Apple’s newest iPhone could have the makings of a cutting-edge virtual reality device — an innovation that could buck critics of the company’s fall lineup.
The phone’s camera lays the groundwork to let users capture content with more depth, exactly the kind of technology that could lend itself to user-generated virtual reality (VR) content, writes Ben Thompson of technology blog Stratechery:
What Apple didn’t say was that they are releasing the first mass-market virtual reality camera. The same principles that make artificial bokeh possible also go into making imagery for virtual reality headsets. Of course you probably won’t be able to use theiPhone 7 Plus camera in this way — Apple hasn’t released a headset, for one —but when and if they do the ecosystem will already have been primed, and you can bet FaceTime VR will be be an iPhone seller.
The new iPhone 7 camera, debuted on Wednesday, gives users the ability to zoom further into images, and a new “portrait” software mode creates the shallow depth of field or bokeh (where a subject in focus against a blurred background) that was previously a hallmark feature of high-end digital single-lens reflex (DSLR) cameras.
As predicted, the Plus also has two rear 12-megapixel cameras — one with a wide angle lens and one with a telephoto lens. A new chip uses machine learning to detect objects and set exposure, focus, cinema-standard color, and white balance within 25 milliseconds — 60 percent faster than before.
“iOS uses a framework called Metal to maximize graphics performance,” Apple’s iPhone 7 description reads. “Whether you’re surfing the web, moving from app to app, or playing the most complex 3D video game, the graphics and responsiveness are amazingly smooth.”
Apple did not immediately respond to a request for comment about its virtual reality ambitions. But the theory of mass-market virtual reality lends credence to CEO Tim Cook’s comments that virtual reality is not a “niche” technology.
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