Apple to Integrate Augmented Reality Functionality Into iPhone's Camera App

[Rogifan]

So true! How many times have we heard that Apple acquired this firm and that firm, in hopes they can produce something useful and fun? I believe they have a large stockpile of curiousities that we might find useful and fun but it did not pass some design criteria.

Ever since Jobs was quoted as having "cracked tv" was I hopeful to be getting my hands on something great! But alas, the years go by and I am losing patience they will ever release it.

It's great that Apple has gotten to a position of doing R&D, and I would love to go shopping in that lab, but its wearisome when that unicorn never materializes.

Apple TV - Not really, yet?
Apple Car - Not really, yet?
ARM MacOS - Not really, yet?
Touchscreen Mac - Not really, yet?
Apple AR - We'll see, but trend is Not really
Etc., etc.,

Hmmm... I thought people here thought a TV set and the car were stupid ideas that Apple shouldn't be spending resources on. And touch screen Mac? When did Apple ever indicate they were working on turning macOS into a touch first UI? If anything with the recent interviews Phil Schiller has given Apple is tripling down on their stance against touch screen Macs. So I wouldn't consider that a "unicorn that never materializes".

 

[Karma*Police]

This sounds credible. It sounds like what Apple would do in terms of implementation and rollout. It doesn't sound like a killer app, but I can see how it could one day become one.

 

[freeuser]

reminds me, Apple is following the ideas in the thriller book "Zero" from Marc Elsberg

 

[LordQ]

What's the bet it will be US-only the first five years.

 

[ani4ani]

Think of all the great uses.....you would be able to look at the new Macbook Pro with an iPhone and see a lightning port for the phone or the HDMI port, MagSafe etc...though I would probably call this feature stark reality!

 

[Spendlove]

This line of technology is extremely exciting. Imagine all the possibilities! Phone, glasses, so cool.

If glasses ever do make it to reality... I am so there.

 

[deany]

Will this be soldered in to the logic board?

 

[ds2000]

I'd like the last pre-Siri iOS back on my 6S iPhone, I don't like all this bloated crap these days

 

[BruceEBonus]

Augmented Reality. Smart glasses. Wireless headphones. What next ... Induction Charging? You have to admire Apple for being the market leaders when it comes to the future of what the next mobile phones will feature ... let's hope the competition wake up and see what they have to do to keep up with ..... Oh. Wait.

 

[62tele]

And if this "rumor" said Apple was shelving this project every comment here would be how Apple is doomed and wtf are they doing in Cupertino other than releasing coffee table books and crippled laptops etc. Fire Tim Cook blah blah blah. I thought augmented reality was one of the next big things. Or is that only the case when companies like Google and Microsoft are working on it?

Oh, I'm not that impressed with Google or Microsoft. Here's the thing to me. I didn't become a skeptic of Apple until the last one to two years. This shows the hole that Jobs death left in Apple's soul. They no longer know where the "puck" is going and no longer skate to it. They seem to run here and there. In essence they lack the vision that he provided in knowing to which ideas they should say "no". Somehow I think something like "Alexa" should have been an Apple vision.
As much as I'm a skeptic I'm still loyal to Apple in terms of my computer and mobile. I am waiting for an iMac refresh to replace my 2010 iMac and won't even consider a Windows system and same for iPhone and iPad. (My Watch sits in the drawer-the thrill is gone.) Apple should do something about fixing iCloud and developing a better pricing tier. Oh yeah, hopefully I won't have to take out a mortgage to buy the new iMac.

 

[KidAKidB]

It's a good start. Phone holding is lame and glasses will be better but starting with phone is still progress.

Funny how when Google released Glass in beta form, Apple fans were all saying how useless glasses would be and anti intuitive, etc etc. For augmented reality there's no better way to do it than glasses. Google was ahead of it's time and hopefully they bring Google Glass back. I'm curious to see what Apple will do.

 

[hybrid_x]

Apple could start by integrating QR Code reading into the camera app. There isn't a single decent one out there, and it's a giant pain in the ass to unlock the phone, find and launch a third-party app, when a single swipe from the lock screen could pull one up.

 

[DoctorTech]

I believe AR glasses would have instant demand in several niche markets.

Clear back in 1990 I saw a prototype headset that used a 1.5" CRT that the user wore in front of one eye. The resolution was incredibly poor by today's standards but the CRT was functional. It could display a thermal image from a head worn camera so the user could see normal with one eye while seeing an infrared image of the same view in their other eye (useful if you are looking for someone who might be hiding behind something). The 1.5" CRT could also be wirelessly linked to a desktop computer to display information such as repair instructions if the user was working on a vehicle and needed to look at the repair manual while turning a wrench.

There are plenty of applications for this type of technology and it seems like a natural evolution to allow people to interact in a "heads up" manner with their environment and the data on mobile devices rather than "heads down" looking at the device in their hand.

 

[iamgalt]

The skeptic in me says that this is just the next piece of feces that Apple is throwing against the wall to see if it sticks. The Watch was not the next iPod. The car went down a dead end.
I hope this doesn't distract them from the next revolutionary breakthrough in emoji development.

Emoji development, I think, is taking a back seat to watch bands.

 

[DoctorTech]

Funny how when Google released Glass in beta form, Apple fans were all saying how useless glasses would be and anti intuitive, etc etc. For augmented reality there's no better way to do it than glasses. Google was ahead of it's time and hopefully they bring Google Glass back. I'm curious to see what Apple will do.

I am with you, I think Google was way ahead of their time and that glasses are the way to go with AR. The next time around Google (or Apple if the rumors are true) will still face 1 major obstacle - public acceptance of head worn cameras and the public never knowing if they are being recorded or live streamed.

Most people realize they are being recorded by security cameras a large percentage of the time they are outside of their home, and we all know it is possible for anyone to pull out a phone and record us at any time. But the idea of someone wearing an eye level camera sitting at the table next to us in a restaurant still *feels* more intrusive. It may be because the camera is always there as opposed to the person having to pull their phone out of their pocket or it may be because the camera is controlled by an individual rather than the bank/mall/store security. Whatever the reason, Google or Apple or whoever launches the first successful AR glasses will have to find a way to overcome the public anxiety about head worn cameras.

 

[jenksjenks]

Episode 1 of the new season of Black Mirror

::buys flip phone::

 

[Weaselboy]

I am not familiar with Snapchat. Are their filters the thing that's been turning people into weird morphs with animal muzzles and ears? I've been seeing that around a lot lately and wondering what the hell?

Yup... that's the one (image below).

It actually has more useful features though. I attended a wedding recently and learned you can pay someone to setup a custom overly in Snapchat for your event. A couple kids there were showing it off to me. It appears to use geo-fencing because in the Snapchat app there was a way to look for nearby overlays and pick the one from the wedding. It put a nice frame around your photo with the date of the wedding and name of the bride and groom along with some flowers and all. Everybody seemed to be having a really good time with it.

 

[62tele]

I am with you, I think Google was way ahead of their time and that glasses are the way to go with AR. The next time around Google (or Apple if the rumors are true) will still face 1 major obstacle - public acceptance of head worn cameras and the public never knowing if they are being recorded or live streamed.

Most people realize they are being recorded by security cameras a large percentage of the time they are outside of their home, and we all know it is possible for anyone to pull out a phone and record us at any time. But the idea of someone wearing an eye level camera sitting at the table next to us in a restaurant still *feels* more intrusive. It may be because the camera is always there as opposed to the person having to pull their phone out of their pocket or it may be because the camera is controlled by an individual rather than the bank/mall/store security. Whatever the reason, Google or Apple or whoever launches the first successful AR glasses will have to find a way to overcome the public anxiety about head worn cameras.

Someone has to explain to me why anyone would want to put something on their face to hang on the bridge of their nose.

 

[5105973]

Yup... that's the one (image below).

It actually has more useful features though. I attended a wedding recently and learned you can pay someone to setup a custom overly in Snapchat for your event. A couple kids there were showing it off to me. It appears to use geo-fencing because in the Snapchat app there was a way to look for nearby overlays and pick the one from the wedding. It put a nice frame around your photo with the date of the wedding and name of the bride and groom along with some flowers and all. Everybody seemed to be having a really good time with it.

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Ah thank you. Now I know what's going on. Ever since I got traumatized by the endless political bickering between my lifelong friends on FB, I've been avoiding social media like the old bat I am. I saw those morphs and was genuinely baffled. I thought at first it was an art app of some sort. i couldn't ask the kids because they aren't on social media, either, unless you want to count heavily monitored group iMessage chats with equally monitored friends and relatives.

 

[producer26]

There.And i thought i'd never see a new mac pro again. <= me on VR glasses, admiring the new virtual mac pro

 

[ErikGrim]

Apple could start by integrating QR Code reading into the camera app. There isn't a single decent one out there, and it's a giant pain in the ass to unlock the phone, find and launch a third-party app, when a single swipe from the lock screen could pull one up.

Is this a post from 2004?