How will you operate Apple’s first mixed reality headset? The financial news agency Bloomberg has now unearthed fresh details. Accordingly, the device, which should probably be called Reality Pro, will bring “an iOS-like interface”. It is still possible to quickly switch between augmented reality (AR) and virtual reality (VR).
Connection to the Mac
Interesting: The hardware, which is probably around 3000 US dollars, should also be able to be connected to a Mac and thus serve as an external display for the computer. With this feature, users could see their Mac’s screen in virtual reality but still control the computer with their trackpad or mouse and physical keyboard, Bloomberg writes. The operating system, which Apple will probably call xrOS or realityOS, is said to have “many of the same functions as the iPhone and iPad”, but in a 3D environment. Included are the apps photos, mail, Safari as a browser, calendar plus messages. Apple is working on an app store for third-party programs and wants to bring services like podcasts, Apple Music and TV+ to the headset. Health tracking features are also planned.
The experience should be easy to learn for Apple users. The display is “almost identical” to what you know from the iPhone and iPad, including the home screen with rows of icons whose arrangement you can influence. It is still possible to attach widgets such as weather or stock prices. Content is entered via the voice assistant Siri or using an iPhone, iPad or Mac with a connected keyboard. However, an iPhone should not necessarily be necessary to use the headset, so Apple is obviously not going the way of the Apple Watch here.
look and “click”
Furthermore, the headset should master precise eye and hand tracking. You can only look at a function in order to select it – the command is then executed via a hand gesture. There are said to be no physical controllers like the competition – this is reminiscent of the first generation of the iPhone, in which Apple explicitly rejected a stylus and instead used finger operation with gestures on the touchscreen – revolutionary at the time. Apple’s device will be designed specifically for AR use, a topic dear to CEO Tim Cook’s belief that VR applications will draw users from the real world. Switching between AR and VR should be possible via a kind of digital crown.
Apple also relies on video conferencing with FaceTime. According to Bloomberg, the user’s face and “entire body” are to be rendered in the VR space. The look apparently corresponds to Apple’s Memojis. According to the report, it is also possible to use more realistic avatars for one-on-one conversations. Apple is also working on entertainment content. Video should become an important feature – with a “giant screen” that can be projected into space or the desert. Partners here are said to be Dolby and Disney, among others. Apple had also bought a VR streaming company whose content the group could use.
Hardware-Details
The hardware should be adaptable for people who wear glasses, and Apple wants to offer special glasses for this purpose. AirPods can be paired with the headset, but it also has built-in speakers. The battery pack for the Reality Pro is not in the headset, but has to be carried externally, they say. This is to keep the heat generation lower. The runtime is said to be two hours, but you can change the battery during operation.
Apple plans to showcase its headset in a dedicated section of its physical stores. It remains unclear when it will appear, but it should be ready in 2023. Apple is said to have initially postponed AR glasses.
(bsc)
