Philip Houska This year's CES in Las Vegas, Nevada brought a lot of new products, but it showed the world that virtual reality is gradually getting under the skin of ordinary people, who previously did not register this key element to deepen visual experiences. Along with game developers and hardware companies, this technology can leave a noticeable mark.
It is therefore somewhat surprising that one of the largest, traditionally trend-setting companies is overlooking the virtual reality market. We are talking about Apple, which for the time being in the field of virtual reality makes only very small hints that it has something planned...
"Virtual reality is something like the successor to PC gaming," revealed the co-founder of the world-famous manufacturer of gaming laptops Alienware Frank Azor in a joint statement with Palmer Luckey, the founder of Oculus, one of the most important players in the field of VR so far.
Both gentlemen have their reasons for such a statement, certainly supported by practice. According to Azor, games connected to virtual reality represent the same sales impulse that PC games showed twenty years ago. "Everything we create will be developed with virtual reality in mind," revealed Azor, who, in addition to Alienware, also heads Dell's XPS division.
The gaming revolution that occurred in the mid-nineties of the last century completely bypassed the currently most valuable company in the world - Apple. Since then, the company has been gradually developing and building its prestigious name, among other things, also in the field of the gaming industry and specifically on the iOS platform, which is experiencing successful periods in the field of gaming. Despite this fact, however, it is not on the same page as the developers who gave the world legendary, cult and famous games on both PC and game consoles. Above all, honesty, the Mac is simply not enough for passionate gamers, especially for the reason mentioned above, namely the "falling asleep" of the gaming boom.
The question now hangs in the air as to how long it will take for Apple to include products supporting virtual reality in its portfolio. Whether it's a gaming experience or a variety of travel and creative simulations, virtual reality is probably the next step in the tech world, and it wouldn't be good for Apple to fall asleep like it did in the gaming industry.
There is no doubt about the significant lead of the Californian Oculus, which became famous in this industry mainly thanks to the stellar development team led by the already mentioned Palmer Luckey and the programmer John Carmack, who helped the legendary 3D game Doom from 1993 to fame. His Rift headset becomes such a guide when it comes to discussing virtual reality. However, other names are also trying to assert themselves in this fight.
Google is entering the market with its Jump ecosystem, which is intended to help filmmakers in particular and allows you to shoot online 360-degree videos. Microsoft is slowly starting to distribute developer kits for the expected the HoloLens headset. Valve and HTC are investing in the production of the HTC Vive, which is expected to be a direct competitor to the Oculus Rift. Last but not least, Sony is also pushing forward with its PlayStation division, which means that this Japanese giant will focus on a truly brilliant gaming experience. After all, even Nokia is moving in the field of virtual reality. And so Apple is logically absent from this list.
Each of these companies will have to work hard to make their product the best it can be. Not only third-party developers are needed, but also a combination of quality hardware and software.
As is typical for Apple, it has always entered the market only with "mature", sophisticated and polished products. It was not important for him to be the first, but above all to do to correctly. Last year, however, he showed with more than one product that this long-standing mantra no longer applies so much. Everything may have been shiny on the surface, but especially on the software front, it was not without problems and bugs that need to be fixed in 2016.
Therefore, many speculate whether Apple should come up with its own idea of VR as soon as possible, even if it may not have the product completely ready yet. For example, Microsoft did the same with HoloLens. He showed his vision a year ago while continuing to develop it, and only this year we can expect the first serious, real-world use as the headsets reach developers.
This sort of thing hasn't usually been Apple's style, but experts believe that the later it enters the VR world, the worse things will be for it. As mentioned above, the biggest players are fighting for their share of the virtual reality market, and it will be crucial which platform offers the most attractive and interesting conditions for developers. Until Apple introduces its platform, it is uninteresting to the developer community.
There is another scenario though, which is that Apple would not participate in virtual reality at all and, like several technologies and trends before, completely ignore it, but given how fundamental and large the VR industry is expected to be (according to the company Tractics is expected to sell 2020 million VR headsets by 200), it is not so likely. After all, also the acquisition of companies Faceshift or Metaio suggest that Apple is dabbling in virtual reality, though these acquisitions are outwardly the only indicator so far.
Virtual reality is far from just about gaming. Apple may be interested, for example, in real-world simulations, be it travel or other practical uses. In the end, it can turn out to be an advantage that its engineers can study competing products for a long time, because if they don't do it for too long, Apple can finally come up with its polished VR product, which will fundamentally speak to the game.
2016 is undoubtedly the year in which the enjoyment of virtual reality could be taken to a completely different level. Companies such as Oculus, Google, Microsoft, HTC, Valve, and Sony are pushing the technology. Whether Apple will also explore this corner is still unknown, but if it wants to stay at the technological level, it should probably not miss VR.
Well, I don't know, I don't know, current VR solutions are very much in their infancy and so far it is not something that could really offer a product for the end customer, either in terms of price, execution and use. That and such toys as glasses, which were talked about so much and where they end.
Otherwise, I don't know what the author meant by the fact that in 2015 Apple offered bad products in terms of HW - Apple Watch is undoubtedly the best smart watch, and even though Apple is a newcomer in this field, it managed to take 50% of the market with a single version of this product. iPhone 6s, even though it's only ESKO, I think offered a lot of improvements and 3D Touch is very nice. Although the iPad Pro is narrow-profile, it is also a good product, the MacBook 2015 is very nice and functional on NetBoot - so the only place where it would like to innovate more is the iMac and MacBook Pro - Touch ID and better cameras, for example. Even so, "PC", Apple was the only one that grew, otherwise there was a general decline of this market.
Perhaps the author could clarify this.
You're right, most of it has been software-related, across virtually every product, whether it's the Watch, iPhones, iPads, Macs, or Apple TV. We have modified the wording.
Yep, there were plenty of mistakes. On the other hand, I still consider SW from Apple to be the best option - I'm not saying that he doesn't want to use it - he does.
Otherwise, VR probably doesn't even make sense to solve it yet - but I would really like it if Apple integrated something like Kinect into the TV. And a custom screen wouldn't hurt - relatively easy and if ATV is thinking about taking over the cable box market, it's offered.
There was a similar boom after 2010 with 3D. There is probably more potential hidden in VR, but definitely, as the author wrote, we are at the beginning. I think we will have to wait a long time for the finished products.