Apple Reportedly Looked at Acquiring Augmented Reality Display Maker Plessey

[MacRumors]

Apple recently considered acquiring British company Plessey Semiconductors, a maker of Micro-LED displays for augmented reality devices, according to The Information.

The paywalled report claims that Plessey has instead reached a licensing deal with Facebook, which in a statement said it wants to build "a glasses form factor that lets devices melt away so we can be more present with our friends, families, and surroundings":

Facebook has struck a deal to buy all of the augmented reality displays made by British firm Plessey, as the social network looks to build AR glasses capable of overlaying virtual objects onto the real world. The deal could give Facebook an edge over Apple, which recently looked at buying Plessey, one of the few makers of AR displays, according to two people familiar with the matter.

Apple has expressed a profound interest in augmented reality in recent years, making a major push into the space with frameworks like ARKit and RealityKit, creative tools like Reality Composer and Reality Converter, and hardware like the LiDAR Scanner on the new iPad Pro and likely some iPhone 12 models.

Multiple reports have indicated that Apple plans to release a combination AR/VR headset by 2021 or 2022, followed by a sleeker pair of AR glasses in 2022 or 2023. Last week, MacRumors obtained a photo of a generic HTC Vive Focus-like controller that Apple appears to be using to test its AR/VR headset.

Article Link: Apple Reportedly Looked at Acquiring Augmented Reality Display Maker Plessey

 

[Ultramove69]

Just my opinion, just not sold on AR other than it being a momentary wow factor. Who knows, maybe I'm just crazy.

 

[nylonsteel]

heads up display (hud) in stylish glasses will be big
but the tech is not there yet
vr goggles look silly

 

[rotax]

I dont care who's Tech and how good. I would never ever use a VR/AR anything from a privacy loving Facebook.

 

[djcerla]

Just my opinion, just not sold on AR other than it being a momentary wow factor. Who knows, maybe I'm just crazy.

I have the feeling this will go with the “less songs than a Nomad, lame” quote in the not-going-to-age-well drawer...

 

[Romeo_Nightfall]

Just my opinion, just not sold on AR other than it being a momentary wow factor. Who knows, maybe I'm just crazy.

AR is Great and has huge benefits ... unfortunately society is very against it.
Actually AR needs a good voice recognition which Apple lacks with Siri.

it’s the next freedom not bending when interacting with your device!

 

[az431]

AR is Great and has huge benefits ... unfortunately society is very against it.
Actually AR needs a good voice recognition which Apple lacks with Siri.

it’s the next freedom not bending when interacting with your device!

Really? Did you take a poll? Do you have a source for this or is just a hunch on your part?

 

[Vjosullivan]

it’s the next freedom not bending when interacting with your device!

That sentence makes no sense.

 

[Baymowe335]

Just my opinion, just not sold on AR other than it being a momentary wow factor. Who knows, maybe I'm just crazy.

You are going to be 100% wrong if you can’t see the future of AR.

 

[Romeo_Nightfall]

That sentence makes no sense.

not bend your neck!

 

[mozumder]

Why is Apple so into AR? It's such a dead-end technology.

 

[Romeo_Nightfall]

Really? Did you take a poll? Do you have a source for this or is just a hunch on your part?

well you remember that small company called,google and their glassholes?

 

[mozumder]

You are going to be 100% wrong if you can’t see the future of AR.

There is no future in AR. The people that believe in it are 100% wrong.

The reason is that it's not useful for the average person and has terrible UX.

 

[NinjaHERO]

I think AR is going to be huge. An overlay of your surroundings is absolutely the next step in our screen interaction. We need a design like the one shown. Where you can't see the screen, it's just built into the glasses/lenses. That will be huge. Gotta make these look good if you want people on board.
I can't wait.

 

[CarlJ]

well you remember that small company called,google and their glassholes?

Public sentiment was against those new-fangled horseless carriages when they first appeared on the scene. Over time, the technology improved, and public sentiment swung strongly in favor of cars. Times change.

Your argument sounds a awful lot like, "don't you remember them terrible horseless carriages?"
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There is no future in AR. The people that believe in it are 100% wrong.

The reason is that it's not useful for the average person and has terrible UX.

there's no future for it because it has terrible UX? You don't expect that will be improving? I mean, phones today are exactly like they were in 2005, right? No changes there, so why expect AR will improve.
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vr goggles look silly

VR is quite different from AR - different (though related) tech pursuing different goals. VR is trying to project an entirely new world in front of your eyes. AR is trying to overlay a bit of useful information on your current view of the real world.

 

[twolf2919]

Why is Apple so into AR? It's such a dead-end technology.

What are your qualifications for that statement?
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well you remember that small company called,google and their glassholes?

You've misinterpreted things: society wasn't against AR then - they were against being video recorded.
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There is no future in AR. The people that believe in it are 100% wrong.

The reason is that it's not useful for the average person and has terrible UX.

Your first half of your statement is utter nonsense - there are a million use cases for 'the average person' - and the second one is based on no data at all since there have been no mass manufactured AR devices yet.

 

[DelayedGratificationGene]

Just my opinion, just not sold on AR other than it being a momentary wow factor. Who knows, maybe I'm just crazy.

With everyone else producing it I agree but once Apple lets them fail and does it’s AR masterpiece then it’s another game changer

 

[Westside guy]

I would think Apple - like most large corporations - evaluates whether they should consider acquiring particular companies on a regular basis. I'm not sure that the possibility they may have done so with regard to any particular company should be all that surprising - or newsworthy.

 

[DelayedGratificationGene]

Why is Apple so into AR? It's such a dead-end technology.

It is until Apple makes it great like everything else they do

 

[Baymowe335]

There is no future in AR. The people that believe in it are 100% wrong.

The reason is that it's not useful for the average person and has terrible UX.

Yeah, ok. Companies are spending billions on it for a reason.

 

[satchmo]

Your first half of your statement is utter nonsense - there are a million use cases for 'the average person' - and the second one is based on no data at all since there have been no mass manufactured AR devices yet.

Serious question. Give me 5 to start....that the average person will benefit greatly from AR glasses.
The caveat of course that they all must not invade on one's privacy.

 

[cmaier]

well you remember that small company called,google and their glassholes?

That's because:
(1) they looked ridiculous
(2) the cameras took pictures and videos

Apple won't make those mistakes. They will be essentially indistinguishable from normal glasses. And they won't take photos - cameras will be used only for determining the environment.
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Serious question. Give me 5 to start....that the average person will benefit greatly from AR glasses.
The caveat of course that they all must not invade on one's privacy.

Heads-up notifications
Superimpose navigation on display
Superimpose translations of signs and text
Direct you to missing items by floating a balloon over them
Superimpose closed caption text from microphones
Holographic facetime
Superimpose prices and useful information over items in stores
Superimpose names of people the you are looking at (and their spouse and kid's names, that you always forget)
Virtual movie projection screen on any vertical surface in your house
Virtual art anywhere you want

 

[Ghost31]

There is no future in AR. The people that believe in it are 100% wrong.

The reason is that it's not useful for the average person and has terrible UX.

Something tells me years from now we’re gonna come back to comments and laugh at how short sighted people were in 2020. Even after seeing high tech AR in every sci-fi movie ever

 

[slide_to_unlock]

Something tells me years from now we’re gonna come back to comments and laugh at how short sighted people were in 2020. Even after seeing high tech AR in every sci-fi movie ever

I completely agree with you. People are wowed by the technology they are shown in future movies with all these heads up display, AR, Minority Report **** and when company tries to build it, they are like, it's not going to be popular. Just wait my friend. It will be normal around 2030. And yes, company should also do R&D on holographic communication system LOL

 

[citysnaps]

Just my opinion, just not sold on AR other than it being a momentary wow factor. Who knows, maybe I'm just crazy.

There are loads of both commercial and consumer applications.

AR-assisted surgery, for example, has been used for a few years during procedures, seeing through obstructions, providing real-time reference data and information, collaboration with colleagues, as well as for education, training, etc.