth loving than we have strength to love." - Brian Jay Stanley
1. Re:Success is not a flop... by Dunbal · 2017-03-20 11:37 · Score: 2
  
  You can't argue with fanbois any more than you can with religious fanatics.
  
  --
  Seven puppies were harmed during the making of this post.
better than SCO vs THE WORLD by Thud457 · 2017-03-20 08:15 · Score: 1

can't wait to see them tangle with MomCorp in court over the naming rights!

--
the preceding comment is my own and in no way reflects the opinion of the Joint Chiefs of Staff
show me by Hevel-Varik · 2017-03-20 08:23 · Score: 1, Insightful

This news would have been really interesting were Jobs at the helm because he'd established a track record for nearly perfect execution and you could bank on that the final product would be polished. Apple has done nothing in the Cook era to suggest that we can rely on that any more. That said it would be nice if Apple put out something novel.
1. Re:show me by Hevel-Varik · 2017-03-20 13:36 · Score: 1
  
  I'm no apple fan boy. The ipod, the iphone and the ipad were instant market owner products that did nothing that wasn't done before by others. They just executed better. Nobody's perfect but they nailed the 3 most important consumer electronics devices in modern history. If that isn't textbook execution, then the term has no meaning. I've never owned any the above mentioned devices, and I had a cheepo mac book pro that I got refurbished from apple because I figured getting a used machine from them would be good value. I don't use it anymore because I can't stand the desktop environment. But credit where its it do. They because one the 'big' 3 or 4 or whatever on the back of their execution. Nothing to do with fanboyism.
AR: Next term to be misrepresented? by JustNiz · 2017-03-20 11:16 · Score: 1

Remember TVs labelled as HD-compatible even though they had displays with native resolutions of 720x600?....or gyroscopically stabilized wheeled boards being misadvertised as "hoverboards" even though they can't actually hover at all?.
Next up will be the abuse of the term "Augmented Reality" to mean the display of anything/everything on a transparent HMD (such as notice of incoming texts etc), even though it has absolutely no relevance to your current physical environment.