Advertisement

We need your help now

Support from readers like you keeps The Journal open.

You are visiting us because we have something you value. Independent, unbiased news that tells the truth. Advertising revenue goes some way to support our mission, but this year it has not been enough.

If you've seen value in our reporting, please contribute what you can, so we can continue to produce accurate and meaningful journalism. For everyone who needs it.

Samsung's Gear VR uses its Galaxy Note 4 phablet to deliver a VR experience and it's possible that Apple may do something similar. AP Photo/Koji Ueda

Apple's virtual reality ambitions are beginning to take shape

The company is on the lookout for an engineer who will work on “high performance apps that integrate with Virtual Reality systems.”

WHEN A TREND starts to develop and grow in popularity, it’s only a matter of time before one of the world’s biggest companies takes an interest.

Now Apple is looking for an App Engineer who will be able to develop apps and services that will work with VR, according to 9to5Mac.

The description says that the successful candidate “will create high performance apps that integrate with Virtual Reality systems for prototyping and user testing”.

Alongside VR, the job description also covers augmented reality suggesting that this position will focus mostly on bringing these experiences to its iPhone range instead of desktop.

If it does decide to focus more on VR, it has two real options. It could follow a similar system by Samsung, where it will team up with a company like Oculus VR and release their own product like the Gear VR. That device is similar to Google Cardboard where it uses a Galaxy Note 4 to run the VR experience.

Both Oculus and Samsung are asking app developers to create VR experiences for both platforms, and it’s unlikely that Apple will want to share the space with one of its biggest rivals.

The other option would be creating its own product like Sony and Project Morpheus. Apple already has a patent for a virtual reality headset, although the company has a reputation for filing numerous patents that don’t materialise.

Read: Explainer: The European Parliament wants to break up Google, but why? >

Read: So Samsung’s flagship phone didn’t do as well as expected >

Readers like you are keeping these stories free for everyone...
A mix of advertising and supporting contributions helps keep paywalls away from valuable information like this article. Over 5,000 readers like you have already stepped up and support us with a monthly payment or a once-off donation.

Close
13 Comments
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute Mick Coughlan
    Favourite Mick Coughlan
    Report
    Nov 25th 2014, 11:23 AM

    Apple are a joke

    10
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute Stephen Earle
    Favourite Stephen Earle
    Report
    Nov 25th 2014, 11:25 AM

    You’re not very funny either

    27
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute Mick Coughlan
    Favourite Mick Coughlan
    Report
    Nov 25th 2014, 11:26 AM

    What’s going on man you used to be cool?

    12
    See 3 more replies ▾
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute Stephen Earle
    Favourite Stephen Earle
    Report
    Nov 25th 2014, 11:34 AM

    Well, it was a dumb comment want it. Apple a joke ?

    10
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute Mick Coughlan
    Favourite Mick Coughlan
    Report
    Nov 25th 2014, 12:05 PM

    You want some?

    8
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute Stephen Earle
    Favourite Stephen Earle
    Report
    Nov 25th 2014, 4:39 PM

    Want some what, your wit?

    1
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute Marko Burns
    Favourite Marko Burns
    Report
    Nov 25th 2014, 12:16 PM

    Ironic considering people are walking around with their heads stuck in their phones avoiding the real world.

    How about a vr lamposts avoidance game? Sure to be a bestseller..

    6
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute Twink's Teddy
    Favourite Twink's Teddy
    Report
    Nov 25th 2014, 12:27 PM

    That wouldn’t be considered ironic, quite the opposite in fact – it would be obvious, or expected..

    9
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute Enda O Brien
    Favourite Enda O Brien
    Report
    Nov 25th 2014, 10:46 AM

    Been there done that.

    Red Alarm Trailer – Nintendo Virtual Boy: http://youtu.be/9cpnhAXoyWU

    6
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute Twink's Teddy
    Favourite Twink's Teddy
    Report
    Nov 25th 2014, 11:56 AM

    Can’t wait for their Walled Garden app

    2
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute Partysauras Rex
    Favourite Partysauras Rex
    Report
    Nov 25th 2014, 12:04 PM

    Google have a similar app where a guy follows you everywhere taking pictures of everything you look at.

    1
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute Twink's Teddy
    Favourite Twink's Teddy
    Report
    Nov 25th 2014, 12:17 PM

    That doesn’t sound similar, it sounds completely different.

    1
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute James Corbett
    Favourite James Corbett
    Report
    Nov 27th 2014, 10:17 AM

    I’ve been making presentations on virtual reality for the last year and keep reminding people that what allowed Oculus to bring this to market now, is that a VR headset is essentially a mobile phone. Granted, with a lot of optimizations. And without the radios… but you know what I mean.

    It’s obvious that all high-end smartphones are going to serve dual purpose as VR headsets in a few short years – just pick up a head strap as an accessory. And the Galaxy Note 4 is the first step in that direction. What’s disappointing about Google Cardboard and other VR ‘head cases’ is that any other smpartphone will not deliver a good experience, due to high latency (you move your head and the image takes a long time to catch up = sea sickness). So that’s what’s great about the Galaxy Note 4 and Samsung Gear VR — they worked with Oculus for a year to bring that latency right down, to something like 20ms, which is low enough that the brain doesn’t register it. But Oculus has been working on these problems for 2 years now so it’ll be interesting to see if Apple can go it alone and deliver the same kind of performance.

    1
Submit a report
Please help us understand how this comment violates our community guidelines.
Thank you for the feedback
Your feedback has been sent to our team for review.
JournalTv
News in 60 seconds