Apple recently has spoken of its investments on augmented reality (AR) as it has become the latest fad in the industry. With the rise of AR technology, is Apple ready to kill off the iPhone the way it shunned the iPod and huge computer machines 10 years ago?
The iPhone has become the most successful hardware product of all time with more than 1 billion units sold, making Apple the most valuable firm in the world. As for today's most used computing machine, the smartphone may see a couple more years in the dominance stream.
But with the ever-changing nature of the technology space, it seems Apple is modestly taking its steps to jump to a new product. The developments in AR technology could halt smartphone's popularity once technology companies develop the advancement of computer graphics and the real world to exist in one platform.
Apple is not alone in this journey though; Facebook, Google, and Microsoft have also been spending tonnes of money in the search for the next AR technology. Some of the existing innovations that are capable of augmented reality include the phenomenal game Pokémon GO, camera search app Google Lens, and virtual reality headsets.
While these companies have not provided details yet as to which platform they are using AR, glasses are the perfect candidate to wear it. Despite reports, Apple has denied that it is working on digital glasses product. Business Insider speculates that this might come either by the acquisition of a new glass company or by software releases.
Last month, Apple chief executive Tim Cook expressed hit excitement on the said technology telling Bloomberg, "I am so excited about it, I just want to yell out and scream".
In 2016, Cook had been nonchalant to share anything about this technology due to the roadblocks it was facing then. What he was certain of is that "it will happen in a big way, and we will wonder when it does, how we ever lived without it".
Apple recently confirmed the acquisition of SensoMotoric, a German manufacturer of eye-tracking glasses and virtual reality goggles. Before this, it launched the ARKit, a software for developers to create augmented reality apps for the iPhone and iPad
