Apple may run its AR headset with RealityOS

Apple seems to have leaked a name it might use with concern to its forthcoming AR headset/VR goggles, calling this ‘RealityOS”.

What and how has this emerged?

What has emerged raises more questions than it delivers answers:

A developer came across a reference to ‘RealityOS’ in an App Store upload log. This has set off speculation the company may plan to call the OS for its goggles by that name. The reference was apparently buried in source code on Github.

That code allegedly includes an instruction to “allow iOS executables to use realityOS dylibs”.

A second developer found references to a simulator. This also makes sense given you’ll be coding these experiences on your Mac.

What’s that?

A dylib is a Dynamic Library file used in coding on Apple’s operating systems. It’s loaded at runtime, rather than compile time, and works a little like a DLL file on Windows. Dylibs are used to deliver functionality as an app requires it. Apple’s developer documentation has a good article explaining these things here.

This suggests Apple is building ways to let iOS apps interact with the OS it intends placing inside its expected VR glasses. That makes sense. I imagine you’ll have games that make use of cues in the visual environment; retail apps that guide you through aisles; augmented reality apps superimposing information above what you see on the lens — that kind of thing.

Watch where you’re going…

Closing in on WWDC 2022

Obviously, Apple will want developers to build for these platforms. With this in mind it makes sense for the company to put the pieces in place to do so.

Given we had originally anticipated the introduction of the product later this year, it’s also logical to think the company will already have begun to weave these components within its platforms.

And with WWDC just weeks away now (early June really is closer to us now than the last iPhone launch event), it makes sense for hints to begin to slip now. Apple’s developers are eagle-eyed, and it’s hard not to think (given the regularity with which hints like this do appear) that the company doesn’t throw a little talk-creating nugget into the mix from time to time.

[Also read: Can Apple define the future of sports entertainment?]

In December, an Apple recruitment ad sought:

“A Software Engineer to help architect and implement networking frameworks and APIs for our next-generation interactive computing platforms. This engineer will enhance the capabilities and performance of AR/VR systems through the development of distributed systems, and a broad range of applications, including machine learning, computer vision, and multimedia processing.”

What to expect?

Apple VR glasses are likely to have a hefty price tag, hold two 8K displays and be capable of both AR and fully immersive VR experiences. Most also expected Wi-Fi, gesture detection and an M1 processor.

We’ll find out more in the coming months.

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