For years, Apple has had an internal project that is working on the Group’s own augmented reality glasses (AR). Now the prototypes are supposedly ready to enter the so-called engineering verification phase. This is reported by the electronics trade journal DigiTimes , which appears in Taiwan. According to the information, the glasses project is now in the “second development phase”. This still works with prototypes. According to industry sources, it will now last “several months”. After that, Apple is planning the aforementioned engineering verification over six to nine months, which, if successful, is followed by preparation for mass production.

iPhone for arithmetic Last summer there had been fresh rumors about the glasses, which is supposedly simply called “Glass”. Apple journalist Mark Gurman of the Bloomberg financial news agency wrote in June, a group of 1000 Employees are involved in the secret project. Originally, Apple had thought of delivering a computer with the glasses that should be particularly powerful.

Currently, however, it seems that Apple is using glasses as a display device and an iPhone for computing Tasks used. The principle would be similar to that of the Apple Watch, which was initially very closely connected to the iPhone and now still requires the smartphone for set-up.

AR glasses are still not mainstream Augmented reality technology, which Apple CEO Tim Cook has repeatedly considered particularly important for Apple, the group is currently developing further directly on the iPhone and iPad. Developers can easily integrate AR elements into apps. The glasses should make this much more natural. As usual with AR, it becomes partially transparent and allows information about the real world to be obtained, which is then overlaid in the field of vision.

Despite numerous projects by large companies such as Google, Microsoft or Facebook AR technology has not yet reached the mainstream. That would fit Apple’s business model: The group is rarely the first company with a new technology, prefers to improve it and make it suitable for the masses. Apple is said to have already announced internally that the glasses could still be announced 2021 – but the delivery is hardly before 2022 to be expected. (bsc)