Shulou(Shulou.com)11/24 Report--

Apple is playing a big game, let developers use Siri to make AR applications, a few words to create a virtual scene!

Apple is going to integrate Siri into AR.

Is it the Siri that often gets stupid and screws up user requests?

Yes, according to The Information, Apple is developing software that allows users to create programs for headsets using Siri.

Well, it's the rumored xrOS Apple mixed reality show.

Siri is integrated into AR, and Apple is playing a big Apple hope that even people who don't understand the code can use Siri to make Touxian create a complete AR app.

In addition, the app can also be placed on App Store for other users to download.

Imagine that you can easily create an application that allows a virtual animal to move over an object in the room.

In the process, you don't need to design the animal from scratch, program the animation, and then calculate its movement in 3D space with obstacles.

If Apple succeeds, it will be a major step forward in AR application development.

At present, the development of AR applications is not so easy to go. If there is no fresh content, even if the new hardware, the appeal to users is limited.

While some of these tools are aimed at software developers, Apple's ambitions are more than that, and it wants consumers to use them as well.

Just like Apple's Final Cut Pro video editing tool, professionals can use it, and consumers can also use it.

Apple's ambitions are not groundless.

The technology behind this comes from a startup called Fabric Software that Apple acquired in 2017.

The Fabric Engine video game engine launched by Fabric Software allows developers not only to use algorithms to automatically build environments and models, but also to use visual programming systems to change the appearance of objects, characters and environments.

Peter Zion, one of the co-founders of Fabric, stayed at Apple after the acquisition and is currently leading the project.

Today, the film industry has made extensive use of programmed adults or vegetation to save time and money in building computer-generated images.

In addition, games such as unmanned Deep Space (No Man's Sky) also use this technology to quickly create new planets, creatures and spacecraft for users to explore.

If such a cool technology is successfully implemented on AR, Apple should not be worried about outstanding sales.

Why do you have to do so much work in order to stimulate consumption?

Obviously, Apple faces a big dilemma when it comes to promoting AR devices, because there are so few things people can do with AR.

In addition, Apple is also desperately trying to enrich the content on AR in order to make it seem that users' money is not wasted.

According to insiders, Apple executives attach great importance to health and health care and suggest adding meditation and exercise apps to AR.

For example, in one demonstration, users sit in a Zen garden via AR.

In another demonstration, users walk in Dr. Seuss's picture book, "Oh, the Places You'll Go," and the fantasy world is wonderfully integrated with the real world.

Clearly, Apple is now following the path of computers and smartphones.

By involving developers and other users in the development of AR applications, we can expand the usage and scenarios of AR devices and make it more popular.

But developers don't seem to buy it, and to support this ambition, Apple has launched a number of products.

In 2017, Apple released ARKit, the software to build AR apps on mobile devices.

In 2021, Apple released Object Capture that automatically builds 3D models of objects based on photos taken.

In 2022, Apple released an RoomPlan that uses cameras and lidar sensors to scan and generate a virtual floor plan of a room.

In addition, Apple itself has a team that is also working on how to actually restore real-world objects in 3D in the head display.

It can be seen that Apple has been encouraging AR-related development through iPhone and iPad, but in fact developers are not enthusiastic about it.

For example, research firm Creative Strategies surveyed more than 500 Apple developers in 2021 and found that 69% of them had never used ARKit.

Apple's Secret team A secret team internally codenamed Z50 is developing Apple's own AR content, The Information reported.

The team of dozens of people is stationed in an unnamed building in Culver City, California.

The members, mainly from the video game industry, are tasked with creating an AR version of Touxian based on the content of Apple's own streaming service, Apple TV +.

However, Apple pays more attention to the educational and storytelling experience than the most popular games in the VR / AR field.

So far, the Z50 team has publicly released an AR application.

The app, based on the science fiction Apple TV + series "For All Mankind", allows fans to read letters, watch slides and even operate an old Apple II computer on AR.

At the same time, Apple has also made active acquisitions to improve AR software and content. Part of it is to bring in new talent, not technology.

In 2015, Apple also acquired Munich-based Metaio, which makes tools for augmented reality applications, and Zurich-based Faceshift, which specializes in facial animation and motion capture.

In 2016, Apple acquired DigitalRune, a Swiss company founded by brothers Helmut and Martin Garstenauer, with the goal of making 3D games easier for users (the acquisition was not previously reported).

In 2018, Apple acquired another Swiss company, Flashwell, which uses machine learning to allow users to search for items directly through photos.

In 2020, Apple acquired two Southern California-based startups, NextVR, which provides live sports on VR, and Spaces, which provides VR video conferencing.

It's harder than VR,AR. Apple is busy integrating AR and VR into its head display, and its competitors are certainly busy.

In addition to launching the Quest VR head display, Xiaoza's Meta also provides the game authoring application Horizon Worlds, which allows users to build a simple 3D environment in VR without the need for computer code.

According to some former Apple engineers, Apple's content creation tools can be compared to Minecraft and Roblox, and you can easily create your own 3D world through a simple interface.

But Apple hopes that this tool can also be used on AR, so its development is more difficult than Meta's VR tool.

In VR, it would be nice to create a completely virtual world; but in AR, virtual objects need to be superimposed on the real world.

This leaves a lot of traps. If AR does not do well, once the user suddenly moves, the illusion may be broken, or see the virtual world collide with real objects.

According to insiders, Apple has been focused on AR but has little interest in VR, because in the eyes of Apple executives, VR is too isolated.

Obviously, this is different from what Meta does. Meta has been making great efforts to develop VR games as a major feature of Quest. Since 2019, Meta has acquired nine VR game studios.

The state of Apple's development tools is unknown.

But people familiar with the matter said they saw the demonstration in 2021.

For now, Apple seems to be planning to release the tool and headshow at the same time, but it depends on the progress of software development.

Reference:

Https://www.theinformation.com/articles/apple-devising-software-to-help-anyone-build-ar-apps-to-drive-headset-sales?rc=epv9gi

Https://www.theverge.com/2023/1/27/23574328/apple-ar-apps-siri-mixed-reality-headset

This article comes from the official account of Wechat: Xin Zhiyuan (ID:AI_era)

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