Washington - Augmented reality is one of Apple's big new areas of focus,
which it highlighted earlier this month at its Worldwide Developers Conference.
But how will Apple use AR, which involves using a screen to overlay digital
objects onto the real world? A new report from UBS Securities analyst Steven
Milunovich raises some interesting possibilities.
Apple has already shown at what AR can do by demonstrating
how to use an iPhone to overlay an interactive game board on a real table, for
example. But Milunovich suggested 10 additional applications for Apple's AR
play, including some we've already seen come to life, such as games and retail.
He also sees applications for job training, facial
recognition, medical diagnoses and the ability to direct people to safety in
case of emergency situations, similar to what Google Glass did to help
firefighters find the fastest exits from a building.Apple did not immediately respond to a request for comment
on the report.
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Combining various applications could also be useful,
Milunovich wrote. "Emergency first aid, a combination of remote healthcare
and instantaneous education, could save lives. There are legal issues that
would need to be overcome but seem solvable," he said.
Further down the road, Milunovich said, there could be room
for iGlass that is, Apple's take on a Google Glass-type headset. Could Apple
succeed where Google failed? Advances in headset technology, plus some classic
Apple design chops, could make the devices more appealing to the non-geek,
Milunovich indicated.
The market for augmented-reality glasses is expected to grow
over the next several years. International Data Corp. predicted this week that
the market for AR and virtual reality will grow from 10 million headsets in
2016 to 100 million in 2021.
AR will be slightly behind VR, the firm said, but analysts
added that most consumers will probably get introduced to the concept through
their smartphones.
The tools for augmented reality that Apple introduced
earlier this month open up a range of possibilities to developers and highlight
the tech giant's interest in the area, which Apple chief executive Tim Cook
once said was "a big idea like the smartphone."
Apple will need to impress with its 10th-anniversary iPhone,
Milunovich said, and in a best-case scenario, a truly innovative iPhone would
help the company reclaim its mantle for innovation.
But it could face some fierce competition. OnePlus announced
its much-hyped OnePlus 5, which sports premium power and Android simplicity at
$479.
If rumours are true, that's about half the price of what we
could see from the next iPhone. It's also far cheaper than the iPhone 7 Plus,
which sports the same size 5.5.-inch screen and starts at $769.
Playing up the AR features for the iPhone using Apple's
innovative design techniques could be one way to further push Apple to the
front of the pack, Miunovich said. The smartphone screen could become a tool
for making users more aware of the wider world rather than distracting them
from it.
"[We] can picture the phone looking like a clear piece
of glass when looking through the camera," he said in the note.
"Rather than staring down at a screen while we walk across the street or
stand in line, we would be far more engaged with the world around us."