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Apple's Augmented Reality Team Gains Hires From Oculus, Magic Leap

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Just a day after Apple CEO Tim Cook shared his views on augmented reality in an interview with Good Morning America, Business Insider has unearthed two recent hires Apple poached from companies with expertise in augmented and virtual reality.

Zeyu Li, who served as a principal computer vision engineer at Magic Leap, is now working at Apple as a "Senior Computer Vision Algorithm Engineer." Magic Leap, for those unfamiliar, is a startup developing a head-mounted display similar to the HoloLens from Microsoft, designed to project virtual objects into the real world.

Yury Petrov, a former research scientist at Facebook-owned Oculus, is now serving as a "research scientist" at Apple. According to his LinkedIn profile, Petrov studied virtual reality experiences, prototyped optics, and developed computer simulation software. Despite his vague title, given his expertise, it's reasonable to imagine he's working on similar projects at Apple.

oculusrift.jpg
Psychophysical and physiological studies of visual and multisensory experience of virtual reality (VR) including user experience factors in head-mounted displays (HMD). Determined perceptual constraints on HMD hardware parameters. Research and development of novel optical systems for HMD. Prototyped optics of superior quality. Developed a popular Matlab library for computer simulations in optics (Optometrika). Research and development of new types of VR controllers. Prototyped controllers significantly increasing user enjoyment of VR. Research and development of 3D audio stimulation for VR.
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Rumors have suggested Apple has a dedicated team exploring augmented and virtual reality and how the emerging technologies could be used in future Apple products. Apple has been building up its team over the course of the last several months through new hires and acquisitions of companies like Metaio, Flyby Media, and Faceshift.

Apple is said to be working on developing several prototype VR/AR headsets, and Apple CEO Tim Cook has spoken about augmented reality several times over the course of the last few months.

In July, Cook said Apple is "high on AR in the long run" and said Apple continues to "invest a lot in this." Earlier this week, he said that he believes augmented reality, rather than virtual reality, is "the larger of the two" because it allows people to "be very present" while using the technology.

In addition to the new hires, developer Steven Troughton-Smith recently discovered Apple has included references to a "HeadMountedDisplayRenderingTechnique" in SceneKit code since iOS 9, perhaps already laying the groundwork for future products.

Article Link: Apple's Augmented Reality Team Gains Hires From Oculus, Magic Leap
 
Article Link
https://www.macrumors.com/2016/09/15/apple-augmented-reality-team-new-hires/
MacRumors said:
In July, Cook said Apple is "high on AR in the long run" and said Apple continues to "invest a lot in this." Earlier this week, he said that he believes augmented reality, rather than virtual reality, is "the larger of the two" because it allows people to "be very present" while using the technology.
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One of the few times I considered hiring back.
 
I have a friend who works at Magic Leap who is working with the celebrated science fiction writer Neal Stephenson. He can't tell me what they're up to. Probably a good call; I'd inevitably blab about it here.
 
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VR/AR to Tim Cook is just another way of selling more iPhones. He's not interested in what the technology can do beyond that. So we may end up with a headset that connects to your iPhone and lets you play VR games, etc.
 
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Shaun said:
VR/AR to Tim Cook is just another way of selling more iPhones. He's not interested in what the technology can do beyond that. So we may end up with a headset that connects to your iPhone and lets you play VR games, etc.
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Even if VR/AR makes it as an accessory for the iPhone or incorporated, it will be a couple generations before any worthwhile content is available. Remember the move to retina displays and then the larger screens. Content developers lag generations due to profits. Even then nothing worthwhile is released to take advantage of the new features. Look at 3D Touch, it took Apple until iOS10 to have this used system wide and Apple is the creator of the hardware and software.
 
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Apple playing an unnecessary game of catch-up in a segment which is unlikely to gain traction in the wider population any time soon if at all. The reason for this is they are out of ideas because they are being led by a grey man with no imagination, no taste and no ability to push those working for him to their creative limits.

Apple are chasing rainbows these days and deliberately delaying improvements as long as possible because they don't want to shoot their load too quick and run out of the limited ideas they do have. It's all just so pathetic and not at all what they used to be.
 
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Way to go.

If there's one company poised to dominate the AR sector, that's Apple, with their chips, sensors and optical expertise and tight vertical integration. AR is completely a matter of miniaturization and vertical integration. Boatloads of R&D money don't harm, too.

All the others may try, and be somewhat successful, but will always be several steos behind as core technologies are concerned.
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JPLC said:
No more hobbies Apple, please...
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That's Google you're talking about.
 
nerdbob said:
I just got an HTC Vive. I absolutely love it. LOVE IT. I don't care how silly I probably look playing it
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Using many of the avai
brvhrt said:
Apple playing an unnecessary game of catch-up in a segment which is unlikely to gain traction in the wider population any time soon if at all. The reason for this is they are out of ideas because they are being led by a grey man with no imagination, no taste and no ability to push those working for him to their creative limits.

Apple are chasing rainbows these days and deliberately delaying improvements as long as possible because they don't want to shoot their load too quick and run out of the limited ideas they do have. It's all just so pathetic and not at all what they used to be.
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Not sure there is always:
Micro/nano led displays
Micro/nano projector
AR/VR
Flexible iPhone
Semi translucent iPhone
Wireless Charging
iOS mobile to desktop docking
USB-C charging in and out
Solar Charging
Thinner iPhone
4K/8K display
Dynamic Display (i.e. iPad Pro)
Complete water proof
Built-in laser pointer
More optical and other sensors
No bezel screen
Iris scanning and tracking
Hand/finger air gestures for interacting
Rollable iPhone
Etc...

See Apple is not running out of ideas it is waiting for the technology to be released or mature so it can refine it and possible get it cheaper as other companies make the initial mistake and test the market acceptance of such technology.

Apple is a marketing company first then a technology company second and the profits prove it.
 
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When Tim Cook talks about iPhones, AR, ... it sounds as if it's other people (in his company) are doing this. I don't sense that deep vision & involvement a CEO needs to have. Yes, he's enthousiastic, but without much deep connection. This saddens me.
 
Heh, Oculus already stated they won't support Macs until Apple makes a decent computer again.

They could bring back a Mac Pro tower w/PCIe slots so the Mac platform can rock the latest VR creation tech. Or they can continue to cram a laptop video chipset into the ultra-thin iMac where the GPU must continually throttle itself to avoid self-immolation. Eventually even laptop graphics will handle VR but they will never lead the way on VR content creation.

Cook just needs to ask himself if he wants Macs to lead or to serve as fashionable iDevice accoutrements.
 
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meaning-matters said:
When Tim Cook talks about iPhones, AR, ... it sounds as if it's other people (in his company) are doing this. I don't sense that deep vision & involvement a CEO needs to have. Yes, he's enthousiastic, but without much deep connection. This saddens me.
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Tim Cook is a numbers man not a vision man like Steve Jobs. Woz was a technology man. At the end of the day what matters to Tim is the company finances are healthy and stock holders "happy" I use this term loosely as the concept of a happy stock holder is an illusion.
 
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code-m said:
Using many of the avai


Not sure there is always:
Micro/nano led displays
Micro/nano projector
AR/VR
Flexible iPhone
Semi translucent iPhone
Wireless Charging
iOS mobile to desktop docking
USB-C charging in and out
Solar Charging
Thinner iPhone
4K/8K display
Dynamic Display (i.e. iPad Pro)
Complete water proof
Built-in laser pointer
More optical and other sensors
No bezel screen
Iris scanning and tracking
Hand/finger air gestures for interacting
Rollable iPhone
Etc...

See Apple is not running out of ideas it is waiting for the technology to be released or mature so it can refine it and possible get it cheaper as other companies make the initial mistake and test the market acceptance of such technology.

Apple is a marketing company first then a technology company second and the profits prove it.
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You do not understand my point. But you do agree with it when you say they are waiting for tech to be released or mature - they are way too conservative now because clueless Tim et al do not want to jeopardize their shareholding. And I do agree they are now a marketing company first which is a disgrace. Profits only prove people are still buying their products. Sadly, I fear this is a fashion led success and they are doing it on the wave that Steve started with actual substance to back it up. It's now a weak premise and one which will not endure a strong competitor.
 
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brvhrt said:
You do not understand my point. But you do agree with it when you say they are waiting for tech to be released or mature - they are way too conservative now because clueless Tim et al do not want to jeopardize their shareholding. And I do agree they are now a marketing company first which is a disgrace. Profits only prove people are still buying their products. Sadly, I fear this is a fashion led success and they are doing it on the wave that Steve started with actual substance to back it up. It's now a weak premise and one which will not endure a strong competitor.
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I did understand your post, I was playing with it and ment no disrespect. :)

Technology is now fashionable, nothing wrong with that it's just the times we live in. It is still sustaining the company I guess, it could be the 90's again. Interesting to see how long this wave rides out.
 
Tim Cook believes AR allows people to be "very present!?" Right.

Tim, if you haven't walked around a major city or college campus lately, please take the earliest opportunity to do so. You'll be able to witness firsthand how "very present" all of these folks staring at their phones are already. They might as well have VR headsets on. The effect is the same.

I can't wait for AR to make them even "very present"-ier!
 
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Shaun said:
VR/AR to Tim Cook is just another way of selling more iPhones. He's not interested in what the technology can do beyond that. So we may end up with a headset that connects to your iPhone and lets you play VR games, etc.
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That's my fear too. Tim would sell sugar water if he could to make an extra dollar.
 
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Virtual reality - You could simulate the experience of buying an iPhone 7 Plus tomorrow.
Augmented reality - When you point your iPhone at an Apple Store tomorrow it could tell you they are out of the iPhone 7 Plus.

I prefer #1.
 
Shaun said:
VR/AR to Tim Cook is just another way of selling more iPhones. He's not interested in what the technology can do beyond that.
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Apple is trying to make an iphone killer before someone else does.
 
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