Apple quietly working on virtual reality

Apple has put together a secret team of virtual and augmented reality experts to create its own headset that can compete with the HoloLens and Oculus Rift, to name a few.

Apple has also recently acquired German augmented reality company Metaio, adding to its growing list of virtual reality investments.

The technology, especially augmented reality, could end up finding a stronger use case in the rumored Apple Car, which reports say could ship as early as 2019.

In 2015, reports emerged that Apple had won a patent for an iPhone-compatible headset that would display virtual reality images, putting the company in competition with the likes of Google and Samsung in the VR market.

“I don’t think it’s a niche”, Cook said of virtual reality in response to a question from an analyst.

To gain a number one spot in the VR space, Apple would have to take down a big player. Now with the project reinvigorated under Cook, Apple is still seeking further acquisitions in optical technologies to enable it to complete its project. HTC is also planning to release its Vive headset this year and so, too, is Sony with its PlayStation VR. As the virtual reality industry expands, Apple sets out to become a player in the field. I certainly hope that Apple is getting into the VR game but The Financial Times saying that Apple’s “headsets could one day rival” the competition, well that’s flat out fanboy journalism.

The Financial Times asserts that the newly acquired companies have been distilled into a “secret research unit”, after those companies have been carefully targeted by Apple.

Apple’s latest clandestine endeavor could be in virtual reality.

There are also augmented reality platforms, such as Microsoft’s HoloLens and Magic Leap, which Alphabet’s venture capital arm, Google Ventures, has invested in. The company is allegedly still looking for acquisitions in optical technologies to help finish the project.

The app the company had built let mobile “scan” objects in the real world – like a hat, sign, poster, building, etc. – then save that item to a collection of shared objects.

Facebook bought the virtual reality headset maker Oculus for $2 billion in 2014.