According to reports, Apple plans to unveil its augmented reality (AR) glasses by 2019, so that they could be released by 2020.
Bloomberg says Apple Inc. is hoping this could be their next breakthrough product, after the iPhone.
Trusted sources told Bloomberg that Apple set an "aggressive timeline" for the product's development. The AR glasses will have its own display and will run on a new chip and operating system called rOS. That's unlike today's virtual reality headsets, that still need a smartphone as the main engine and screen.
While VR completely immerses the person to the digital world, AR is less isolating and only overlays images and data over the real one. That's like watching a baseball game with an overlay of statistics, or cooking while the step-by-step instructions are given in the glass screen.
Apple Chief Executive Officer Tim Cook talked about its upcoming innovations in its recent earnings call with investors and reporters. "We're already seeing things that will transform the way you work, play, connect and learn. Put simply, we believe AR is going to change the way we use technology forever." However, Apple has yet to comment on whether such AR glasses really do exist.
Apple's AR gadget was first rumored in March, when it was reported that a group has been working on AR projects for years. It was also said back then that the tech giant has been testing out various methods on how the glasses will be operated. TechRadar predicts it could be through gestural commands (like Microsoft's HoloLens), or through voice integration with the help of the iconic digital assistant Siri.
While potentially groundbreaking, Apple is not the first to work on this kind of project. Startup Meta released AR glasses for medical and educational uses in March 2016. Just a few days ago, Olympus unveiled its enterprise-focused smart glasses.
