Another Way Apple, Inc. Is Pursuing Augmented Reality
Image source: Getty Images.
Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL) is quite interested in augmented reality (AR). This we know.
Furthermore, CEO Tim Cook has made it abundantly clear that the company is far more interested in AR than virtual reality (VR). In Cook's opinion, AR has much broader potential that can affect mainstream consumers, while VR looks like it could remain a niche for the foreseeable future. The Mac maker is also reportedly toying around with the idea of smart glasses as a way to deliver an AR experience while further expanding into the nascent wearables category. Well, Apple may have another idea up its sleeve.
There's an app for that
Earlier this week, Business Insider reported that Apple is looking to integrate AR technology directly into the iPhone's camera app, according to an anonymous source. Apple has acqui-hired a good amount of AR talent recently, and these engineers are leading the initiative. Apple wants iPhones to be able to recognize objects in real time, which means that Apple would have to either build or license a database of 3D objects, according to the report. Facial recognition would also be an important function, which would have obvious use cases like recognizing the user for greater personalization or enabling social experiences.
BI's source says that once refined, Apple may look to release the underlying technologies as software development kits (SDKs) for developers to utilize, providing a foundation for further third-party innovation.
Two go-to-market strategies are better than one
Integrating AR into the iPhone would potentially be a stepping stone as Apple continues evaluating the prospect of smart glasses. Naturally, there would be a lot of overlap in the underlying technology. If Apple develops some useful AR tech for the iPhone, it would presumably be easy to repurpose and repackage that tech into smart glasses with minimal effort. By potentially adopting two different go-to-market strategies, Apple is also hedging its bets and reducing the likelihood of failure and wasted research and development investments.
It's conceivable that there will be room for both -- a market for AR-powered smart glasses as well as a market for AR-powered smartphones. Not everyone will want smart glasses, and being able to deliver AR via a smartphone still allows the technology to scale.
It's been done
The thing about AR on a smartphone is that it's been done before. One of the earliest AR apps was released way back in 2009. It was a public transit app that allowed users to lift up their phones and see transit routes and find bus or train stations. Around this same time, Yelp even added an AR feature called Monocle to its app, allowing users to find local businesses through an AR interface. Since then, interest in AR waned as the uses were fairly limited and the novelty wore off.
But then Pokemon Go happened, and reinvigorated interest in AR. For instance, Cook and Piper Jaffray analyst Gene Munster had this exchange on the July earnings call:
It's likely that the early wave of AR apps was premature, both in terms of technological capability and interest. Now that AR and VR and starting to gain some traction, Apple is placing its bets accordingly.
Forget the 2016 Election: 10 stocks we like better than Apple Donald Trump was just elected president, and volatility is up. But here's why you should ignore the election:
Investing geniuses Tom and David Gardner have spent a long time beating the market no matter who's in the White House. In fact, the newsletter they have run for over a decade, Motley Fool Stock Advisor, has tripled the market.*
David and Tom just revealed what they believe are the ten best stocks for investors to buy right now... and Apple wasn't one of them! That's right -- they think these 10 stocks are even better buys.
Click here to learn about these picks!
*Stock Advisor returns as of November 7, 2016
Evan Niu, CFA owns shares of Apple. The Motley Fool owns shares of and recommends Apple. The Motley Fool has the following options: long January 2018 $90 calls on Apple and short January 2018 $95 calls on Apple. The Motley Fool recommends Yelp. Try any of our Foolish newsletter services free for 30 days. We Fools may not all hold the same opinions, but we all believe that considering a diverse range of insights makes us better investors. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.