Apple is working on reality OS-powered AR headset; plans to announce it by 2019 with sales set for 2020

Apple is looking for a revolutionary product like the iPhone was when Steve Jobs took the phone out back in 2007. The company has been working on the augmented reality technology behind the scenes and it aims at readying the technology ready for an AR headset by 2019 according to a report by Bloomberg. The headset will sport its own screen, unlike some VR headsets which rely on smartphones for the screen. [caption id=“attachment_4200349” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] An Apple employee showcases the augmented reality on iPhone 8. Reuters[/caption] There are several real-world applications of AR, however, Apple has close competition from Google wherein the latter is working on a business-oriented variant of the Google Glass as pointed out in the report. The report further goes to point that Apple CEO Tim Cook spoke on Good Morning America saying “We’re already seeing things that will transform the way you work, play, connect and learn. Put simply, we believe AR is going to change the way we use technology forever”. However, Apple declined to issue a comment on its plans. Apple started its earlier development on AR while working on augmented reality toolkits for iPhones and iPads. They released the ARKit to all the iOS devices with the launch of  iOS 11 . As pointed out in the report Apple is not waiting for chip makers to make a custom AR chip. Instead, the company is working on designing a chip in-house. This in-house chip is similar to the concept of “system-on-a-package” that can be seen in the Apple Watch. This ensures that all the components of the final chip will be well integrated, tested and tuned according to Apple’s requirements. Bloomberg points out that the standalone AR headset will run on rOS (reality operating system) which is based on the iOS. This is in line with Apple’s methodology wherein tvOS runs on Apple TV and MacOS runs on Apple MacBook devices. Apple is also reportedly testing different methods for controlling the headsets such as touchscreens and voice activation using Siri. It is not the first time when we noticed what Apple thinks, is the ideal form-factor for an AR headset. Apple’s plans seem to match with its  patent application that emerged online. However, Apple has kept the deadline a good two years away and it would seem that Apple’s current focus would be to upgrade the existing ARkit and make the AR experience better on its current devices. The report claims that Apple plans to release the ARkit 2.0 in 2018 which will make it easier to create AR games for multiple players.