“Apple has a team of people working on integrating augmented reality functionality into the iPhone’s camera app, reports Business Insider,” Juli Clover reports for MacRumors. “Employees from several different augmented reality companies Apple has acquired are said to be involved in the effort, including those from Metaio and Flyby Media. ”
“Citing sources familiar with Apple’s plans, Business Insider says Apple’s goal is for consumers to be able point the phone at a real-world object and have that object be recognized,” Clover reports. “Apple is already working on similar technology using machine learning techniques and has built basic object recognition capabilities into the Photos app.”
“Such a feature could be used for spacial recognition and mapping, among other things,” Clover reports. “Recent rumors have suggested Apple’s ultimate augmented reality ambition may be a set of smart glasses, which would connect wirelessly to the iPhone and display “images and other information” to the wearer. ”
Read more in the full article here.
MacDailyNews Take: Imagine what could be done with AirPods coupled with a pair of Apple Specs. The sky’s the limit!
VR, I think, has some interesting applications, but I don’t think it’s a broad-based technology like AR. Augmented reality will take some time to get right, but I do think that it’s profound. We might… have a more productive conversation, if both of us have an AR experience standing here, right? And so I think that things like these are better when they’re incorporated without becoming a barrier to our talking… You want the technology to amplify it, not to be a barrier. — Apple CEO Tim Cook, October 13, 2016
SEE ALSO:
Apple Specs: Smart glasses that people will want to wear – November 16, 2016
Apple considers move into smart glasses – November 14, 2016
Apple granted another Augmented Reality head-mounted display patent – November 10, 2016
Ming-Chi Kuo: Apple will have a 3-5 year lead in augmented reality; use as part of an autonomous driving system – November 2, 2016
Apple CEO Tim Cook: ‘We are high on Augmented Reality for the long run’ – October 14, 2016
iPhone 7 Plus is the starting point of Apple’s major push into augmented reality – September 28, 2016
iPhone 7 Plus proves Apple is gearing up for augmented reality – September 27, 2016
What iPhone 7 says about Apple’s future augmented reality plans – September 19, 2016
Apple needs to forget chasing Snapchat and go after the Augmented Reality industry – August 25, 2016
Tim Cook publicly confirms Apple has augmented reality plans – July 27, 2016
Apple acquires Flyby Media; assembles large team of virtual and augmented reality experts – January 29, 2016
Apple hires leading virtual reality researcher – January 22, 2016
Apple is building a virtual reality supply chain with disruptive potential, new research shows – November 19, 2015
Analyst: Apple team exploring virtual reality/augmented reality – August 31, 2015
Apple exploring a new reality with purchase of Metaio – June 3, 2015
Apple patents perforated augmented reality display that you can see and hear through – May 29, 2015
Apple acquires augmented reality company Metaio – May 28, 2015
New Apple haptics patent application reveals diamond-layered trackpad that simulates wood, other textures – April 23, 2015
Apple granted U.S. patent for hybrid VR head-mounted display – February 18, 2015
Apple is working on VR user interfaces and gaming; looking for Oculus and Leap experts – February 10, 2015
Apple granted patent for display-based speakers for iOS devices – January 13, 2015
Apple granted a patent for devices with a transparent display – November 18, 2014
Apple’s new iPhones, iPads could feature haptic displays – June 30, 2014
Apple patent application reveals personal display headset invention – May 8, 2014
Apple patent application reveals wildly intelligent multi-tiered haptics system – May 3, 2012
Apple continues to tweak Apple TV video headset accessory – April 10, 2014
Apple patent application reveals sapphire flexible transparent display devices created with Liquidmetal – December 19, 2013
Apple granted knockout patent for head-mounted personal display – December 10, 2013
iGlasses: Apple granted patent for head-mounted augmented reality displays – July 5, 2012
Apple files patent application for haptic feedback touch-based user interface – March 22, 2012
Bokeh effect = Apple’s already utilizing AR
Off topic, but I’m curious what MDN thinks of this:
http://appleinsider.com/articles/16/11/16/apple-dissolves-mac-automation-management-post-sal-soghoian-to-leave-company
Wasn’t Steve Jobs “reality distortion field” Augmented Reality?
Of course. How else can BS smell like roses?
Pointing the smartphone camera at an object and having it recognized sure sounds a lot like what the Google Goggles App does already (among other things). If that’s Apple’s first step they’re going to be further behind than they were with Maps.
“Apple’s goal is for consumers to be able point the phone at a real-world object and have that object be recognised”
You can already see how Apple has implemented a limited version of that within the Photos application on IOS devices. Use the search box in the Albums page and ask it to search for your photos containing certain images. You could try words like “Sunset”, “Car”, “Horse”, “Scarf”, “Chimney”, “SUV” and even abstract things like “Christmas” or “Birthday”. Your iPhone will then show all your photographs that it thinks include what you search for.
One thing that differentiates this approach from the lesser image recognition implementations found elsewhere is that the processor in an iPhone is fast enough to do the image analysis entirely within the device itself and doesn’t need to send the images to a central server for analysis.
I’m still trying to get along with reality just the way it is.