Apple is building a team of experts in virtual and augmented reality, according to a new report from the Financial Times. The secret research team apparently includes hundreds of staff collected from a series of “carefully targeted acquisitions” and other VR companies, and it has already been building prototypes of VR headsets for several months.
Apple experimented with virtual reality under Steve Jobs about ten years ago, but abandoned the technology at the time as not being sufficiently mature; however, the company has rekindled its efforts in the area over the past two years, beginning with the acquisition of motion sensor maker PrimeSense in 2013, followed by augmented reality company Metaio and motion capture company FaceShift last year, and most recently Flyby Media, an augmented reality company that previously worked with Google in developing 3D positioning technology for Project Tango. It’s unclear whether Apple aims to release an actual VR headset, some other more ambitious project, or simply apply the technology to its new car project.
Apple CEO Tim Cook hinted obliquely at VR earlier this week when he responded to a question from analyst Gene Munster on the matter during Apple’s quarterly earnings call, referring to virtual reality as having some “interesting applications” and definitely not being a niche area.
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