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Apple CEO Tim Cook: 'I Think Augmented Reality is Big and Profound'

lec0rsaire said:
I'm from NYC and when during the first 4-5 months there were groups of kids and adults everywhere catching Pokémon but not so much anymore. I think it's more fatigue than anything. Just like console games. There's only so much you can play a single game before getting bored and moving on to the next new thing.

I think where AR can be useful is in home remodeling and even clothes shopping. That can actually be really useful and I think there are some apps already offering something similar.
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I believe you on the gaming aspect in NYC. It's true that gaming fatigue does happen and I've seen it especially on Ingress. Last summer, in this small college town, tons of kids were playing them but this year, fewer were doing it although pockets of Pokemon Go players exist here and there in the area.

But for AR usage, I'm sure it'll be beneficial for some parts when, like you said, people do home remodelling and such. But that's probably going to be an extension of services that are out there where you can use maps overlay on AR as a live method of getting directions. But it has to be practical in use.

Just because AR is available for iOS doesn't mean that 99% of iOS users will use that technology. It'll just sit there while some of the demographics will take advantage of it. It's like I have Skype for video calls even though it's rare for me to use, I text all the time in comparison but it's there when I need to go with that mode.

And just because AR is available on iOS doesn't translate to total domination like others have rabidly raved for. It'll be sitting there after people get tired of it because Apple likes to play up the novelty card to death.
 
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Tim, enough talking, more doing.

This is sounding like Cook's "great products coming down the pipeline", and still no Mac Pro 5+ years and counting.
 
Pilgrim1099 said:
I believe you on the gaming aspect in NYC. It's true that gaming fatigue does happen and I've seen it especially on Ingress. Last summer, in this small college town, tons of kids were playing them but this year, fewer were doing it although pockets of Pokemon Go players exist here and there in the area.

But for AR usage, I'm sure it'll be beneficial for some parts when, like you said, people do home remodelling and such. But that's probably going to be an extension of services that are out there where you can use maps overlay on AR as a live method of getting directions. But it has to be practical in use.

Just because AR is available for iOS doesn't mean that 99% of iOS users will use that technology. It'll just sit there while some of the demographics will take advantage of it. It's like I have Skype for video calls even though it's rare for me to use, I text all the time in comparison but it's there when I need to go with that mode.

And just because AR is available on iOS doesn't translate to total domination like others have rabidly raved for. It'll be sitting there after people get tired of it because Apple likes to play up the novelty card to death.
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Exactly. Most users don't even really use Siri or 3D Touch. I use Siri more now that it can be launched with "Hey Siri" while untethered but 3D Touch is a feature I rarely use. It's a great thing that they keep trying new things. Everything contributes to the evolution of iOS. For a while it was starting to really lag behind Android and jail breaking was very useful. I haven't felt the desire to stay on an old firmware to JB anymore especially since iOS 10.
 
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nikicampos said:
I really don't see this as the "future", I might be wrong but this is something like 3D televisions, holograms, Wii, Xbox Kinect, Playstation Move and stuff like that, this is not going to change the world, like some people are saying that it will change tourism, don't make me laugh, like people are going to buy this AR kit in 5 years, see the Louvre in AR instead of Paris and say "bucket list check, no need to go to Paris anymore", no, not in 100 years.
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You may be right but I see AR as much more promising than 3D television & VR. I believe the biggest problem with 3D TV was the "chicken & egg" syndrome. Not enough people had 3D TVs to make it worthwhile for content creators to spend the time & effort to create content. Likewise, there isn't enough 3D TV content to attract more buyers. VR shares the same problem to a degree.

However, with Apple introducing ARKit in iOS 11, literally overnight there will be a large enough base / market to attract content creators for all types of applications. I am sure there will be a huge spike AR interest that may dip after the novelty wears off but I think even after the "dip" there will still be a large enough based to keep AR going. Only time will tell.
 
swingerofbirch said:
The ARKit demos look really good, but also seem more suited to a glasses device than a phone.

Apple has long maintained that touch doesn't make sense on the Mac because it's tiring to hold your arm in front of you.

Wouldn't that be true with the phone as well when using AR? Glasses seem to make more sense.
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I agree glasses make more sense and I think that will be Apple's next step (there was a story this week about a new Apple patent application for AR glasses). I think the AR in iOS 11 is all about testing / growing the market and getting developers excited about AR. If you could get AR started on existing iPhones with a new iOS release, why wouldn't you get started that way then follow it up as soon as possible with glasses?
 
DoctorTech said:
I agree glasses make more sense and I think that will be Apple's next step (there was a story this week about a new Apple patent application for AR glasses). I think the AR in iOS 11 is all about testing / growing the market and getting developers excited about AR. If you could get AR started on existing iPhones with a new iOS release, why wouldn't you get started that way then follow it up as soon as possible with glasses?
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I agree. Apple Glasses will have a similar introduction as the Apple Watch, sold as a mostly tethered accessory for the iPhone, gradually gaining some independence as a standalone product.
 
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Nearly all of Tim's claims on these calls are total horse ****, but he is not wrong about AR. The stuff people are doing with the earliest engines is incredible. In a few years, we'll look back at pre-AR software and devices the way we look at Palm Treos.
 
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Wowereit said:
Well that's what everybody was saying about VR a year or two ago as well, right before everything related to VR flopped.

Although I see greater potential in AR as well, consider me sceptical.
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see, AR has a business case. VR, not so much.

AR will revolutionise work.
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-BigMac- said:
Try face recognition in the rain, with drops covering the screen and blocking your face:confused:
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so just because some contrived use case will be unreliable in early products, screw the whole concept!

?
 
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JM said:
You should watch the first episode of Black Mirror season 3. (And there's others that play on this scenario.)
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Watched it just a few days ago :)

Swipe right 5 stars to @JM

*happy upward jingle sound*
 
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Without being churlish, could someone dumb this down for me.

What exactly are we seeing here with the ARKit enabled "Take on Me" video?

Take a look at the original on YouTube:

I'm trying to grasp the use cases.

Thanks in advance for any input and further reading.

Jon
 
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DoctorTech said:
I agree glasses make more sense and I think that will be Apple's next step (there was a story this week about a new Apple patent application for AR glasses). I think the AR in iOS 11 is all about testing / growing the market and getting developers excited about AR. If you could get AR started on existing iPhones with a new iOS release, why wouldn't you get started that way then follow it up as soon as possible with glasses?
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I think Apple is doing the right thing with AR.
There are millions of iPhones out there, bringing AR to those devices will get a lot of developers on board. In a few years we'll have thousands of AR apps and Apple will ship its version of AR glasses or some sort of HMD and it will have a lot of developers familiar with the SDK and ready to make apps for the new product.
 
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djcerla said:
You shouldn't.

VR isolates people, AR helps connect with people and locations. AR will revolutionize everything, from social interactions to tourism to architecture (everything will slowly become a huge white board). Not that I really like the idea, but I can clearly see the path forward.
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Your world will be filled with people walking round holding phones and tablets in front of their faces, joy :/
 
-BigMac- said:
Try face recognition in the rain, with drops covering the screen and blocking your face:confused:
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... Which is no problem at all.


Pilgrim1099 said:
Think you can do that in a dimly lit nightclub, bobbling your head with headphones on at your turntable rig with the phone in front of you?
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If it's as efficient as the one used on surface laptops, it recognizes me with no light on except the screen's, while wearing a headset and glasses. I wouldn't be too worried.
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nikicampos said:
Yeah, because that's what ehe world needs, more tourists with their phones out in the open, there are paintings and walls that don't allow you to take pictures cause of the flash, so yeah no, not all museums will allow this.
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How about a doctor in the middle of an operations having contextual informations about your medical record and constants displaying live through special glasses ?
Or the myriad other applications you could find, from health to art, including science and entertainment
 
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He said that two years ago, is there anything original Tim Cook says or is it all just regurgitating what marketing wants him to say?

Also AR viewed through a phone or tablet was first demonstrated years ago, and nobody liked it. It's novel and cute, but I used to have an app that would overlay information in the "real world" 5 years ago and it was just annoying to use. To be honest Apple can do more with their watch product by having it buzz and provide contextual information about the area you are walking into rather then expecting someone to have to pull our their phone, hold it up in front of their face, fire up an app and wave it around around like some Pokemon loser trying to find some virtual information on the screen that could have just as easily popped up as an information card or notification on a watch.
 
Olz said:
Is it just me or has Tim mentioned AR at the last two or three earning calls/product releases? To me it's becoming a bit like the "amazing pipeline" of products he used to go on about. Until Apple release a killer product using AR, it's just more rhetoric from Tim.
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ARKit available on hundreds of millions of iOS devices isn’t a killer product?
 
AngerDanger said:
But is augmented reality big, big, big and profound?
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I been saying for years now AG is bigger then VR. Think about you car, your windshield could had AG in it and the blue navigation line could just be on the road not on a little screen out of your view. There is endless opportunities, Google messed up with Glass, they were way to costly and ugly.
 
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