Memojis and SharePlay could be a major part of the FaceTime experience on Apple’s much-rumored mixed-reality headset, says the latest Power On newsletter from Bloomberg‘s Mark Gurman.
Gurman, who has a good record when it comes to predictions about Apple’s upcoming plans, has previously indicated that Apple’s much-rumored AR/VR headset will focus on communication, gaming, and media consumption. The headset is expected to run on an operating system called “rOS” or “realityOS,” the OS is internally codenamed “Oak.”
Gurman offered details on how he expects FaceTime to work in the new operating system, saying it may heavily focus on two of the company’s existing experiences: Memojis and SharePlay.
I imagine a virtual reality version of FaceTime where you can be in a conference room with dozens of people. Instead of seeing their actual faces, you’ll see 3D versions of them (Memojis). I assume the headset will be able to determine a person’s facial expressions in real time, making the experience fairly lifelike. I would also look for heavy use of SharePlay in the new realityOS, allowing multiple headset wearers to experience music, movies and games together.
Apple’s realityOS has been rumored since 2017, but this week it was all but confirmed last week when references to it were found in App Store upload logs as well as Apple open-source code.
Memojis debuted alongside iOS 12, while SharePlay made its debut in iOS 15.1 last year. Many observers expect a number of features that Apple has debuted in recent years – such as ARKit, AR walking directions in Apple Maps, spatial audio with dynamic head tracking, and the LiDAR scanner – will be put in place for use with the mixed-reality headset in the long run.
While there have been numerous rumors about an imminent release of Apple’s headset, Gurman says he believes that the unveiling of the new headset will be delayed until WWDC 2023, due to development issues.
(Via MacRumors)
