12Feb/19Off
Apple Ramps Up Augmented Reality Efforts with New AR Marketing Chief
According to a new report by Bloomberg, Apple has appointed company veteran Frank Casanova to the position, which will oversee “all aspects of Product Marketing for Apple’s Augmented Reality initiative.”
Although it’s still unclear exactly what that “initiative” is, the creation of a dedicated position to lead Apple’s marketing efforts in this area serves as another sign that the company clearly plans to go beyond the ARKit capabilities of its iOS devices into an actual new product — Apple has not traditionally appointed senior marketing personnel simply to promote iOS features.
Rumours of an Apple AR headset have been gaining traction over the past year, with Apple having begun acquiring significant AR engineers and researchers as early as 2016, followed by a late 2017 report that revealed that the company was starting to source suppliers and working internally on a new “rOS” operating system to power the device. The company also reportedly acquired a notable Danish AR startup around that same time, although news of that acquisition didn’t break until last fall, almost a year after the initial acquisition. While Apple’s culture of secrecy keeps things pretty vague about how all of these hires and acquisitions fit together, it’s becoming clear that in addition to expanding its ARKit camera technology on iPhones and iPads, work also continues on a standalone headset that indeed could be launching as early as next year.