Apple's next goal: A VR headset?

As an expert in 3D user interfaces, virtual reality, and augmented reality, the hiring of Doug A. Bowman suggests a stepping up of AR and VR ambitions at Apple, whether for existing devices or new, unannounced platforms.

Doug A. Bowman, a prize-winning Professor of Computer Science at Virginia Tech, and Director of the institution's Center for Human Computer Interaction, has been hired by Apple, according to a Financial Times report.

Earlier in January, the CEO of mobile device manufacturer HTC had said that her company's future lay at least as much in virtual reality as in smartphones.

"We feel that we should apply our best design to different type of sectors," Cher Wang had told the Telegraph. "Yes, smartphones are important, but to create a natural extension to other connected devices like wearables and virtual reality is more important."

Now it seems that Apple also senses the significance of virtual reality and is looking to harness the tech, or aspects of it, for its own purposes.

There's an audience there for it already, with enthusiast site VR-iPhone listing over 40 third-party visors ready to purchase, even if a good portion were originally intended for use with Android devices; by contrast, the 100-plus VR games already on the App Store are built for iOS.

And Apple would be entering a scene already populated by some of the world's biggest tech firms.

Big names betting on the tech

In the virtual reality department, Facebook purchased Oculus VR for $2bn in 2014. A well anticipated, $599 consumer edition of the Oculus Rift is inbound for March 2016.

Oculus has also been partnering with Samsung, whose $99 Gear VR is designed for use with the Galaxy Note 5 phablet and Galaxy S6 smartphones.

Meanwhile, several key Oculus staff came over from game company Valve Corp., which is HTC's partner for April 2016's HTC Vive headset.

Another gaming giant, Sony PlayStation, is expected to launch its PlayStation VR setup later in the year.

Meanwhile, internet impresario Google has its Cardboard platform, the very low-budget smartphone VR kit that can be assembled from scratch or bought online for around $15.

And Google also has interests in Augmented Reality, via the techy spectacles of Google Glass. Likewise, Microsoft has a foot in both camps, with the HoloLens project an AR venture; at the same time it's having Xbox One controllers packed in with the Oculus Rift.