As Apple and Google Compete in Augmented Reality, Each Has Distinct Strengths
Google, which just launched a new AR mode for Google Maps, should have a powerful set of cloud services available for AR headsets. But Apple might be able to offer unmatched hardware, as well as tight iPhone integration.
When a user lifts up his or her phone while the AR mode is engaged, more than half the screen shows a rear-camera view with superimposed AR content such as arrows and street names. The rest of the screen shows a traditional Maps view, with a blue arrow and dots letting users know their current location and planned route. ...it's meant to be a complement in urban areas where a phone's GPS and digital compass may not be completely reliable.
Services such as Lens and Maps' AR mode highlight how well-positioned Google, aided by its user data, Maps data, knowledge graph and arguably unmatched machine learning strengths, is to deliver a powerful set of cloud services for mass-market augmented reality headsets. In addition to Lens and Maps, Google's ability to integrate Google Assistant, which frequently comes out on top in voice assistant tests, into an AR headset platform is a valuable strength. And so is its ability to bake in services such as Gmail and YouTube.
On the other hand, Apple, which just named a long-time iPhone marketing exec its first AR marketing chief and is reportedly prepping an AR/VR headset that could launch in 2020, has a different set of AR strengths. Chief among them is Apple's superb mobile hardware and chip engineering capabilities, which could make a huge difference in an AR headset market where -- though progress is gradually being made -- current products (such as Google Glass and Microsoft's (MSFT - Get Report) first-gen HoloLens) tend to have major limitations in terms of processing power, display quality, portability and/or battery life. With regards to display quality in particular, Apple's 2018 acquisition of Akonia Holographics, a startup that was working on AR lenses, should help its cause.
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