In a speech at an Italian university, Apple CEO Tim Cook said that in the not too long time, people will be wondering how they lived their lives without augmented reality, stressing the "profound" impact it will have on the not too distant future.
At the university, Cook was awarded an honorary doctorate in innovation and international management. Following this, Cook was involved in a question and answer session with the students. When asked by a student what future technologies he was most excited about, Cook pointed to artificial intelligence, calling it a "fundamental, horizontal technology that will touch everything in our lives," from innovations in the Apple Watch to "many other things" Apple is working on. Most importantly, though, Cook emphasized his excitement about augmented reality. Cook suggested that augmented reality will impact the world as much as the internet itself, saying that people will wonder how they lived without it. While he was discussing augmented reality, the live stream of the Q&A session abruptly cut off, so Cook's full comment on the topic is not publicly known.
Tim Cook: “In not too long, you will wonder how you lived your life without AR”
I'm super excited about augmented reality. I think we had a great conversation today, but if we could have supplemented it with something from the virtual world, it would have been even better. I think when you look back - and this will be in the not too distant future - to a point in time when you can zoom into the future, you'll wonder how you lived your life without augmented reality. Just like we wonder today how people like me grew up without the internet. So I think it could be so profound, and it's not going to happen overnight.
Cook has expressed his personal enthusiasm for augmented reality in the past and hinted that Apple is working on AR/VR products. The company's first AR/VR product, a high-end headset rumored to be called "Reality Pro," is expected to be announced as early as January. The headset has been in development for several years and will be Apple's first major new product since the launch of the Apple Watch in 2014, dubbed "One more thing." "Reality Pro" is expected to feature a lightweight design, two 4K micro-OLED displays, 15 optical modules, two main processors, WiFi 6E connectivity, eye tracking, and more. The headset will run the realityOS operating system, which has already been confirmed through App Store protocols confirmed The device is expected to cost around $3,000, although a cheaper variant is reportedly already in the works. (Photo by Andrey Suslov / Bigstockphoto)
