Piecing Together Apple's Real Virtual Reality Plans

Out in the world of Virtual Reality, the Samsung Gear VR is rapidly becoming the device that is driving consumer adoption. But just to be clear, it’s not that sophisticated a device. It is simply a device that allows you to hold your Samsung phone up to your eyes. If you’re an iPhone user, you’re out of luck. Only Google cardboard gives iPhone users a chance to even explore VR. But  Apple may not be left out of the VR world for much longer.

As Apple prepares for the iPhone 7 release, a series of data points gives us more than rumors to drive the buzz around a pending Apple VR product.

The company never officially acknowledged its interest in the VR market – until Apple’s quarterly earnings conference call in January 2016. On the call, Apple CEO Tim Cook was asked a question regarding VR. He answered: “In terms of VR, I don't think it's a niche. It's really cool and has some interesting applications.” Apple fans say this is as close to a confirmation as we’re going to get until a product comes out of the labs and is announced.

So let’s go digging for some evidence.

First, Apple is staffing up. In November 2014, Apple posted a job listing for app engineers experienced with 3D graphics, virtual reality, and augmented reality. It specifically asked for developers to build “high-performance apps that integrate with Virtual Reality systems for prototyping and user testing.” Then Apple went on a hiring spree - landing Microsoft ’s Nick Thompson, an engineer that worked on the HoloLens audio hardware for three years. Apple hired Bennett Wilburn, another Microsoft employee, who focused on “machine learning technology for human activity recognition.” And finally Graham Myhre, who worked at Lytro developing specialized lenses and sensors. So Apple is recruiting VR rockstars.

Then, the shopping spree continued with a checkbook looking for VR companies to acquire.

In 2013, the company bought PrimeSense, the company that developed the original Xbox Kinect, for $345 million. In 2015, The company acquired Metaio, a German company. Metaio was a relatively well-known augmented reality company, powering many popular AR apps – including AR apps for Ikea and Ferrari. Then, Apple acquired Flyby Media, a company with technology that allows smartphones to 'see' the world around them.

So you see the pattern - tech, talent, and teams, all being onboarded at Apple.

And, in a rare development, Apple is sending its emissaries off campus. Stanford University's Virtual Human Interaction Lab is known as the white hot center of VR/AR development. Jeremy Bailenson is the director of the program. Speaking at the event, the Wall Street Journal reported that Bailenson remarked: "Apple hasn't come to my lab in 13 years - except they've come three times in the last three months. They come and they don't say a word, but there's a data point for you."

So what will an Apple VR offering look like? Will it be tied to the iPhone as some suspect, or will it be its own VR headset? Patent filings discovered from back in 2013 suggest a head-mounted display is being contemplated. The Apple patent (USPTO 8,605,008) talks about "A goggle system for providing a personal media viewing experience to a user is provided. The goggle system may include an outer cover, a mid-frame, optical components for generating the media display, and a lens on which the generated media displayed is provided to the user."

So, what’s the timeline on a product? Macrumor.com reports that Piper Jaffray analyst Gene Munster thinks Apple plans to put iOS at the center of several forthcoming augmented reality and VR product offerings.