Apple Initiates Atlas Project Following Meta into the Smart Glasses Market
According to a report by Bloomberg, Apple Inc. has initiated a project codenamed “Atlas” to explore the possibility of entering the smart glasses market.
Secret Focus Group Launches “Atlas” Project
Insiders revealed that the project, codenamed Atlas, was launched last week to collect feedback on smart glasses from Apple employees. The company plans to establish more focus groups in the near future, with the research led by the Product Systems Quality Team of Apple’s Hardware Engineering Division. When considering whether to enter a new product category, Apple often sets up secret focus groups to understand people’s preferences for existing products. However, the company typically relies on employees rather than customers to prevent premature exposure of its plans.
Targeting Meta’s Orion Glasses
Recent research suggests that Apple is advancing its smart glasses efforts, possibly challenging Meta’s Orion glasses. Meta showcased its augmented reality Orion glasses, featuring a built-in camera and a weight reduced to 100 grams, at a September event. But these thick black-framed prototypes are not yet for sale to consumers; they will be used internally first, and the actual product launch may take several years.
(Meta launches more affordable virtual reality device Quest 3S, AI function evolves)
Is There Still a Play for the Metaverse?
For years, Apple has been working on creating a lighter augmented reality device that can be worn all day and could possibly replace the iPhone. Due to numerous technological challenges, the progress of this project has been slow.
The Vision Pro, priced at $3,499, which Apple released in February, is considered too bulky and expensive to become a mainstream product. Meta’s latest virtual reality headset, the Quest 3S, is priced at just $299. However, despite Meta’s Quest devices being currently the best-selling VR headsets, these efforts have yet to spark a cultural phenomenon or a mainstream software ecosystem around VR. Including its 2014 acquisition of Oculus, Meta has invested more than $65 billion in hardware research and development. Its Reality Labs are still operating at a loss.
Recent reports also suggest that Apple has significantly reduced the production of the Vision Pro and may cease production of the current version of the Vision Pro before the end of the year.
(Is there no play for the metaverse? Rumor has it that Apple’s Vision Pro will cease production by the end of the year)
