Accidental Document Leak Seemingly Confirms Apple's AR Glasses
A document leak from an interesting source has apparently confirmed that Apple is at least testing some type of augmented reality product. First reported by Gizmodo, the information is from a report compiled by an Environment Health and Safety contractor.
Still a "ways off"
Accidentally emailed to hundreds of Apple employees, the report listed a number of different injuries and accidents on the Apple campus.
While most of the injury reports were vague on mundane, there were two that stood out in the Gizmodo report:
It seems some of the incidents listed within this report may hint at new products Apple may be working on. One report on February 21 that included “medical treatment beyond first aid,” involved a prototype unit at Apple’s De Anza office in Cupertino. “After BT4 user study, user advised study lead, that she experienced discomfort in her eye and said she was able to see the laser flash at several points during the study. Study lead referred her to optometrist and secured prototype unit for analysis.” In another report, an employee working at Apple’s Vallco Parkway office in Cupertino reported eye pain on March 2. “Employee reported eye pain after working with new prototype, thought it may be associated with use. He noticed that the security seal on the magenta (outer) case had been broken and had thought the unit may have been tampered with.”
An Apple source told Gizmodo that the injury could be due to a prototype of Apple’s rumored AR glasses.
Instead of virtual reality, which requires users to wear a bulky headset buy completely immerses them in a location, augmented reality is designed to display important information over images and videos of the real world.
According to a separate report in March, any Apple AR glasses are “a ways off.” But the next-generation iPhone, expected this fall, is expected to offer some type of AR features.
