Apple has recently welcomed virtual reality and augmented reality expert Doug Bowman into its fold, which suggests that the company is now seriously taking a look at the field after many have said that Apple is lagging behind in the industry compared to its peers.
Virtual reality and augmented reality is considered as the next big shift in computing platforms, and Facebook, Alphabet, Microsoft and Samsung have already made considerable investments and developments in the field.
Apple's hiring of Bowman, one of the top virtual reality researchers in the United States, was reported by the Financial Times, which said that Bowman was joining Apple after going on a sabbatical from his position as a professor for computer science at Virginia Tech.
During Bowman's five-year tenure as the director of the center for human-computer interaction at Virginia Tech, his research focused on the design of a three-dimensional user interface and the benefits of virtual reality environment immersion.
In addition to his experience in fully immersive virtual reality, which is utilized by the virtual reality headsets Oculus Rift of Facebook and Vive of HTC, Bowman also has experience in working with augmented reality, where digital images are applied on top of real-world images. Augmented reality is the technology utilized by Microsoft's HoloLens, Google Glass and the secretive Magic Leap startup.
Apple is not the first tech company to notice Bowman's contributions to the virtual reality industry, as the researcher has previously received a Microsoft research grant worth $100,000 and several industry accolades. Bowman has also previously worked with the Imagineering team of Disney for various projects.
Apple is known for its secrecy, and so its ambitions in virtual reality and augmented reality are mostly unknown aside from some patent filings that cover virtual displays, mobile mapping and computer vision. As such, how far along Apple is in the development of any product utilizing the technology is well kept. Several recent acquisitions, however, have shown glimpses of Apple's interests in the field.
In November 2015, Apple purchased Faceshift, the motion capture group that created the animated avatars for "Star Wars: The Force Awakens." Before that, Apple acquired German augmented reality firm Metaio, and back in 2013, the company bought PrimeSense, which is known for its role in the development of Microsoft's Kinect motion input device for the Xbox 360 gaming console. Apple also recently acquired startup Perceptio, which focuses on machine learning and computer vision.
With these acquisitions and the hiring of Bowman, it would seem that Apple is gearing up for an aggressive push into virtual reality and augmented reality, with analysts stating that it could be as soon as this year.
