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Apple’s rumors of developing augmented reality (AR) glasses have been constant, although there have been reports recently that the project has been put on hold, but MacRumors found the clues of AR from the iOS 13 internal beta, and Apple’s AR headline project continues.

The iOS 13 beta includes an app called “STARTester” that switches your phone between normal mode and head-up mode, MacRumors Guess this may be used to test the functionality of the AR head-on display on the iPhone, with the head “worn” And “held” (held) two states.

Obviously, from the leaked information, this AR head is not the same as the previously rumored AR glasses. It is closer to Google’s Daydream, which means you need to put your phone into the display instead of Google Glass. Independent equipment with its own screen, after all, considering the existing technical conditions, it is still unrealistic to directly launch independent AR glasses, and only battery life is a major obstacle.

But Daydream is a VR device, and the Mirage AR smart helmet that Lenovo released at the IFA 2017 conference in Germany in 2017 may be a better reference, but the Mirage AR is equipped with a tracking beacon to track user location and improve the stability of the device experience. Sex, it seems that Apple’s AR head shows no such attachment.

According to 9to5Mac Introduction, Apple’s AR header supports two devices codenamed Luck and Franc and third-party devices based on HoloKit. It can be speculated that the two hardware will be the new iPhone and iPhone Plus, which means the old iPThe hone models are not available with Apple AR or HoloKit-based hardware.

There is another feature that proves that the AR feature is unique to the new iPhone, that is, the ultra-wide-angle rear camera that will be used in the new iPhone rumor will be used to improve the tracking quality of the AR.

The readme file for this beta also describes a system shell “StarBoard” that supports stereo AR, which is used to host application extensions that support the new AR mode. The principle is similar to the WatchKit application running on Apple Watch, some system components Stereo AR support will also be added, such as maps, find quick previews of my and web content, and more.

9to5Mac believes that the actual operating mode of this type of AR application is similar to that of CarPlay, either in head-on mode or in the wear mode of an external device.

This readme also shows that Apple is developing an AR device code-named “Garta”, which is considered to be one of several prototypes under the AR glasses “T288” project.

In addition, there are multiple strings in this iOS 13 system that contain “StarBoard mode” (StarBoard mode), “field of view”, “scene” and other vocabulary pointing to AR, and even “ARStarBoardViewController” (AR StarBoard view controller) and “ARStarBoardSceneManager” (AR StarBoard Scene Manager) and other terms.

The rumored anti-lost device may also integrate AR mode, the user can search in 3D mode, and a balloon icon will appear in the position of the label to guide the user. (Apple’s anti-lost device is detailed: “The iOS 13 beta version leaks the anti-lost device details, this will be one more year at this year’s Apple conference. Thing?”)

In July this year, the Taiwan Media Electronics Times, which is close to the Apple supply chain, said that Apple has suspended the development of AR glasses and transferred team members to other fields. Although it is not clear when Apple will release AR heads, It seems that Apple has not given up on the exploration of AR hardware.

The title map is from: BGR