Apple vs. Google: Who Will Win the Mobile AR Wars?

Apple’s ARKit and Google’s ARCore will make it easier for developers to create augmented reality apps for the newest smartphones.

Apple's play is ARKit, which will launch with iOS 11 later this month. Google's play is ARCore, which will initially launch on the Pixel and Galaxy S8 devices running on Android 7.0 and above. ARCore will also replace the older Tango AR platform, which was introduced three years ago.

These moves indicate that Apple and Google are eager to follow Microsoft's (NASDAQ:MSFT) move into the desktop AR space with HoloLens, which hasn't been commercially launched yet. As for the mobile AR market, which company is better equipped to build a bigger ecosystem -- Apple or Google?

Understanding the AR market

Augmented reality refers to digital overlays projected onto real-world surfaces. Niantic's Pokemon Go employs rudimentary AR by projecting Pokemon into real-world environments with a camera. Microsoft's HoloLens uses advanced AR, which allows users to play Minecraft on coffee tables and manipulate 3D models on their desks.

The magic of AR is created by motion sensors, which detect a user's movements, and computer vision chips and 3D cameras, which "see" surfaces in three dimensions. Developers create software that places objects onto those surfaces, which "augments" their reality.

The AR market is generally considered to be a bigger growth market than virtual reality (VR) since AR apps have more real-world applications than VR software, which obstructs a user's vision and is mostly geared toward gaming and entertainment. Digi-Capital estimates that the AR market will be worth $83 billion by 2021, compared to a $25 billion value for the VR market.

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HoloLens 2 will probably get a CPU upgrade

Microsoft’s HoloLens is basically a computer with a transparent display that lets you view digital graphics overlaid on real-world environments. The original HoloLens development kit shipped in 2016, and Micosoft has already started talking about the 2nd-gen model, which will have a next-gen Holographic Processing Unit.

It’ll also probably have a new processor, because as AnandTech notes, Intel is discontinuing the chip used in the original HoloLens.

That means it’s likely that the next version of Microsoft’s mixed reality computer will use a different processor, although it’s unclear at this point if Microsoft will stick with Intel or perhaps go with something different (like an ARM-based chip).

The original HoloLens features an Intel Atom x5-Z8100P processor, and it’s the only major product I’m aware of to use that chip.

Intel has announced it’ll take its final round of orders for the x5-Z8100P chip on September 30th, 2017 and plans to ship those orders by October 30th. So if Microsoft really is the primary customer for these chips and Intel is discontinuing them, there’s a good chance the two companies have coordinated things so that Microsoft won’t need the chips anymore after they become unavailable.

AnandTech speculates that the 2nd-gen HoloLens won’t ship until 2018 or maybe even 2019.

In other words, the company is probably switching to a different chip. That could mean the HoloLens 2 will be powered by an Intel Apollo Lake, Gemini Lake, or maybe Core M chip. But it could also mean Microsoft is switching to an ARM-based processor.

A version of Windows 10 that supports ARM-based processors is on the way, with the Qualcomm Snapdragon 835 chip expected to be the first to be supported. Since that’s a smartphone-class processor that can balance performance and power consumption, it could be a good choice for a wearable PC like the HoloLens

HoloLens 2 will have a custom AI chip designed by Microsoft


Today, Microsoft announced that the next generation of its mixed reality HoloLens headset will incorporate an AI chip. This custom silicon — a “coprocessor” designed but not manufactured by Microsoft — will be used to analyze visual data directly on the device, saving time by not uploading it to the cloud. The result, says Microsoft, will be quicker performance on the HoloLens 2, while keeping the device as mobile as possible.

The announcement follows a trend among Silicon Valley’s biggest tech companies, which are now scrambling to meet the computational demands of contemporary AI. Today’s mobile devices, where AI is going to be used more frequently, simply aren’t built to handle these sorts of programs, and when they’re asked, the result is usually slower performance or a burned-out battery (or both).

But getting AI to run directly on devices like phones or AR headsets has a number of advantages. As Microsoft says, quicker performance is one of them, as devices don’t have to upload data to remote servers. This also makes the devices more user-friendly, as they don’t have to maintain a continuous internet connection. And, this sort of processing is more secure, as users’ data never leaves the device.

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Ford is using Microsoft’s HoloLens to design cars in augmented reality

Microsoft’s HoloLens headset has been slowly pivoting towards commercial markets over the past year. NASA, Volvo, Lowe’s, Audi, and Volkswagen are all testing HoloLens for various reasons, and now Ford is expanding its use of Microsoft’s headsets after an initial pilot phase. Ford is using HoloLens to let designers quickly model out changes to cars, trucks, and SUVs. This allows designers to see the changes on top of an existing physical vehicle, instead of the traditional clay model approach to car design.

Ford is still using clay models, but the HoloLens can be used to augment additional 3D models without having to build every single design prototype with clay. It’s one of the more interesting ways we’ve seen businesses use Microsoft’s HoloLens, and it’s something customers will never see. A number of other companies are also using HoloLens for training purposes, much like how VR is used in the same way by businesses.

Microsoft is planning to hold a Windows Mixed Reality launch event on October 3rd in San Francisco. We’re not expecting to hear about a HoloLens successor, but we should get a better idea of what apps and games we’ll see coming for Microsoft’s Windows Mixed Reality headsets. Dell, Acer, HP, Lenovo, and Asus are all creating headsets, with the cheapest starting at $299. Mixed Reality headsets will be available from October 17th, the same day Microsoft launches its Windows 10 Fall Creators Update with Mixed Reality support.