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Ming-Chi Kuo: Apple Likely to Release Mixed Reality Headset in January 2023

From roadtovr

Industry analyst Ming-Chi Kuo, a respected figure in all things Apple supply chain leaks, says the Cupertino tech giant is likely preparing to launch its long-rumored mixed reality headset early next year.

In a Medium post, Kuo outlines a few key points based on how he gathers the industry is headed.

In short, Kuo posits that Meta is slowing down investment in VR hardware due to looming economic recession, but this will provide others opportunity to play catchup as market share shifts away from Meta to companies such as Sony, Valve, Pico, and HTC. It’s not VR, its Meta’s core business that’s taking a hit.

Kuo says there’s still a “vast” potential demand for VR headsets in China which could be filled by companies with ready access to the Chinese market, such as ByteDance subsidiary Pico Interactive and Taiwan’s HTC.

Apple is also tapped to fill growing demand. Codenamed N301, Apple’s MR headset will “likely release in January 2023,” Kuo maintains, and is set to “favor the continued rapid growth of the headset sector,” adding that it’s “the most complicated product Apple has ever designed.”

“Although Apple has repeatedly reiterated its focus on AR, I believe Apple AR/MR supporting video see-thru could also offer an excellent immersive experience,” Kuo says. “Therefore, the launch of Apple AR/MR will further boost the demand for immersive gaming/multimedia entertainment.”

N301 is said to combine VR displays with passthrough cameras for both VR and AR applications. Check out the roundup below for all of the rumors surrounding Apple’s MR headset:

What We (think we) Know About N301 Mixed Reality Headset

Apple Quietly Released One of The Most Impressive AR Room-mapping Tools

From roadtovr

Apple has barely mentioned augmented or virtual reality in its big keynotes lately, however at WWDC 2022 earlier this month, the company quietly released probably one of the best 3D room-mapping tools for mobile AR yet.

Called RoomPlan, the ARKit Swift API uses the camera and LiDAR scanner on recent iPhones and iPads to create a 3D floor plan of a room, including key characteristics such as dimensions and types of furniture.

It’s not for consumers (yet) though. Apple says it’s aiming to appeal to professionals like architecture and interior designers for conceptual exploration and planning, as well as developers of real estate, e-commerce, or hospitality apps; developers can integrate RoomPlan directly into their AR-capable apps.

When it was released earlier this month, Jonathan Stephens, Chief Evangelist at spatial computing company EveryPoint, took RoomPlan for a test drive to see what it could do. The results are pretty surprising.

RoomPlan seems to be able to deal with a number of traditionally difficult situations, including the mirror seen above, but also messy spaces, open and closed doors, windows, and generally complex architecture. Still, Stephens’ house isn’t just a bunch of cube-shaped rooms, so there’s a few bits that just didn’t match up.

Vaulted ceilings, wall openings, multifloor areas like you might find in foyers were all a bit too difficult for RoomPlan to correctly digest. Although not perfect, it seems to at least autocorrect to some degree based on some assumptions of how things might best fit together.

RoomPlan isn’t just for app integrations though. Apple says it outputs in USD or USDZ file formats which include dimensions of each component recognized in the room, such as walls or cabinets, as well as the type of furniture detected.

If you’re looking to finetune the scan, dimensions and placement of each individual components can be adjusted when exported into various USDZ-compatible tools, such as Cinema 4D, Shapr3D, or AutoCAD, Apple says.

We’re still no closer to learning when the company plans to release its rumored mixed reality headset or its full-fledged AR glasses, however either AR or MR headset would need extremely robust space-mapping capabilities. Seeing Apple make these sorts of strides using its existent platforms certainly shows they’re on the right track.

If you haven’t been following along with the Apple rumor mill, check out some of the links below regarding the company’s mixed reality headset, codenamed N301:

What We (think we) Know About N301 Mixed Reality Headset

A special thanks to Hrafn Thorisson for pointing us to the news!

Apple May Announce AR/VR Operating System at WWDC Next Week, Trademark Suggests

From roadtovr

Recent reports maintain we may be seeing a mixed reality headset from Apple sometime soon, however it appears the Cupertino tech giant has filed a global trademark for realityOS, its alleged XR operating system, which could suggest we’ll learn more about that and its XR device(s) as early as next week.

The trademark was discovered by Parker Ortolani, a brand licensing manager at Vox Media. As first reported by The Verge, Ortolani’s investigative work points to a possible reveal or mention of realityOS at WWDC’s keynote, taking place June 6th.

The trademark for realityOS, which is supposed to be used with “wearable computer hardware”, wasn’t filed by Apple directly. Instead, it was filed back in December 2021 by an entity called “Realityo Systems LLC”, which seems to have all of the hallmarks of a shell company specifically created to obfuscate the actual trademark holder. In the past, the company has used similar shells to register its successive macOS update names including Yosemite, Big Sur, and Monterey.

As Ortolani points out in a Twitter tread, the trademark was initially filed just two months before “realityOS” began showing up in Apple source code. The June 8th deadline to renew this filing is conveniently slated to take place only two days after the upcoming WWDC keynote.

“Apple typically files trademarks for products announced at WWDC a day or two after the keynote. This would be one helluva coincidence,” Ortolani concludes.

Image courtesy USPTO via Parker Ortolani

Unless someone is looking for a trademark dispute that they’ll surely lose against Apple, it’s possible we’re seeing the dominoes fall in place for the company to formally announce realityOS, and possibly allude to its first XR headset.

Earlier this month, a report from The Information alleged that Apple showed off a host of AR/VR prototypes to its board as far back as 2016. The report maintained that, more recently, project lead Mike Rockwell and then-Apple hardware designer Jony Ive found themselves in a bit of a tussle when it came to just how the company’s first immersive headset would function. It’s said the headset, codenamed N301, was in the end set to become a standalone headset with VR displays and passthrough AR camera sensors, making it a ‘mixed reality’ headset.

We’ve assembled some of the key takeaways from reports past. Like all things Apple, we’re unable to verify any of the claims below, so please take them with a big grain of salt:

What We (think we) Know About N301 Mixed Reality Headset

Report Details Apple MR Headset Design Challenges & Internal Hurdles

From roadtovr

Apple is a notorious black box when it comes to internal projects, although sometimes details based on supply chain rumors shed a sliver of light on what might be happening with the company’s AR/VR headset behind closed doors. Much less common coming from Apple are direct internal leaks, however a report from The Information alleges that 10 people on Apple’s mixed reality headset project team have detailed some of the past design challenges and possible direction the headset may take moving forward.

The report (via 9to5Mac) details some anecdotes reaching back as far as 2016, when the company allegedly first showed off a number of AR and VR prototypes to industry leaders and Apple elite.

Former Vice President Al Gore, then–Disney CEO Bob Iger and other Apple board members walked from room to room, trying out prototype augmented and virtual reality devices and software. One of the gadgets made a tiny digital rhinoceros appear on a table in the room. The creature then grew into a life-size version of itself, according to two people familiar with the meeting. In the same demo, the drab surroundings of the room transformed into a lush forest, showing how users could seamlessly transition from AR, in which they can still view the physical world around them, to the more immersive experience of VR—a combination known as mixed reality.

It was more of a conceptual showcase at the time, the report maintains, as some prototypes ran on Windows while others were based on the original HTC Vive. Like the ‘The Sword of Damocles’ built by Ivan Sutherland in the late 60s—the founding father of virtual reality—one such prototype was also supposedly so heavy it was “suspended by a small crane so the Apple board members could wear it without straining their necks.”

None of that’s particularly uncommon practice when it comes to hardware development—just ask Magic Leap insiders from the early days—however the report notes the company’s MR headset hasn’t gained the same support from Apple’s current CEO, Tim Cook, that Steve Jobs had for iPhone’s development. The report says Cook “rarely visits the group at its offices away from the main Apple campus.”

There’s also allegedly been some political infighting that has stymied development, which we’ve heard in a previous report from 2019 when it was alleged Apple was pumping the breaks on the headset due to discord between then-Apple hardware designer Jony Ive and project lead Mike Rockwell. Ive has since departed the company in 2019 to pursue his own design company, LoveFrom.

Rockwell, Meier and Rothkopf soon encountered pushback from Ive’s team. The three men had initially wanted to build a VR headset, but Ive’s group had concerns about the technology, said three people who worked on the project. They believed VR alienated users from other people by cutting them off from the outside world, made users look unfashionable and lacked practical uses. Apple’s industrial designers were unconvinced that consumers would be willing to wear headsets for long periods of time, two of the people said.

While the teams proposed adding passthrough cameras to the front of the headset, codenamed N301, Apple industrial designers were decidedly more intrigued with a concept for what sources tell The Information was an “outward-facing screen on the headset. The screen could display video images of the eyes and facial expressions of the person wearing the headset to other people in the room.”

The report doesn’t go any further than 2019, however The Information’s Wayne Ma is supposedly publishing a piece soon that covers “pivotal moment for the Apple headset.”

Like we said, Apple is a black box, which means it doesn’t comment on on-going projects or respond meaningfully to media requests for clarity. Looking back at previously reports however may provide a rough picture of what to expect. The information below is based on reports, so please take it with a grain of salt.

What We (think we) Know About N301 Mixed Reality Headset

Report: Apple’s VR Headset Delayed to 2023 Amid Development Challenges

From roadtovr

Apple’s upcoming VR headset was purportedly slated to arrive sometime this year. Now according to a recent Bloomberg report, those launch plans may be delayed by a few months, potentially pushing release to 2023.

According to the report, Apple’s VR headset was originally set to get its big reveal at Apple’s Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC) this June, and would be subsequently released sometime later in 2022.

Citing people familiar with the situation, the report maintains that development challenges related to “overheating, cameras and software” have been stumbling blocks, likely pushing its 2022 launch to 2023.

Thermal challenges are owed to the standalone headset’s chipset, which is said to be similar in power to the M1 Pro chip released in the latest MacBook Pro.

It’s said that Apple is sourcing the device’s on-board cameras for passthrough AR from LG Innotek, however production may begin “as early as the second quarter of this year.”

As for software, the standalone is said to run its own operating system called rOS, which is said to focus on communication tools and media consumption.

Bloomberg’s source maintains that the Cupertino-based tech giant is planning to bring focus during its 2023 developer conference to filling out a bespoke virtual and augmented reality app store for the device.

Apple has purportedly informed supply-chain partners of the delay, however vendors have been instructed to have units available at the end of this year in preparation for launch.

Previous reports held that Apple’s upcoming VR headset will have AR capabilities, making it a precursor to its long-rumored full-fledged AR glasses. It’s rumored to be equipped with more than a dozen cameras for room-scale tracking, hand-tracking, eye-tracking, and passthrough AR. The device, which is allegedly fitted with dual 8K displays, is also said to cost $3,000.

Like all things Apple, none of that has been confirmed by the company, so we’ll just have to wait and see what specs and price Apple is targeting.

Meanwhile, Meta (formerly Facebook) is working on its own VR/AR headset, codenamed Project Cambria, which may be positioned as direct competition to Apple’s own when the time comes.

Granted, Meta has been leading the charge with consumer-focused devices that typically fit somewhere around console prices whilst Apple is, well, Apple. If these admittedly tantalizing reports can be believed, it appears both Apple and Meta are using VR headsets with passthrough AR (sometimes referred to as mixed reality) will play out as valuable test beds for future AR glasses—a thus far enterprise-focused segment that’s aiming to eventually replace the smartphone as the dominant portable computing device.

Report: Apple Hires Meta’s XR Head of Public Relations

From roadtovr

Apple may be nearing launch of its long-awaited XR headsets, as the company has reportedly hired Meta’s head of communications for its consumer XR products.

Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman reports in his weekly ‘Power On’ newsletter that Apple has hired Andrea Schubert, Communications Director at Meta’s consumer hardware division for XR, including Portal, AR and VR devices.

Schubert has yet to comment on the report or change her employment status on LinkedIn. We’ve reached out and will update this piece when/if we receive reply.

Schubert joined Meta (then Facebook) in March 2016 for the launch of the company’s first consumer VR headset, Oculus Rift. Over the years Schubert has overseen public relations for the company spanning VR devices including Oculus Rift S, Oculus Go, Quest, and Quest 2. She’s also handled comms for all of Meta’s biggest XR events, including CES, Connect, F8, Sundance, and GDC.

Hiring Schubert, arguably the most connected and experienced XR comms director in the field, could signal that Apple is setting up the last bits of infrastructure ahead of an XR product launch.

At this point it’s fairly clear Apple is preparing its own immersive headsets. Reports have suggested in the past that an Apple VR headset with limited AR capabilities will arrive sometime in 2022, priced at around $3,000 and sporting dual 8K displays. There’s also been talk of Apple ordering high-PPI microdisplays, suggesting the headset will have a less bulky form factor than ones that use conventional VR displays, such as Quest 2.

Apple’s alleged VR headset is said to come as a precursor to a full-fledged AR device. It’s an open secret that the company has been working on AR optics, and releasing AR headset codenames, display dimensions, and fields of view in successive versions of iOS.

In typical Apple fashion the company still hasn’t acknowledged any such claims or supposed information leaks though. We’ll be keeping our eyes peeled on Apple’s event website in 2022 for what may be the big ‘one more thing’ moment we’ve all been waiting for.

Report: Apple’s Rumored VR Headset Could Feature 3,000 PPI MicroOLED

From roadtovr

Apple is hosting what promises to be its big iPhone 13 event today. While we’re once again holding out hope for that ‘one more thing’ to see if the company reveals anything about its upcoming AR or VR wearables, it seems a supply chain rumor contends that Apple’s alleged VR headset may be gearing up to sport a microOLED display with a pretty high pixel density.

Apple has a tight reign on internal leaks, which typically force tech pundits to look at the greater supply chain to get an idea of where the Cupertino tech giant is headed next. That typically also means you’ll have to take whatever pops out of those rumors with a big grain of salt.

Just this year multiple reports have maintained that Apple’s long-rumored VR headset may arrive as early as 2022, cost $3,000, and include limited AR capabilities, something that’s said to act as a precursor to a full-fledged AR device.

Korean publication The Elec is now reporting that Apple has requested a sample of a display component called a fine metal mask (FMM) from the South Korean company APS Holdings, something that’s used for depositing organic RGB material onto OLED displays. The type allegedly requested by Apple is supposed to reach a pixel density of 3,000ppi.

It’s not unusual for micro displays to features pixel densities of that size, so the notable bit here is Apple may be looking to maintain a slim and light profile for its VR headset, which may depart from the high resolution smartphone-size displays used in current consumer VR headsets.

Apple intends on testing the FMM sample, and then forming a more concrete plant for the VR device’s development, The Elec maintains in its report.

Japan’s Dai Nippon Printing is widely considered the number one manufacture of the sort of FMM (Gen 6) reportedly requested by Apple, however these are produced using a process called ‘wet etching’. It’s thought that Apple instead wanted a laser patterning FMM from ABS Holding, as laser drilling the holes “will make 3000ppi more achievable,” The Elec reports.

We’ll be watching the Apple event today and keeping our eyes peeled for AR/VR news. You can follow along live here on YouTube.