Apple and Zeiss Are Working On An AR Headset

Apple has been hinting at an AR (Augmented Reality) headset for a while now. Tim Cook, CEO of Apple has been behind this teasing us with a possible headset but hitherto he would go, but no further. Now it seems that Apple’s augmented dream is indeed about to become a reality.

At the ongoing CES 2017, an employee of Zeiss optics confirmed that Apple and Zeiss are indeed working on an AR headset. Solid proof for everyone who wanted this to become a reality. The news was picked up by Robert Scoble, an AR/VR evangelist who confirmed it via a social media post. The best thing about this news is that Apple won’t be late to the party this time as scheduled release date for the glasses is actually as early as 2017.

The news about Apple delving into the arcane art of Augmented Reality is nothing new though. Hundreds of Apple employees were reportedly working on numerous augmented reality projects since 2015. With Apple’s CEO himself confirming it, this also could mean that AR is a better suited solution for consumers rather than VR.

Cook went on to say that soon AR will be as common as people using smartphones. A pretty bold claim if you think about it. We’ll just have to wait and see. According to Cook, Augmented reality would take some time to get right, and he also thinks that conversations can be more productive if both parties have an AR experience.

AR is better as it does not create barriers between people when they are interacting with each other. This doesn’t mean that he is anti-VR either. Rather, Cook rather excited about VR from an education point of view. It can be a very interesting tool and can be very big for games. But, he says he cannot imagine everyone getting in an enclosed VR experience while sitting in one place.