Apple Smart Glasses Might Arrive As Early As Next Year

Apple is said to be developing a pair of Apple smart glasses.

There are rumors that the device is going to be an AR (augmented reality) headset, which incorporates virtual images into what you get from the real world. “Pokémon Go” is a prime example of this. Users can view the real world from the cameras of their phones but with digital Pokémon in it as well.

Rather than a smartphone, this Apple smart glasses will be something you wear directly. It will possibly be powered by your iPhone.

The first reports on Apple’s smart glasses emerged around 2015. So we have gathered all of the news and rumors since then.

In 2015, just after Apple Watch’s launch, Apple reportedly set up a team to develop virtual and AR headsets.

Apple hired engineers from its rival companies. In 2015, it employed Nick Thompson, a former Microsoft engineer who used to work on Microsoft’s HoloLens.

Bloomberg reported that Mike Rockwell, Dolby Labs’ head of engineering, was the one to lead the initial AR efforts of Apple.

Rockwell was said to have managed hundred of Apple engineers “scattered across office parks in both Cupertino and Sunnyvale, California.”Apple’s ARKit, which allowed developers to build their own AR apps for iPads and iPhones, was a product of his team.

In May 2015, Apple acquired Germany-based company Metaio specializing in AR tech which let customers visualize how Ikea furniture would look like in your house.

In Jan 2016, Financial Times’ reported stated that a team of more than 100 people had been assembled by Apple to make virtual and AR headsets prototypes.

Also in Jan 2016, Apple purchased Flyby Media. Flyby is known for working with Google on the technology used in Project Tango which utilized AR so that mobile devices could capture the environment’s maps in real-time.

In 2017, Bloomberg released a huge report on the Cupertino giant’s headset plans. The report claimed that by 2019, the technology would be completed and shipment could begin in 2020.

According to Bloomberg’s report, the smart glasses of Apple would have a system-on-a-chip, something similar to the A-series chips used in iPhones. The glasses would also come with an all-new operating system called “rOS” (reality operating system).

Bloomberg said that Apple was still researching different ways to control the glasses and launch apps, from touch panels to voice-activation via head gestures and Siri.

Apple reportedly was in the process of making a collection of apps for rOS, which includes “virtual meeting rooms and 360-degree video playback.”An App Store’s new version was also considered for rOS.

In 2018, Apple purchased startup Akonia Holographics, which manufactured lens for AR glasses. This was the first obvious sign of how Apple might develop optical displays light and thin enough for glasses and AR imagery that could be bright enough to be used outdoors.

In March, Ming-Chi Kuo, one of the world’s most accurate and reliable Apple analysts, talked about Apple’s plan on producing its first AR headsets “in the middle of next year.”

In his research note, Kuo also said that the AR glasses of Apple would leverage the networking and computing of the iPhone wirelessly. By doing this, the glasses would be lightweight.

According to Kuo, Apple wants to mass-produce its AR glasses by “the fourth quarter of this year,” but the timeframe could be delayed until “the second quarter of 2020.”

Previously, the company has already made some public statements on the potential of AR. In 2016, CEO Tim Cook said: "augmented reality will take some time to get right, but I do think that it's profound."

In 2017, Jony Ive, the design chief of Apple, said: “there are certain ideas that we have, and we are waiting for the technology to catch up with the idea.”