There have been a great many rumours concerning Apple’s ambitions for virtual reality (VR) technology, and just as many covering Apple’s supposed development of augmented reality (AR) smart glasses. Adding fuel to the fire is a recent addition to the Apple team – Sterling Crispin.
Sterling Crispin is best known for being the lead developer behind VR painting app Cyber Paint, which lets users create 2D or 360-degree pictures using a VR headset.
Cyber Paint is available for HTC Vive Focus, Oculus Go and Google Daydream and is an app that lets users paint using digital algorithms, trippy effects, glitchy data or more traditional digital paints. The app lets users paint with different colours per eye to create mind-bending effects only achievable in VR.
Users of Cyber Paint can choose to create a full 360-degree ‘photosphere’, or stick to a traditional landscape, portrait or square. The speed, rotation, touch and twist of the brush can be managed by using the controller, as can more obvious settings such as size, opacity and colour.
According to 9to5mac, Apple first hired Crispin in May with the job title of ‘prototyping researcher’. The exact details of what he is working on is unknown, but Crispin’s background is primarily as a VR developer and user experience designer, either of which is likely to be of interest to Apple.
Though rumours of Apple working on anything VR-related remain unsubstantiated, Apple have a clear interest in AR, with CEO Tim Cook going on record with his support for the technology.
This is further backed by the release of the ARKIt toolset, which was designed specifically to make AR smartphone apps more immersive and engaging. Its successor, ARKit 2, is set to open up even more possibilities for developers.
For further news on Apple’s work in AR or VR, keep checking back with VRFocus.
via Mint VR