Apple is expected to unveil a sleeker, pricier headset. Is this device finding VR?

Apple is set to unveil a long-rumored headset that will wedge its users between the virtual and real world, as well as technology to popularize newfangled devices after failing to capture the public’s imagination Will also test the potential of the trendsetter.

After years of speculation, the stage is set for a widely anticipated announcement Monday at the theater in Cupertino, California, named after the company’s late co-founder Steve Jobs. Apple is also likely to use the event to show off its latest Mac computer, preview its next operating system for the iPhone and discuss its strategy for artificial intelligence.

But according to media leaks, the star of the show is expected to be a pair of goggles – perhaps called the “Reality Pro” – which could mark another milestone in Apple’s knack for releasing game-changing technology. Even if the company hasn’t always done so. He is the first person to try his hand at making a particular device.

The pedigree of Apple’s successes dates back to the bow-tied Jobs fronting the first Mac in 1984 — a tradition that continued with the iPod in 2001, the iPhone in 2007, the iPad in 2010, the Apple Watch in 2014, and its AirPods in 2016.

But with a hefty price tag that could be in the $3,000 range, Apple’s new headset may be greeted with a lukewarm reception from all but affluent technophiles.

If the new device turns out to be a niche product, it would leave Apple in a similar bind as other major tech companies and startups that have tried to sell headsets or glasses equipped with tech that either transport people to artificial worlds or project digital images with visuals. and things that are actually in front of them—a form known as “augmented reality”.

Apple’s glasses are expected to be able to toggle between sleek design and fully virtual or augmented options, sometimes referred to as “mixed reality.” That flexibility is sometimes called external reality, or XR for shorthand.

Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg has been describing these alternate three-dimensional realities as “metaverses”. It’s a strange concept that they tried to push into the mainstream by changing the name of their social networking company to Meta Platforms in 2021 and then spending billions of dollars to improve virtual technology.

But the Metaverse has largely remained a digital ghost town, though Meta’s virtual reality headset, Quest, remains the best-selling device in a category that has so far appealed mostly to video game players looking for an even greater experience. are looking for.

Apple executives are likely to avoid mentioning the metaverse, given that there’s been rapid growth around that term when discussing the potential of the company’s new headset.

In recent years, Apple CEO Tim Cook has periodically touted augmented reality as the next quantum leap in technology, while not setting a specific timeline for it to gain widespread appeal.

Cook, who is 62, said last September, “If you look back in time to, you know, zoom out to the future and look back, you’ll wonder how far you’ve lived without augmented reality.” How did you spend your life?” speaking to an audience of students in italy, “Just like today you wonder how people like me grew up without the internet. You know, that’s why I think it can be so deep. And it’s not going to be deep overnight.”

The response to virtual, augmented and mixed reality so far has been decidedly ho-hum. Some of the gadgets implementing the technology have also been derisively mocked, with the most notable example being Google’s Internet-connected glasses released more than a decade ago.

Google co-founder Sergey Brin initially stoked excitement about the device by demonstrating the potential “wow factor” of the early models. With a skydiving stunt during the San Francisco tech conference, consumers quickly turned away from a product that allowed its users to take stealthy pictures and videos. The backlash became so intense that people wearing the gear became known as “Glassholes”, causing Google to withdraw the product a few years after its introduction.

Microsoft has had limited success with the HoloLens, a mixed-reality headset released in 2016, although software makers stressed earlier this year that it remains committed to the technology,

Magic Leap, a startup that stirred excitement with a preview of mixed-reality tech that could do magic The spectacle of a whale breaking through a gymnasium floorhad so much trouble marketing its first headset to consumers in 2018 that it shifted its focus to industrial, healthcare and emergency uses.

Daniel Diaz, Magic Leap’s chief transformation officer, said there are four key questions Apple’s goggles will need to answer: “What can people do with it? How does this thing look and feel? Is it comfortable to wear? And is it How much is it? Is it going to cost?”

The anticipation that Apple’s glasses are going to sell for several thousand dollars has already lowered expectations for the product. While he expects Apple’s glasses to boast “jaw-dropping” technology, Wedbush Securities analyst Dan Ives said he expects the company to sell just 150,000 units during the device’s first year on the market — a low in the company’s portfolio. Just a blur By comparison, Apple sells more than 200 million iPhones a year, its marquee product. But the iPhone wasn’t an immediate sensation, selling less than 12 million units in its first full year on the market.

Apparently aimed at raising the expected price of Apple’s glasses, Zuckerberg said last week that the next Quest headset would sell for $500, an announcement four months before Meta Platforms plans to show off the latest device at its tech conference.

Since 2016, average annual shipments of virtual and augmented-reality devices have averaged 8.6 million units, according to research firm CCS Insight. the firm expects Sales will be slow this year With a sales forecast of around 11 million devices before gradually climbing to 67 million in 2026.

But those predictions were clearly made before it was known whether Apple could release a product that changes the landscape.

“I would never count Apple out, especially with the consumer market and especially when it comes to finding those killer applications and solutions,” said Magic Leap’s Dez. “If someone is going to crack the consumer market anytime soon, I wouldn’t be surprised it would be Apple.”

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