vrvana

Apple buys the creator of a 'seamless' mixed reality headset

by 

Jon Fingas

11.21.2017

Those rumors of Apple making an augmented reality headset just got a little more fuel. TechCrunch sources say that Apple has acquired VRvana, a startup that crowdfunded (but hasn't shipped) a unique camera-based AR and VR headset, the Totem. Unlike Microsoft's Hololens and Windows Mixed Reality headsets, Totem promises a "seamless blend" between augmented and virtual worlds. It can display fully opaque images on its OLED display, letting it transition gracefully from AR to VR. Also, it eliminates the potentially disorienting lag that's characteristic with camera-based approaches to mixed reality -- prototypes have cut the delay down to just 3ms, as the company's Bertrand Nepveu explained in June.