Apple's AR Glasses Said to Arrive This Year

News
By published

According to a new report, Apple is teaming with Zeiss on a pair of augmented reality glasses that may launch this year.

Late last year, we heard rumblings that Apple is working on a pair of augmented reality glasses. Now, it appears the company won't be doing it alone. According to a new report, Apple is teaming with optics company Carl Zeiss to work on a high-tech pair of glasses.

Carl Zeiss AR Glasses from CES 2016/Credit: Sherri Smith

(Image credit: Carl Zeiss AR Glasses from CES 2016/Credit: Sherri Smith)

Scoble's report doesn't offer many details, though the fact that he makes specific mention of a "light" pair of glasses suggests that Apple's goggles may be a mainstream-friendly lifestyle product, much like Snap's Spectacles. Snap Inc.'s new wearable became an instant hit when it launched late last year, thanks to its ability to record first-person Snapchat videos and the fact that it more or less looks like a normal pair of sunglasses.

MORE: The Best New Tech From CES

Zeiss, Apple's potential partner, is no stranger to high-tech glasses and cameras. The company's products include a line of lens add-ons for smartphones, as well as Zeiss VR One, the company's own mobile VR headset.

At least year's CES, we went hands-on with a prototype pair of glasses from Smart Optics, a startup venture from the Carl Zeiss Group. It had a small, strategically-placed OLED display and a fresnel lens (a flat lens comprised of a series of concentric circles), creating a non-obtrusive augmented data delivery system. During the demo, the glasses received data from a nearby phone.

Apple CEO Tim Cook has been championing AR for quite some time, calling it a "core technology" in an interview last year with the Washington Post. Cook also hinted that AR is "something we're doing a lot of things on behind [the] curtain."

Apple isn't the only major player apparently looking to bring augmented reality to the masses. Scoble notes that Meta, a company whose AR glasses have blown us away in the past, are working on a similarly mainstream product with optics company Lumus.

Bloomberg's original report from last November suggested a possible 2018 launch for Apple's AR glasses. But based on Scoble's new info, it appears that Apple's specs may be ready for a 2017 reveal. With the 10th-anniversary iPhone likely launching this September, perhaps Apple is looking to make an extra-big splash with its milestone handset by pairing it with a set of glasses that blend iOS apps with the real world.

Source: 9to5Mac

Michael Andronico
Michael Andronico

Mike Andronico is Senior Writer at CNNUnderscored. He was formerly Managing Editor at Tom's Guide, where he wrote extensively on gaming, as well as running the show on the news front. When not at work, you can usually catch him playing Street Fighter, devouring Twitch streams and trying to convince people that Hawkeye is the best Avenger.