Cupertino giant Apple is secretly working on virtual and augmented reality gear which will challenge Facebook-owned Oculus Rift and Microsoft HoloLens, reported the Financial Times.
Apple has hired a team which runs in the hundreds, and is bolstered by talent hired away from companies working on altered-reality technology and buying startups in the fields, report says.
It also has a number of patents to its name which it could put to use for the benefit of the VR department.
“I don’t think it’s a niche,” Apple CEO Tim Cook said of virtual reality in response to a question from an analyst at the earnings call last week. “I think it is really cool and has some interesting applications.”
Apple has been building headset prototypes for months, according to the Times.
Virtual reality is the next platform that every big company is targeting and this year’s CES show was full of such reality altering experiences in the varied fields be it entertainment or otherwise.
Virtual reality (VR) headsets immersed people in fictional worlds, while augmented reality (AR) eyewear overlaid digital data on the scenes around them.
This year will see release of consumer versions of virtual reality headset like the Facebook-owned Oculus, HTC and Valve’s ViveVR and Sony’s PlayStation VR but the cost of all of has been a concern for now. While video game players have been natural early targets for virtual reality, the technology is being put to use for education, medicine, sports, pornography and more.
Not only virtual reality, Microsoft’s augmented reality headset HoloLens will be out this year.