How Apple’s ‘RealityOne’ mixed-reality headset will work

Apple’s long-anticipated roughly $3,000 mixed-reality headset will offer a 3D version of iOS, show immersive, interactive video content such as concerts and sports, playgames, and allow for individual and group FaceTime calls among myriad other uses.
Apple VR/AR headset concept by Antonio DeRosa
Mark Gurman for Bloomberg News:

The eye- and hand-tracking capabilities will be a major selling point for the device, according to people familiar with the product, which is expected to cost roughly twice the price of rival devices. Its core features will include advanced FaceTime-based videoconferencing and meeting rooms.
The headset also will be able to show immersive video content, serve as an external display for a connected Mac, and replicate many functions of iPhones and iPads.
Here’s how it will work: The headset will have several external cameras that can analyze a user’s hands, as well as sensors within the gadget’s housing to read eyes. That allows the wearer to control the device by looking at an on-screen item — whether it’s a button, app icon or list entry — to select it.
Users will then pinch their thumb and index finger together to activate the task — without the need to hold anything. The approach differs from other headsets, which typically rely on a hand controller.
The headset will have two ultra-high-resolution displays — developed with Sony Group Corp. — to handle the VR and a collection of external cameras to enable an AR “pass-through mode.” That means users will see the real world through the cameras positioned on the headset. Apple will offer users with prescription glasses custom lenses that sit within the enclosure itself.

MacDailyNews Take: In May 2020, Apple confirmed its acquisition of NextVR, a startup that provides sports and other content for virtual-reality headsets which, at the time, had deals with major sports leagues including the National Basketball Association and entertainment networks such as Fox Sports. NextVR technology supports live streaming in virtual reality: Think sports, live concerts, and more.
Gurman continues:

The device will also have productivity features, including the ability to serve as an external monitor for a Mac. With that feature, users will be able to see their Mac’s display in virtual reality but still control the computer with their trackpad or mouse and physical keyboard. 
The headset’s operating system, internally called xrOS, will have many of the same features as an iPhone and iPad but in a 3D environment. That includes the Safari web browser, photos, mail, messages and the calendar app. And it will also have apps for the company’s services, such as the App Store to install third-party software, Apple TV+, music and podcasts. The company is working on health-tracking functions as well.

MacDailyNews Take: VR is pretty self-explanatory. You immerse yourself in games, personal computing, and other content. As for AR:
The problem with AR right now are the delivery devices. iPhone and iPad are suboptimal AR delivery devices. We need lightweight, stylish eyewear that just works. That is when AR development will take off and AR killer apps will be born.
So, for one example, mundane as it may be: You want to fix a leaky shower without involving a plumber. Today you have to use your iPad, iPhone, or MacBook to watch and follow along with a video to see how to pull the old shower valve’s cartridge and install a replacement. Imagine that info just being there in front of your eyes as you work. Pausing when you say “pause” and informing when you say “next step.” Now, extrapolate that experience to basically everything. — MacDailyNews, May 15, 2020
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