The majority of innovation in terms of augmented reality (AR) at Apple has been limited to the iPhone or the iPad. However, several analysts have been speculating about some sort of AR or VR wearable to make its debut into the company’s product portfolio soon.
Hofacker, a former intern at Facebook Reality Labs in Seattle, recently released a concept video presentation revolving around the idea of Apple AR smartglasses. The video showcases a user putting on a pair of these glasses and engaging with an entirely virtual operating system floating over his real desk.
The fictional operating system, called macOS Reality, looks as polished as anything out of Apple’s playbook. Similar to the other ARKit-powered experiences, the platform boots up by first scanning the surrounding environment.
Following the scan, the users can navigate to a screen that instructs them on the usability of the virtual interface using pinch gestures like the ones featured on the first HoloLens.
The concept also features a virtual trackpad placed as a flat virtual square placed right where a physical trackpad would have been if the user had a physical system in place.
The user was also showcased browsing a web page and then pulling out a piece of 3D content (a dinosaur) off it and interacting with it separately using the gestures. Such interesting features could probably revolutionize the way we use desktops today.
Nevertheless, interacting with characters in this manner is not new since Google already offers many such features as a part of its Search platform on compatible devices.
The concept also depicted a pair of virtual hands to create an impression of the real ones for the user. A control band similar to that on the Oculus VR home environment was also spotted on one of these virtual hands.
Features that are usually found in the new right-side slide-out tray on macOS Big Sur, such as Music and Calendar, were shown on the band as if it was a smart wearable inside the virtual environment.
Only time will tell if Apple actually ends up creating such technology. But if they do, it’s going to fly off the shelf much faster than any of their existing products.
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