From Tripp Mickle and Brian X. Chen's "Apple Starts Connecting the Dots for Its Next Big Thing," probably for Sunday's paper:
Nearly 15 years after the iPhone sparked the smartphone revolution, Apple is assembling the pieces for what it hopes will become its next business-altering device: a headset that blends the digital world with the real one.
The company has enlisted Hollywood directors such as Jon Favreau to develop video content for a headset that it is expected to ship next year, according to three people familiar with that work. Mr. Favreau, an executive producer of “Prehistoric Planet” on Apple TV+, is working to bring that show’s dinosaurs to life on the headset, which looks like a pair of ski goggles and aims to offer virtual- and augmented-reality experiences, these people said.
Separately, at its annual conference for developers on Monday, Apple plans to unveil software tools that would allow apps to add new camera and voice functionality, laying the groundwork for a hands-free interface that customers will eventually be able to navigate on the headset, according to two people familiar with the project and documents reviewed by The New York Times.
My take: For the next Apple form factor, a consensus seems to be forming around ski goggles in early 2023.
As a ‘niche VR headset’ consumer product, fine. To augment reality you need to see reality. So the goggles can give the unwitting user a view of the slopes below, uh real world, with popups warning of black diamond trails and that tree that took out Sonny Bono. No, thanks, I don’t want anything distracting the view out of my ski goggles on the back bowls of Vail & I’m not going to the Boardwalk wearing ski goggles and/or a mask. Cops used to tackle people running in balaclavas and ski masks.
I say this as two woman walk past my chair on their way to the beach wearing sunglasses nearly the size of ski goggles.
Creepy Ray Bans with hidden cameras and earpieces will not be tolerated by a striking number of people. Sell the goggles to legions of gamers, Apple AirVR may come to define a new era of thrilling gaming along with whatever Meta peddles.
I’ll take clip ons that attach to any eyeglasses, sync with AirPods, provide hands free, voice-driven AR enhancements as I tend my hives or navigate through fog & moose to Ossipee.
Innovation has been lost under Tim Cook and Apple is under intense scrutiny from investors and consumers to deliver the magic that’s been nonexistent after Jobs passed.