Apple May Enter the Augmented Reality Market

All the sources trace back to Gene Munster, a senior research analyst at Piper Jaffray who specializes in Internet research. Munster made the following statement regarding Apple’s engagement with augmented reality:

“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.” – Gene Munster, Senior Analyst, Piper Jaffray

There’s nothing much to say more than this. This was published in a report on Wednesday, March 18th, where he continued on what is possible, or not possible with Apple’s involvement.

Of course, there’s no real evidence on the hardware specifications Apple may be releasing in regards to augmented reality. One option is to use the iPhone to project virtual items into the real world, similar to Microsoft’s Hololens, via the Apple’s Map feature. The evidence for this is Apple’s patent, as detailed on PatentlyApple.com, which displays augmented reality using an iPhone, published by the US Patent & Trademark Office on August, 2011. This would be similar to Yelp‘s Monocle feature in their mobile app, which shows you the location of nearby places using augmented reality. And this feature has been out for years.

Me using Yelp’s augmented reality “Monocle” feature in my room.

Another possibility is the use of a new wearable. Apple may be competing in the augmented reality Market by releasing a new VR headset, similar to the Google Glass. The evidence for this was a job posting which was made recently. In February, Apple’s job posting included a position available for software engineers. They were looking for a “VR/AR Programmer” as reported from 9to5mac.com.

The idea of Apple entering the Augmented Reality market is still only rumored by a belief. Even though evidence adds up, it is still questionable as to whether Apple will pursue forth, as Munster states:

“At this point, we believe it is difficult to determine if or when these experiments might yield a product.” – Gene Munster

Sources:

• http://appleinsider.com/articles/15/02/26/apple-looking-for-hardware-and-software-engineers-to-build-virtual-reality-displays
• http://www.patentlyapple.com/patently-apple/2011/08/apple-to-advance-their-maps-compass-feature-with-augmented-reality.html
• http://www.macrumors.com/2015/03/18/apple-augmented-reality-team/ 
• http://appleinsider.com/articles/15/03/18/piper-jaffray-apple-has-dedicated-augmented-reality-team-to-inject-ar-devices-with-much-needed-style

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