You can be forgiven if you thought Apple was going to unveil something, anything, to do with virtual reality (VR). The VR community was buzzing, as well as the general tech community, wondering what kind of VR accessory was going to be revealed, let alone if there was even going to be any. Alas, all we were given was a hint towards augmented reality (AR), but only in the sense that they appropriated it for the Smart Watch to be included with a companion app for Pokémon GO which actually ignored the app’s AR qualities in exchange for promoting the new tech.
After this relatively disappointing event for the VR community, you cannot help the feeling that there was an absence of what really should have been there, especially when some of the announcements would have been more than suitable to lead up to VR additions. So instead here at VRFocus we have taken it upon ourselves to list a couple of things that we should have really heard:
3D/VR Video
Was it only us who stopped and looked around when they mentioned the two cameras on the iPhone 7 Plus? Yes, we understand that the main aim to this was to create a depth of field effect that DSLR cameras effortlessly achieve, but what if it went one step further?
The only other answer is to hope that this is actually a trial leading up to enabling some sort of 3D or even VR recording for the next installment (which, let’s be honest, is right round the corner and has already been designed).
A head-mounted display (HMD)
This was the main announcement that we were all expecting. Let’s face it – it’s what everyone (except Nintendo) is creating, so why are they not? We can already imagine it: a rose gold HMD, a massive illuminated Apple symbol, and a new take on how it is strapped to your head such as a whole helmet or even Yeezy-branded shades with integrated Beats headphones. But, there was no sign of such thing.
We get it, Apple. You want to make your camera quality better, and take away yet another common accessory feature to make you seem like you’re ahead of the game by setting your own standards. However, you are missing out on a massive market right now that is counting down the days till when you give in and accept that VR is going to diversify what you can offer.
Yes, it is sounding like we are in slight denial of what really went on yesterday, and that we are starved of some tasty announcements, but there needs to be a few explanations as to why there is such a lack of interest in VR.