As Apple’s AR headset inches closer to release, the leaks are becoming a full-on stream. After a sprawling report describing the device itself, a new rumor describes a unique system for creating apps—even if you can’t write a single line of code.
According to The Information, Apple is developing software that will simplify app creation so users will be able to quickly build their own augmented reality apps. So quickly, in fact, that all they need to do is ask. As Wayne Ma explains: “With the software tools, Apple hopes that even people who don’t know computer code could tell the headset, via the Siri voice assistant, to build an AR app that could then be made available via Apple’s App Store for others to download.”
The unique tool reportedly utilizes technology from Fabric Software, which Apple acquired in 2017. According to Crunchbase, the company’s Fabric Engine “specializes in 3D animation tools, VFX production, game development, and high-performance computing,” with a focus on procedural generation. The popular survival game No Man’s Sky uses a similar system to generate a nearly infinite world with 18 quintillion planets to explore.
Mark Gurman of Bloomberg, who has leaked numerous details about the device, hasn’t corroborated this rumor. In fact, in a report this weekend, he said Apple doesn’t yet have “a truly ‘killer app’ for the device yet,” and is leaning “into immersive video watching, tight integration with other Apple products and advanced VR-based FaceTime calls” as the main appeal to customers.
The Information says users will be able to use the software to create an app “with virtual animals moving around a room and over or around real-life objects without the need to design the animal from scratch and calculate its movement in a 3D space with obstacles.” The report says that while the tool would be geared toward developers, all users would be able to scan objects to use in their AR world.
The latest rumors say Apple is planning to release its so-called Reality One headset, which could cost as much as $2,999, at a dedicated spring event.
Author: Michael Simon, Executive Editor
Michael Simon has been covering Apple since the iPod was the iWalk. His obsession with technology goes back to his first PC—the IBM Thinkpad with the lift-up keyboard for swapping out the drive. He's still waiting for that to come back in style tbh.