Apple launches "Atlas" project, following Meta into the smart glasses market?

According to a report by Bloomberg, Apple has launched a project codenamed "Atlas" to explore the possibility of entering the smart glasses market.

Secret Focus Group Launches "Atlas" Project

Insiders revealed that the project codenamed Atlas was launched last week to gather feedback from Apple employees on smart glasses. There are plans to establish more focus groups in the near future, led by the Product System Quality team of Apple's Hardware Engineering department.

When Apple considers entering a new product category, it often sets up secret focus groups to understand people's preferences for existing products. However, the company typically relies on employees rather than customers to avoid premature exposure of its plans.

Aiming at Meta Orion Glasses

Recent research indicates that Apple is advancing its work on smart glasses, potentially challenging Meta's Orion glasses. Meta showcased the augmented reality Orion glasses with built-in camera functionality at a September event, reducing the weight to 100 grams. However, the thick black frame prototype will not be sold to consumers initially, as they will be used internally first, and the actual product launch may still be several years away.

Meta launches more affordable virtual reality device Quest 3S with enhanced AI features

Is There Still a Future for the Metaverse?

For years, Apple has been working on creating a lighter augmented reality device that can be worn all day and potentially replace the iPhone. Due to numerous technical challenges, progress on this project has been slow.

Apple's Vision Pro, priced at $3,499 when released in February, was considered too bulky and expensive to become a mainstream product. In contrast, Meta's latest virtual reality head-mounted device Quest 3S is priced at only $299. Although Meta's Quest devices are currently the best-selling VR headsets, these efforts have not yet sparked a cultural phenomenon or mainstream software ecosystem around VR. Including the acquisition of Oculus in 2014, Meta has invested over $65 billion in hardware development. Its Reality Labs division is still operating at a loss.

Recent reports also suggest that Apple has significantly reduced the production of Vision Pro and may stop manufacturing the current version of Vision Pro by the end of the year.

Is the Metaverse Losing Its Appeal? Rumors of Apple's Vision Pro Production Ending by Year-End