March 2019 is almost over, which means it’s time to look back and see what’s changed in the Augmented Reality industry.
Apple augmented reality headset to launch in 2020
TF International Securities analyst Ming-Chi Ku believes that Apple’s 2020 iPhone will ship alongside a pair of augmented reality glasses.
Rumours of Apple bringing augmented-reality glasses to market have been circulating for almost five years now, but they’ve mainly been speculating based on patents and Apple hiring up a lot of talent in the AR space.
Now prominent Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo has said that he believes Cupertino will begin manufacturing head-mounted display as early as the end of 2019, and Apple will roll them out in 2020.
In a note to investors, Kuo says the first generation of the glasses will be marketed as an iPhone accessory — so think AirPods you put on your eyes and less a stand-alone system.
Angry Birds AR is coming to iPhone this spring
Angry Birds AR: Isle of Pigs, the series’ first-ever step into augmented reality, is coming exclusively to iOS devices in late spring, with pre-orders now live in the App Store.
Like other Angry Birds games, the object of Isle of Pigs is to slingshot your small flock of birds at increasingly complex block towers, toppling them over and crushing the pigs lurking within. The game is divided up into four themed worlds and is “initially launching with at least 40 levels,” according to Rovio, suggesting more may be on the way.
Where Isle of Pigs differs from most other Angry Birds games is that it reinterprets the series’ gameplay in a 3D space. Using Apple’s ARKit technology, the game overlays the levels onto your surroundings, making them appear as though they were in the real world.
You still drag your finger on the screen to draw the slingshot back and fire your birds, but like the series’ VR spin-off, you’ll be doing so from a first-person perspective rather than a side-on view.