Does Apple create smart glasses?

Seven reasons to believe that the corporation will enter the territory of Snapchat and Google Glass

Bloomberg reported that Apple Corporation is working on creating smart glasses. So far, everything is based on these anonymous sources, but there are already a number of signs by which we can conclude - sooner or later Apple glasses will appear on sale. "Medusa" talks about the seven main reasons to believe that this will happen.

1. Bloomberg data

The publication refers to anonymous sources familiar with the situation. According to them, Apple's glasses are still in the study. They will connect to the iPhone via a wireless channel and show the one who put them on, images and other information. Glasses may be supported by augmented reality technology, when virtual objects complement what a person around him sees.

Apple is negotiating with potential suppliers, but has not yet ordered components for mass production. Such points, according to one of the sources, will fall into the market at best in 2018.

Quartz source showed the publication a sketch of glasses. They are similar to sunglasses from Warby Parker.

2. Apple loves augmented reality

The corporation has not yet launched projects based on this technology, but in recent years I bought at least three startups working with augmented reality (including Primesense, a 3D-sensors developer, thanks to which the Xbox players using Kinect can manage games with their entire body).

The CEO of the company Tim Cook has recently been actively talking about augmented reality. At the end of July 2016, in the wake of the popularity of the Pokemon Go game, in which the virtual Pokemon are attached to the real world, Cook said: “Augmented reality can be amazing, and we continue to actively invest in this direction. We see here excellent products for users and excellent financial opportunities. ”

Quartz source emphasized that Apple's glasses will not be intended for virtual reality (in this technology, the user sees only the image generated by the computer). And this also echoes what Cook said : “In my personal opinion, augmented reality is more virtual, because it gives us the opportunity to sit here and talk to each other, but at the same time to see other things in parallel.”

3. New employees

Another sure feature is that Over the past few months, Apple has hired two serious scientists in this field. One of them, Yuri Petrov, had previously worked on the helmet of the virtual reality of Oculus VR. The second, Zayui Lee, came to Apple from the startup Magic Leap, which was creating a supplemented reality helmet (Medusa was talking about Magic Leap LEAP here ).

4. Patents

In early November, the media discovered an Apple patent directly related to augmented reality. He describes the application for maps in which road signs and other information is superimposed on top of the image from the camera. True, the patent is associated with the iPhone application, and not for glasses, but in them this application would look much more profitable.

5. Snapchat has already released its glasses

The company is already called Snap, but few people know it under this brand. Snapchat is an insanely popular and successful social network in the United States, and its main audience is youth.

In mid -November, the company released SPectacles sunglasses for $ 130. Their only feature is the built -in cameras that allow you to send videos immediately to Snapchat. They do not offer any augmented reality, but queues are already lining up for glasses. This is a good sign.

In addition to Spectacles, you can recall the failed Google Glass glasses, which are the closest in their idea that (probably) does Apple do. But their failure - at the beginning of the year, Google suspended production - is not connected with the fact that this niche is not interested in anyone, but with the fact that Google Glass was too expensive, incomprehensible and looked like devices for geeks, and not for ordinary people.

6. Apple has not surprised for a long time

The corporation has not entered new niches for a long time - the last time this happened with Apple Watch. Apple managed to take a leading position on the market of smart watches; But interest in this class of devices is already falling.

Bloomberg notes that in the conditions of slowing the sales of iPhones (and this is 2/3 of Apple income), Tim Cook has to actively look for a new category of devices in which the company could turn around.

7. Forecasts of analytics

The analyst of Min-Chi Kuo is known for his exact forecasts for what Apple will present. And he says that the corporation will release the first products in the field of augmented reality in a year or two. And after 3-5 years, Apple will already bypass competitors in this area. What specific products the company will release, Kuo, however, does not specify.