Apple’s purchase of Akonia Holographics has fuelled further speculation that the company is actively working to develop augmented reality glasses.

Apple this week acquired Akonia Holographics, a Colorado-based startup dedicated to the manufacturing of displays for augmented reality glasses. According to Akonia, it owns more than 200 patents that result in a technology that can create “thin, transparent smart glass lenses that display vibrant, full-color, wide field-of-view images.”

Apple, for its part, has bought other companies with technologies that are directly applicable in an AR, including InVisage Technologies, Regain, Vrvana and SensoMotoric, which makes eye tracking hardware and software, as well as PrimeSense.

It is expected that Apple’s glasses will be able to track the motion of hands in order to interact with a virtual object, much like Leap Motion. Time will tell whether the company can make a success of any such product but we wouldn’t bet against it in the long term.

Meanwhile, Apple has confirmed a press event at its HQ for 12 September, when it is expected to unveil a new generation of iPhones.

Share Story: