Apple can talk about augmented reality technology at this year's WWDC developer conference. This is very satisfying to me. That's right, this already indicates that Apple has begun to pay attention to augmented reality technology, and it will formally take action. Previously, Microsoft, Google, Facebook and other technology giants have already presented some kind of VR or AR hardware or software products, and the direction of development of these examples is very clear. But when I arrived here, I suddenly had a lot of questions.
First of all, let's take a look at how Apple introduced its own VR business on WWDC:
Metal 2, an extended version of Apple's Metal Graphics API, allows developers to bypass the macOS window and render directly through the device, which is the virtual reality head display. This is important for reducing latency.
Officially announced support for external graphics. This means that the developers of low-end Macs and even MacBooks can get sufficient graphics processor performance to support virtual reality technology development.
Both SteamVR and HTC Vive have already started working with Apple. Coupled with Valve, who has had contact with Apple since last summer, it seems that Apple is very mature in both augmented reality and technology, as well as commercial means.
Unreal Engine 4 and Unity are currently two of the most popular game development environments, and now they all support Metal 2 VR on the macOS platform.
Apple gave a definition of virtual reality technology to WWDC:
Here, Apple does not seem to mention any topic with ordinary users, and even said that the external video card is mainly aimed at developers. At the same time, Apple's page description of VR products is also aimed at content developers, not gamers.
So from my point of view, there seem to be two possibilities. Either Apple just wants to serve developers and artists through virtual reality technology, hoping to provide these people with more rights on third-party platforms such as Facebook's Oculus, Google's Daydream, and PCs running SteamVR. In addition, Apple may also have a larger plan, so that ordinary consumers can also use the Metal 2 and external graphics.
However, if it is for ordinary users to come into contact with Metal 2, it is not wise. Because this is an Apple-specific API, it only applies to Mac, iPhone and iPad. Obviously, traditional iOS game development and other GPU-accelerated applications can all benefit from improvements in Metal 2. However, if Apple develops a complete virtual reality gaming platform exclusively for macOS, the rewards obtained will be very insignificant. After all, this is only a small target market.
If Apple really wants to develop the best cross-platform virtual reality system, then you can choose to invest in Vulkan. It is similar to Metal but can run on Windows and Linux systems. In fact, Valve is a virtual reality technology developed through Linux. It is conceivable that game developers on Windows and Linux can use Metal 2 to port games directly to macOS. The games that were developed on Metal 2 at the beginning can only be trapped on the macOS platform.
Of course, for most game developers, you don’t need to care about these details. If you've already developed something on Unity or Unreal Engine 4, then it will support Metal 2. It's not too difficult to port to other platforms. And even if there is a VR with macOS platform, these development engines can also use Metal 2. After all, iOS games are a huge market.
This is the first time that Apple has focused on the development of augmented reality technology. The significance to consumers has not yet been presented. Maybe in the future, Apple will launch a VR headset designed for iPhone, or more advanced, such as independent use of AR equipment, is not impossible.
However, judging from these criteria, Apple decided to launch a computer that is affordable and supports VR standards. I reserve the opinion.
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