This week, Apple showcased its vision for the future. The Event was not so much about a technology or features like AR, but more about what Apple is doing to inspire & improve our daily lives and for communities and society in a profound way.
Augmented Reality is used in Apple's new campus and potentially in future Apple Retail Stores to inspire & engage
Beginning with showing stunning views from its new campus headquarters that was designed to inspire, Tim Cook did mention "Augmented Reality" is used in its visitor center (see video).
Here's the Augmented Reality app used at Apple campus. Imagine Apple Retail using AR in stores! 😉 #ios11 #ARkit pic.twitter.com/AR2aM478Z5
— VR/AR Association (@thevrara) September 12, 2017
Angela Ahrendts, SVP of Retail continued by describing Apple retail stores as town-squares, and said retail is Apple’s largest product. Angela summed up her talk by highlighting several Apple global projects underway, clearly demarking an era of Apple integrating itself further into our daily lives on a global scale.
“Imagine AR used in Apple Retail stores and town-squares, similar to how it’s used in its “spaceship” campus to inspire and engage visitors.”
New paradigm shift in user experience
In the same spirit, Tim Cook unveiled Apple Watch as the number one watch in the world. And now I want to buy one! Not only did the video Tim shared made me want to shed a tear, it poignantly brought to life how the Watch affected the lives of its users and in some cases-saved their lives. With Apple Watch series 3, I can now make and receive calls without my phone! And my life will be simpler because now I can stream 40M songs while using the airpods while doing my everyday.
“This new behavior — of not needing my iPhone to make calls or listen to music — is a paradigm shift in user experience that Apple is playing very carefully, potentially resulting in future products like smartglasses ”
Apple said the new iPhones were designed for Augmented Reality
Apple explains how the new iPhones are made for Augmented Reality pic.twitter.com/rrDliJBbJ9
— VR/AR Association (@thevrara) September 12, 2017
With high hopes, iPhoneX is ushering in the next generation of connected devices with its front and back all glass design on the diagonal super retina display. More features include: OLED, Face ID to unlock your phone, an A11 Bionic neural engine, animoji’s controlled by your face, camera’s with dual optical image stabilization, and a true depth camera system. This adds up to make AR experiences more fluid and experiential; redefining perception and reality.
Finally, Apple delivered a few AR examples via Major League Baseball’s At Bat app, Sky Guide star map app and The Machines multiplayer game. At Bat, overlay’s player stats over a live view of the game. Similarly, Sky Guide overlays a star map when users point at the night sky. And The Machines, superimposes a virtual landscape on a real environment.
The first multiplayer Augmented Reality game on iPhone 🙌🙌#games #gaming pic.twitter.com/7cPJwUXEAO
— VR/AR Association (@thevrara) September 13, 2017
Apple iPhone facial recognition Augmented Reality #emojis #Amojis are already hot 🔥 pic.twitter.com/wdHKNwlpRH
— VR/AR Association (@thevrara) September 13, 2017
Ultimately, Apple is denoting a paradigm shift in how we think about and use its products. It sees itself as a community builder and platform for human ingenuity. It is also creating a not so secret network of organization based around shared connectivity among its devices and people’s daily life (cue the heart monitor of AppleWatch, home life of AppleTV, easy ApplePay and of course, the always intuitive iPhoneX).
Perhaps the standout performance of this years Apple Event wasn’t any one product or technology, but the idea that every person deserves an opportunity at something better, something more, something Apple. It is yet to be seen how AR infuses itself into our daily lives and how Apple let's it grow organically.
