‘AR needs humanity at its centre’ Apple’s Tim Cook tells China

Apple CEO Tim Cook talks AR and developers in China

Apple CEO, Tim Cook, spoke with China Daily in a short video interview during which he discussed AR and the vast number of developers the nation has.

‘Humanity at the center’

Cook repeated his customary assertion of how excited he is at the potential of AR, adding, “the critical thing in any technology, including AR, is putting humanity at the center of it.”

The Apple boss noted that 14,000 AR apps currently exist on the App Store. “I could not be more excited about the opportunities in the space. Sort of stay tuned, and you will see what we have to offer,” he said.

Developers were also a focus for the interview which was provided by Cook as WWDC took place in early June. He praised Chinese developers for being at the cutting edge. Chinese app developers are among the world’s most enthusiastic on Apple’s platforms and are focused on international markets for growth.

Apple meanwhile continues to shift production into multiple territories as it attempts to mitigate COVID-19-related impacts across its supply chain. At the same time, demand for its products remains high in China, which is a leading market for the company. The iPhone 13, for example, is the biggest selling smartphone model there.

[Also read; Apple diversifies as it prepares business for future shocks]

The tracks of AR

Cook last year spoke with He Shijie, a senior at the Beijing University of Posts and Telecommunications in a rare video podcast.

“So much of our lives are on the smartphone,” said Cook at that time. “Nowhere is this more true than in China, from eating to delivery to banking to your health records, it’s all on the phone.”

Cook pointed to Junction view in Apple Maps and Night Mode as technologies developed for and in China.

Apple had been expected to begin the introduction of its long-awaited AR glasses at WWDC.

This didn’t happen, but AR was much in evidence at the event and speculation continues to reverberate on its plans. Once those glasses do ship,  analysts predict Apple will become the fastest growing and AR glasses provider by 2025, with the US, Canada and China the biggest markets.

AR for the rest of us

And in 2020 there was some speculation Apple would extend what you get from Apple TV+ with Augmented Reality elements you can explore when watching a show. The company last year invested  $410 million in II-VI, a company that makes the lasers used in its Face ID camera and LiDAR scanners.

It also continues work on indoor mapping, introducing the new RoomPlan feature at WWDC 2022. The latter lets developers create apps that use the LiDAR Scanner on iPhones and iPads to build 3D floor plans for a room, with dimensions and type of furniture included. In combination with Maps and Apple’s other technologies, its plans for AR feel more like creating viable digital twins for the rest of us than reinventing Pokemon.

Cook’s appeal to developers and to AR for humans in one of the most mobile cultures on the plant seems a great deal more significant with all that in mind.

Please follow me on Twitter, or join me in the AppleHolic’s bar & grill and Apple Discussions groups on MeWe.