Report: Apple Wants Siri to Help With Augmented Reality App Development

Apple is reportedly planning to leverage its Siri assistant to greatly simplify the development of augmented reality apps for its upcoming headset. In a report from The Information (paywalled) citing four people involved in the project, Apple’s new software tools could be simple enough to allow any tech enthusiast to create AR apps using Siri and then release them on the App Store.

“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 report reads. “The tool, for example, could allow users to build 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, program its animations and calculate its movement in a 3D space with obstacles.”

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Apple’s upcoming mixed-reality headset, which the company could name “Reality Pro,” is expected to be announced later this spring. According to a previous report from Bloomberg, Apple may be targeting a $3,000 price range for its first mixed reality headset, which could slow down the adoption of the platform. Still, the same Bloomberg report claimed that Apple was expecting to sell 1 million units of its new headset in its first year, but the company will definitely need a solid app ecosystem to reach that goal.

That’s apparently the point of the new Siri-based AR development tool mentioned by the Information. Siri is often considered as still playing catch-up to Alexa and Google Assistant, so seeing Apple’s digital assistant being on the tip of the spear of Apple’s mixed reality app ecosystem strategy would be quite the turnaround.

The report from the Information also says that Apple is working on unique content for the headset with a focus on health, wellness, and entertainment. “One early AR demo allowed users to sit inside a Zen garden, the four people said. Another early Apple demo for executives allowed users to walk through the Dr. Seuss book “Oh, the Places You’ll Go” by blending its fantastical environment with the real world, according to three people familiar with it,” the report says.

If Apple has been working on mixed-reality products for years, the company’s good relationships with developers and media partners may well make a difference in this burgeoning market. Apple’s first headset will likely be a tough sell at $3,000, but the company is reportedly working on a lower-cost version that could be released as soon as 2024 or early 2025.

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