Apple could be looking to get into the VR market with its hire of Dr. Doug Bowman, a nationally renowned researcher in the fields of augmented and virtual reality (AR/VR), according to the Financial Times.
Devices such as the Microsoft Hololens, which Bowman was recently given a grant by Microsoft to conduct research with, are considered AR. Fully immersive devices such as the Oculus Rift, which releases March 28, are considered to be VR.
Bowman has won a multitude of industry awards in the fields, and has a long laundry list of published work and AR/VR achievements viewable on his academic CV. He has held the position of director of the Virginia Tech’s center for human-computer interaction for the past five years.
Apple has been on the AR/VR acquisition warpath lately, acquiring Metaio, an augmented reality firm in May 2015. It also acquired Emotient , a startup focused on deciphering human emotions through facial expressions with the use of artificial intelligence, earlier this month.VocalIQ Ltd., purchased by Apple in October 2015, is another AI focused startup but one focusing on understanding natural speech patterns.
Apple smartphone competitor (and nemesis) Samsung has come out with an affordable VR headset called the Samsung Gear VR that utilizes a user’s Galaxy smartphone as the screen.
Unfortunately, while the gimmick is cool at the moment, the end-user functionality of VR still pales in relation to the promise it may hold some day in the future, so Apple isn’t necessarily too late to the party.
Google tried entering the AR party early with the Google Glass and were rewarded with the term “ Glassholes,” eventually leading Google — among some other reasons — to scuttle the whole program. Google currently operates the Google Cardboard program, which allows any smartphone user to easily access VR for cheap.
Other notable big name competitors in the VR field include the HTC Vive, created out of a partnership of HTC and Valve, and the Sony PlayStation VR.
