Financial Times reports that Apple, among other companies, are working on AR smart glasses. The firm says that Apple has been working on the project for over a year, but claims that a launch is at least a year away or “perhaps much longer.”
Apple first began to build a team to examine the feasibility of a head-worn device more than a year ago. Now, it is devoting more resources to its augmented-reality efforts, with the aim of taking it from a science project towards a consumer product, according to people familiar with the company’s plans. However, any launch is still at least a year away, perhaps much longer. Apple declined to comment.
As its engineers have become more adept at miniaturisation technology with products such as its AirPods wireless headphones and the iPad’s Pencil, AR seems to have overtaken Apple’s secretive car project as the company’s top priority for its next big launch, beyond the iPhone.
The report says that the startup Magic Leap will beat all of the tech giants to the punch in terms of releasing a pair of augmented reality glasses, which it plans to release later this year. That product will cost around $1000, and will compete with the Microsoft HoloLens.
The “light-field” eyewear is said to be smaller than Microsoft’s HoloLens, with a wider field of view, but larger than a regular pair of glasses. The headgear will be tethered to a small pack that provides battery and processing power, to put in a pocket or attach to a belt, and is likely to cost in excess of $1,000. Magic Leap declined to comment.
