Just months after the release of its latest smartphones, rumours about Apple‘s next iPhone are already starting to trickle through. While virtually nothing is known about the iPhone 11 – including whether that will even be its name – Bloomberg reckons the new unit will contain a three-lens camera made by Sony for advanced augmented reality.
[jwplayer sKZZk6x3]
You’ve probably heard of AR before, likely in the context of games like Pokémon GO, which use the technology to apply computer-generated images to a real-world setting. The addition of Sony’s 3D camera would make the AR in the next generation of iPhone markedly better.
According to Bloomberg, “after getting interest from customers, including Apple,” Sony has begun ramping up production of its “next-generation 3D sensors,” meaning there’s a good chance they could appear on whatever the iPhone 11 turns out to be. The production timeline also matches Apple’s preferred release for new iPhones, which is around September each year.
While Apple’s phones currently work with some pretty decent AR tech, Sony’s sensors use something called “time of flight,” which uses laser pulses to create even more detailed 3D models and interaction up to five metres away. While the practical applications are obviously huge, the updated capabilities would also allow AR games to become more complex and even allow hand gestures as controls.
Last year, Pokémon GO creator, Niantic, released a video on how computer interaction with the real world will increase moving forward with AR, which you can check out below.
Like all Apple rumours, we won’t get any actual confirmation from the company until its keynote in September but given CEO Tim Cook‘s stance on AR technology, it wouldn’t surprise me at all if this was legit.
