After Meta, Apple is also building a ‘second metaverse’ of its own?

According to Bloomberg, Apple’s next product – the mixed reality glasses that mark a new era of computing – will likely be released in 2023. The glasses range in price from $2,000 to $3,000, have an integrated M2 chip and the same price tag. more than 10 cameras. Some sources also said that the glasses are made up of 3 screens, including 2 Micro OLED screens and an AMOLED screen, integrated with optical eye tracking sensor, supporting Wi-Fi 6E connection. ..

It is known that the device will run on a new operating system called realityOS, which includes mixed reality versions of many core applications, such as Messenger, FaceTime and Maps. The first version of the operating system, codenamed Oak, is in the process of being finalized and will be available next year.

In addition, Apple is also working to strengthen the content for the device, and is looking for a software manufacturer with experience in visual effects and entertainment games to build digital content for the environment. augmented virtual reality. The tech giant is also looking to build a video service for glasses, which is said to be playable in virtual reality.

According to Bloomberg, Apple is currently looking for engineers with experience in virtual and augmented reality. The technology company expects the upcoming realityOS operating system to use the App Intents API to have Siri and Shortcuts like on iOS 16.

“ We are looking for a software engineer to work on the App Intents API to design and implement solutions that intelligently unlock, enable new developer tools, and facilitate user interaction. from data models, such as Shortcuts, Siri … “, said Apple representative.

In particular, the most prominent is the development of 3D mixed reality world similar to “metaverse” – a term Apple rarely mentions. New tools will be built to deliver a perfectly connected experience in the world of 3D mixed reality.

According to Gurman, the world Apple is building is similar to Mark Zuckerberg’s Metaverse idea. However, it is unlikely that the company will use the term “metaverse” to name its virtual universe.

To speed up the process, Apple just added two key positions to its supervisory management team: a former senior leader in self-driving cars and a senior software engineering manager. The team itself is run by Mike Rockwell, Apple’s vice president of AR/VR, and Dan Riccio, a former hardware manager.

In addition, Apple also transferred a few key people to the mixed reality production team, including Dave Scott, a former employee of self-driving cars, and Yaniv Gur, a veteran engineering director. It is known that Gur joined Apple 20 years ago and is mainly in charge of technical supervision for iWork applications (Pages, Keynote and Numbers).

According to Ars Technica , the change in personnel at Apple shows that the company has enough human resources to prepare all stages of development, production, and design for mixed reality devices and place a lot of expectations on the project. this.

However, some challenges are being posed as Apple’s design team itself is brain drained, following the departure of Jony Ive. Since the launch of the Apple Watch, at least 15 people have resigned.

According to Bloomberg, Jony Ive’s successor, Evans Hankey, only served for three short years. Apple has yet to find a successor, and there are only a few options available, such as Richard Howarth, longtime industrial designer for the iPhone and Apple Watch.

Apple’s new chief information officer is a former head of Facebook. Two of Apple’s top executives at its Systems and Information Technology division, or IS&T, are both retired. This has created a significant staffing gap, especially for a department in charge of operating the infrastructure that allows employees, customers, and providers to communicate and maintain services.

Replacing Mary Demby, Apple’s outgoing chief information officer, and David Smoley, vice president of software engineering, are Timothy Campos. This is someone with a lot of experience as a CIO and co-founder of an app acquired by Slack.

In addition to the headset, Tim Cook is also expected to introduce its next big product next year: The headset that combines virtual reality and augmented reality Apple Reality Pro. The design, sensitivity and vivid graphics are said to be able to “blow away” the VR headset that Facebook, Sony and HTC previously produced.

The project was carried out over the course of 7 years, with about 2,000 employees, including the leader who was previously responsible for VR development for NASA. Therefore, ten years after the failure of Google Glass, the Apple Reality Pro headset is considered a great expectation of all those who love the Apple home.

Not stopping there, Apple also has a bigger ambition for a new ecosystem called “Reality”. Earlier in 2017, Bloomberg had revealed that Apple was developing a new operating system based on iOS called “rOS”, specifically for AR and VR devices. Until early this year, it was reported that the new operating system also owns AR versions of iPhone applications.

However, it is still unclear when the Apple house will “unveil” the Reality ecosystem. Previous speculation has suggested that the augmented reality headset will hit the market in 2023, while many experts expect a short video promoting the new platform to appear later this year.

By: Bloomberg