Apple seen to aggressively pursue virtual & augmented reality tech

Experts predicted Apple to be aggressive in creating virtual and augmented reality products in the years to come.

Apple Insider reported that FBR & Co's Daniel Ives told investors that Apple will pursue augmented and virtual reality technology through organic and acquisitive strategies in 2016. He believes that these products are the "natural next progression in consumer technology." He also sees it as the best fit to the iPhone ecosystem. Apple has not made any official announcement that it will go into this technology, but it has acquired VR-related firms in the past few years.

Virtual reality is getting more buzz that augmented reality though, according to The Wall Street Journal. However, both are getting sizeable amounts of investments and projects for new products. 21^st Century Fox Inc. recently bought a stake from Osterhout Design Group, which is a San Francisco-based augmented-reality firm. The film studio plans to bring the film experience into brand new levels. Last month, Osterhout design started shipping augmented reality headset-like devices that costs $2,750 each. Mountain View-based Atheer Inc. will also be shipping $4,000 headsets by April.

According to Ubergizmo, Samsung has already been developing virtual reality headsets, HTC is planning to launch its virtual reality headset Vive soon, and Microsoft is working on its HoloLens. There is no doubt that Apple will definitely pursue this technology to compete against other tech giants who are also aggressively pursuing these virtual and augmented reality products. There are no news yet on the types of VR products Apple will develop.

Meanwhile, Apple bought motion capture company Faceshift in November. The company also acquired German augmented reality company Metaio in May. Apple also bought PrimeSense in 2013.

Apple owns a wide variety of patents on augmented reality applications such as transparent displays, virtual displays for iPhone, and mobile mapping solutions. It even has patent for a smartphone that identifies physical objects in real time through computer vision.