With an acquisition that may help Apple’s development of VR and AR headsets, the company confirmed the acquisition of NextVR, a startup that provides sports and other content for virtual-reality headsets.
NextVR has deals with sports leagues including the National Basketball Association and entertainment networks such as Fox Sports. The startup also has expertise in live streaming in virtual reality, which could also be useful for live concerts and games.
MacDailyNews Take: Even more useful in the age of empty stadiums and concert halls due to COVID-19.
Apple said it buys smaller technology companies from time to time, and generally does not discuss its purpose or plans. It didn’t disclose a purchase price, but website 9to5Mac reported in April that Apple was in talks to buy NextVR for about $100 million.
MacDailyNews Take: Obviously, NextVR tech would be a component of “Apple Glasses.”
NextVR’s website currently states, simply:
NextVR is Heading in a New Direction
Thank you to our partners and fans around the world for the role you played in building this awesome platform for sports, music and entertainment experiences in Virtual Reality.
If you’re not familiar with NextVR, here’s an overview video:
Check out NextVR’s YouTube channel here.
I guess I just don’t get AR or VR….I have exactly ZERO interest in this…Am I alone in this??. Wear my phone on my face????
I’m not super excited about VR/AR myself, but it could be huge for sports.
When the resolution is high enough, and the latency is low enough, I could see it completely replacing non-mobile displays. Why have one or two monitors on your desk, when you could have as many virtual display panels as you like within your 360º field of view? Why hang a TV on the wall in your living room, when you could have a virtual TV as big as you want, in any room you’re in?
Like all new technology, it may seem ill-placed in one’s life initially…only to be followed by hindsight where we can’t imagine life without it.
I understand your reaction, nonetheless.
An example of AR in use today is when technical experts in a remote HQ can display information and images to field technicians to assist in cases where a fault is rare and/or outside of the tech’s training or experience. Eg. They display which part to look for, where it should go, which wires to look for, etc
You can bet with near absolute certainty that Apple won’t be mounting a phone on people’s faces. My guess is that the acquisition was not based on NextVR’s product per se, but (a) NextVR’s ten VR-related patents (See https://patents.google.com/?assignee=nextvr&oq=nextvr) and (b) an acqui-hire of the NextVR team.
It’s going to be awesome.
With AR, every utterance from CitizenXapplecynic could be replaced with a quote from Trump. It would drive CitizenAppleCynicX completely mad, which would be great to see, because those two losers are totally bonkers