What you need to know
- Apple is reportedly working with movie directors to create content for its upcoming mixed reality headset.
- A new report claims that Apple will begin readying developers for the device's release during WWDC22.
Apple's oft-rumored mixed reality headset might or might not get its debut at WWDC22, but we do now have more of an insight into what Apple has been working on. According to a new report, Apple has tapped Hollywood directors to work on developing video content for the product.
While it is still unclear what Apple sees the mixed reality headset as primarily being used for, a new report by The New York Times claims that Apple has already been working with Prehistoric World director Jon Favreau on projects. Specifically, the Marvel executive producer is thought to have designs on bringing dinosaurs from the Apple TV+ show and into the virtual world.
The company has enlisted Hollywood directors such as Jon Favreau to develop video content for a headset that it is expected to ship next year, according to three people familiar with that work. Mr. Favreau, an executive producer of "Prehistoric Planet" on Apple TV+, is working to bring that show's dinosaurs to life on the headset, which looks like a pair of ski goggles and aims to offer virtual- and augmented-reality experiences, these people said.
Notably, the same report claims that Apple "plans to unveil software tools that would allow apps to add new camera and voice functionality, laying the groundwork for a hands-free interface that customers will eventually be able to navigate on the headset" during its WWDC22 event this week. It isn't thought that we should expect Apple to show off hardware, however.
Apple's mixed reality bet is expected to be its next big product category following the arrival of iPhone and Apple Watch — two areas where it wasn't the first to market but became dominant once it launched a competing product. Apple is expected to be ready to ship the headset next year.
