As early as November 2013, Apple spent $345 million to acquire PrimeSense, an Israeli real-time 3D motion capture technology company. You may not have heard of the company, but Kinect, the famous Xbox game console, was developed and manufactured by this company; at the same time, The face unlock feature of Apple’s devices can actually be regarded as Apple’s shrinking of the Kinect into the device.
At the same time, Apple has also acquired: Swedish facial recognition technology company Polar Rose, German augmented reality technology company Metaio, Swiss facial recognition technology company Faceshift and other companies, including many companies that produce special effects for “Star Wars” movies.
In terms of talent collection, Apple not only announced the recruitment notice for head-mounted display equipment on the official website, but also attracted a large number of talented people, such as Nick Thompson, technical director of audio for Microsoft HoloLens team, founder of VR startup Jaunt, and also There are talents such as Andre Schubert, head of corporate communications at Meta AR.
In addition to acquiring companies and recruiting talents, Apple has also made simultaneous attempts in AR and VR. We can see that after the release of iPhone X in 2017, Apple’s AR face function was once hot and rushed to the hot search. AR tools are also convenient for everyone to experience the thrill of combining virtual and reality.
According to public information, Apple has applied for a number of patents related to VR and AR, including head-mounted displays, mobile mapping solutions, iPhone-driven virtual displays, and real-time object recognition based on artificial intelligence technology. Love Audio Network will share relevant information for you below.
When Apple entered the headset device on the Internet, there was also such an “appearance map of Apple headset” on the Internet. He has a front cover full of technology, and the area that fits the face is equipped with cotton pads to adapt to Various face shapes, as well as a blue headband to secure the device.
According to a research report by display analyst Ross Young, Apple’s mixed reality headset to be launched in 2022 will be equipped with two micro OLED displays and one AMILED panel. The display configuration will include two micro OLED displays and an AMOLED panel; interestingly, Sony recently showed a 4K display with 4000 pixels per inch, designed for use with VR headsets, or will provide Apple will Micro OLED display used.
Since the display configuration will include two micro OLED displays and an AMOLED panel, Apple’s headset may be able to seamlessly switch between AR and VR in use, and users can experience a similar experience when using AR mode in real life. The game experience of “Pokémon GO” can be experienced in a relatively stable environment similar to that of “Ready Player One”.
From the US Patent Office, we can learn that in April 2019, Apple submitted a patent called “Computer Systems With Finger Devices”, which is a finger-mounted device containing sensors and haptic feedback as an interactive tool. Apple proposed The system features a series of sensors attached to key points on the back of the user’s hand to detect finger movement and provide tactile feedback.
The system may include a finger device. A touch sensor may be mounted in the finger device housing to collect input from external objects as the object moves along the outer surface of the housing; the touch sensor may include capacitive sensor electrodes. Sensors such as force sensors, ultrasonic sensors, inertial measurement units, optical sensors, and other components can be used to collect the user’s finger input.
Finger input from a user can be used to manipulate virtual objects in a mixed reality or virtual reality environment, while haptic output devices provide associated haptic output in the finger device. Users can interact with real-world objects, while computer-generated content overlays some or all of the objects. Object rotation and other motions can be translated into input to mixed reality or virtual reality systems using force measurements with finger devices or other sensor measurements.
Another Apple patent application, titled “Adjustable Electronic Device System With Facial Mapping,” relates to optimizing the fit of a headset to the user’s head; the headset or an external device that communicates with the headset A three-dimensional image sensor may be included. A three-dimensional image sensor can capture a three-dimensional image of a user’s face. Control circuitry can analyze the 3D image and identify the appropriate facial fit module based on facial features to optimize the fit of the head mounted device to the user’s head.
At the end of 2021, according to media information, the development of Apple’s M2 processor is nearly complete, and the process will be upgraded from the 5nm process of the M1 chip to the 4nm process. The M2 Staten may still use an 8-core design, but the main frequency will be higher. The number of GPU cores will be increased to 9~10, which means that its CPU and graphics performance will be improved compared to the M1, making it more suitable for platforms with higher GPU requirements.
Immediately after the news of the completion of the M2 processor development, a supply chain expert broke the news that “Apple’s AR / VR headset will be equipped with the M2 chip Staten version (codenamed Staten “state”), plus a co-processor Bora chip, while the two The chips are manufactured by TSMC and are expected to be mass-produced by the end of the fourth quarter of 2022.”