Tim Cook, CEO of Apple has been supporting AR and the release of the ARKit through many CEO interviews with news outlets and analysts around the globe. The latest was with the UK-based Independent news site. Their article ‘Apple’s Tim Cook On iPhones, Augmented Reality, And How He Plans To Change Your World‘ gives a detailed summary of the interview and the position Apple has in the world of AR / VR. As we know from earlier interviews, Apple’s Tim Cook favors AR over VR without ruling out any VR engagement from Apple in the future.
In the interview he positions Apple as the innovator and logical leader in the AR world driven by its ARKit. The access to software, sensors, camera, etc. allows their developers to develop apps and hopefully a few killer apps to establish AR as a mainstream technology. Don’t forget that he is the CEO of Apple and his opinion, while carrying a lot of weight, is still one that first and foremost supports his company.
Apple ARKit
As the interview points out, AR is designed to be a window into a new world (some may even say ‘strange new world’) that will eventually change our society in a similar fashion to the way that the smartphone and tablet already have. As one example, Cook mentions the IKEA app that allows users to virtually try out furniture at home without leaving the house or buying anything. He believes this may change the way we shop in a very fundamental way, with real life consequences for many people.
On the other hand, he downplayed Apple entering the AR market with an AR headset any time soon. In his words, the display technology and the rest of the AR technology do not exist to create AR headsets in a quality way.
Analyst Comment
While his statements are not really surprising as they are a realistic assessment of the market place today, I have to add one thing to his statements. AR on Apple devices did not start with the ARKit by any means. Vito Technologies won the Apple design award for its Star Walk app designed for the iPad in 2010. I was an early user and was impressed with how the overlay of augmented information on the night sky made an instant star gazer out of me. Want to know where Orion’s belt is? No problem. One could say that it only took Apple seven years to realize the great potential this technology may have. This form of AR is not new but quite old. Still we have to give Apple kudos for waiting for the right moment to introduce a new technology and make it a household staple for a large audience. (NH)
