Apple has been, as usual, secretive about its plans for or even belief in AR or VR—but its acquisitions and patent filings are revealing. Over the past three years, Apple has bought start-ups such as Vrvana, which produced an AR headset called Totem; Akonia, which produced lenses for AR products; Emotient, whose machine learning software tracked facial expressions and discerned emotions; RealFace, a facial recognition company; and Faceshift, which remapped a user’s facial movements to a 3D avatar. Apple also purchased NextVR, a VR content producer, as well as Spaces, which created
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