Apple Reportedly Has Small Team Working on Augmented Reality Projects

Wednesday March 18, 2015 11:19 am PDT by Joe Rossignol
GlassPiper Jaffray analyst Gene Munster claims in a note to investors that Apple has a small team working in and exploring the augmented reality field. Munster believes that while augmented reality is still a decade away from broader consumer adoption, Apple is preparing for the next evolution in computing and will be able to offer fashionable wearables that people will actually want to wear.
"While it is limited, we believe Apple has a small team of engineers exploring augmented reality applications. We believe that at the core, the group is likely trying to understand a wearable interface that design would ultimately make fashionable/socially acceptable. At this point, we believe it is difficult to determine if or when these experiments might yield a product."
Google Glass is perhaps the most notable example of a wearable that, while revolutionary in many aspects, created some uncomfortable situations for those wearing the device in public. Glass Explorer Edition was quick to be banned from several public establishments, including movie theaters, casinos, restaurants, hospitals, sports venues, schools, banks and more due to its ability to discreetly take photos and record videos.

Munster remains skeptical about whether Apple's focus on augmented reality will result in a future product, as it is common for the company to research and develop new products and technologies that are never released to the public. Munster also has a less than impressive track record at divulging Apple's upcoming plans, so his predictions should be treated with a proverbial grain of salt.

Apple began allowing developers to release augmented reality apps on the App Store nearly six years ago, such as Google's mystery game Ingress. Apple also began exploring augmented reality for Maps in 2011, corroborated by a March 2014 report claiming that the iPhone maker still plans to add augmented reality features to Maps. Based on Munster's comments, Apple appears to remain interested in the field.

Related Roundup: Apple Glasses
Tags: Piper Jaffray, Gene Munster
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tevion5
63 months ago
To enable people to live in a reality where the Apple Watch is worth buying.
Rating: 18 Votes
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AppleScruff1
63 months ago

I look forward to Apple releasing their augmented reality hardware and everyone debating who did it first, who made it popular and who makes the most money off of it.

Oh good times lie ahead, MR.


I think there are already some who live in an Apple augmented reality. :eek::D
Rating: 15 Votes
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samcraig
63 months ago
I look forward to Apple releasing their augmented reality hardware and everyone debating who did it first, who made it popular and who makes the most money off of it.

Oh good times lie ahead, MR.
Rating: 9 Votes
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PRSGuitarist
63 months ago

To enable people to live in a reality where the Apple Watch is worth buying.


Hm.. My glasses must have some of this functionality built in, because I already live in that world.
Rating: 6 Votes
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troop231
63 months ago
I want Augmented Reality Distortion Field. Would be great for business and product pitches at meetings. :p
Rating: 4 Votes
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cambookpro
63 months ago

Piper Jaffray analyst Gene Munster...


Genuinely stopped reading there.
Rating: 4 Votes
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BMcCoy
63 months ago
*shrug*

I would hope/expect that Apple have small teams working on lots of tech projects...

Doesn't mean they will ever see production as an Apple product.
Rating: 4 Votes
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winston1236
63 months ago
A better article would be which company isn't working on an Augmented Reality something these days.
Rating: 3 Votes
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AppleScruff1
63 months ago

Assuming the article is correct... I'm glad they have no intentions of doing anything soon and they aren't aggressively pushing for anything either.

Google released far-to-early in the product development lifecycle, as I believe they are coming to readily admit.

Microsoft has a very interesting product, however both it's strength and weakness is that it is not intended for general every-day use so much as a tool to solve specific problems at both home and work.

It's a space that will likely take another 4 to 5 years to even understand, much-less design a marketable product for.

Patience is a virtue.

Karl P


Without early releases and taking chances things would seldom get off the ground. There are always pioneers.
Rating: 3 Votes
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iSee
63 months ago

Augmented reality won't be successful if the user has to wear a device on their head. When the day comes that a computerized system could be small enough to be integrated into contact lenses...only then will augmented reality take off.


I think it's tricky but not impossible to get people to want to wear a device on their head. (I mean widely, not just some people.)

Proof?

They already do: glasses, sun glasses.

Don't mistake what went down with Google Glass as an inevitable outcome. That was just a tech demo. I think the message got away from them (due in large part to their own actions), and many people started to get the impression it was supposed to be a real product. When it fell far short of that, there was a backlash. My point is, it doesn't have to happen like that.

Due to technology limitations, I think a smart device with a glasses form-factor is going to become widespread quite a bit sooner than something like a smart contact lens does.
Rating: 2 Votes

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