Rumor: Apple is working on augmented reality glasses

Apple is working on ‘digital glasses’, the Bloomberg news agency reported citing its own sources. The headset can establish a wireless connection with an iPhone and thus display information. The use of augmented reality is also an option.

According to Bloomberg, Apple is still in an “exploratory phase” and the glasses are part of a secret project. The company has already reached out to potential suppliers and has placed limited orders for near-eye displays, writes Mark Gurman, who is generally knowledgeable about Apple affairs. The amount of parts ordered so far would not indicate plans for mass production of the glasses.

The sources expect the device to hit the market in 2018 at the earliest, pending Apple’s decision to go ahead with the project. Apple has acquired several augmented reality companies in recent years, Bloomberg added. This includes PrimeSense, for example, which develops 3D sensors and contributed to Microsoft’s Kinect.

The glasses are the first Apple product to directly target this technology, the Bloomberg sources said. Although Apple CEO Tim Cook is enthusiastic about augmented reality, virtual reality is less interesting for the company, an earlier interview revealed. He then mentioned the difference that virtual reality cuts off the user from the outside world, while this is not the case with the other technology.

Other companies also see something in the technology, Microsoft is working on its Hololens. Google previously came up with its Glass glasses, which were unsuccessful due to privacy concerns and criticism of the design, among other things. It was rumored at the beginning of this year that Intel is working on glasses with a RealSense camera.