Report: Apple hires VR expert

Doug Bowman

Apple has reportedly hired computer science professor and virtual reality expert Doug Bowman, in a bid to compete in the nascent VR space.

According to a Financial Times report, Bowman recently joined Apple after taking a sabbatical from Virginia Tech, where he was director of the Centre for Human-Computer Interaction.

Virginia Tech lists Bowman as principal investigator of the 3D Interaction Group, focusing on “three-dimensional user interface design and the benefits of immersion in virtual environments”.

The news follows a reports from earlier this month that Google has set up a dedicated Virtual Reality (VR) division and has appointed company executive Clay Bavor to run the unit.

According to recent research by Deloitte, Virtual Reality will celebrate its first billion-dollar year in 2016, driven by approximately US$700 million (€645 million) in global hardware sales.

The professional services firm’s ‘Technology, Media and Telecommunications Predictions 2016’ report claims that approximately 2.5 million VR headsets and 10 million games will be sold this year.