Apple Kicks Off WWDC with an Eye on Connecting Everyone, Everything

Apple’s annual conference is still being held digitally this year at no charge and is open to all for an “inspiring week of technology and community” starting today, Monday (June 6) through Friday (June 10). 

Aside from giving engineers and developers the chance to brainstorm and swap ideas, the Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC) is expected to discuss Apple’s augmented reality device ahead of its anticipated launch in the fall. The WWDC is likely the last event before the headset is rolled out; however, no launch date or timeline has been specified. 

The estimated $3 trillion technology company and iPhone maker snapped up Vrvana from Bertrand Nepveu for $30 million in 2017, one of Apple’s many purchases in the field of virtual and augmented reality, Financial Times reported.

While little is known about Apple’s yet-to-be-released product, Vrvana’s video system and its “pass through” technology is expected to be a key feature. The goal is to enable the VR device to allow users to see the physical world around them overlaid with digital images, FT reported.

“We re-spun everything to merge AR and VR, for the first time, in a single device,” said Nepveu told FT before leaving Apple last year.

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“At its heart, WWDC has always been a forum to create connection and build community,” said Susan Prescott, Apple’s vice president of Worldwide Developer Relations and Enterprise and Education Marketing. 

“In that spirit, WWDC22 invites developers from around the world to come together to explore how to bring their best ideas to life and push the envelope of what’s possible,” Prescott said.

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Researchers at Citi are forecasting that the number of iPhone users today — about 1 billion — will be wearing headsets in the next eight years, FT reported.

“I do believe there is a path that you [won’t] need your phone and [augmented reality] glasses will evolve to be the next computing platform,” said Qualcomm CEO Cristiano Amon. Qualcomm supplies chips to Apple, Samsung, Facebook’s parent Meta and other big tech companies, FT reported.