Apple Inc is gearing to launch augmented reality tools to allow two iPhone users share AR, while restricting personal data sent to its servers. Apple and Google are both racing to release AR tools to attract software developers on their platforms.

United States: Apple Inc is set to unveil tools to allow two iPhone users share augmented reality while limiting the personal data sent to its servers. Augmented reality (AR) allows viewers to see virtual structures placed over their surroundings through their smartphones or other devices, like the technology used in the game Pokemon Go.

Apple and its competitor Google are battling it to release AR tools to attract software developers on their platforms. The tech giants are seeking to allow two individuals to share data, so they can see the same virtual object in the same space through their individual devices.

However, this has raised privacy concerns, that if AR apps become commonplace, people will be scanning their homes and other personal spaces routinely. Apple has designed its two-player system to work phone-to-phone in part because of those privacy concerns. The approach differs from Google's, as Google’s AR requires scans of a player's environment to be sent and stored in the cloud.

AR has become a major focus of both the companies. Apple CEO had called AR huge and profound, when the company released its first tools to let software developers make AR apps in the end of 2017. Apple made AR possible on many phones without any modifications. The move spurred Google to abandon an AR effort that required phones to have special sensors and instead build tools for AR on conventional phones. The race between the two tech giants has heated up since the release of Apple’s first AR tools.

Google has recently rolled out tools for making multiplayer AR games. The system, called Cloud Anchors, requires the first player to scan his or her environment and then upload the raw mapping data to Google's servers, where it is translated into a rough representation of the area. The subsequent players perform a scan that sends limited information to the same server, which matches the phones up and lets them each see the same virtual object on the same physical space.

However, Apple's system avoids storing any raw mapping scans of a user's surroundings in the cloud. Google says it will discard raw mapping data after seven days.

The precise details of how Apple's new system will work, or if it would support three or more players, were not available. But a phone-to-phone approach could eventually run into technical limitations. It could end up being harder to handle three or more players at a time if a player who started the game drops out.

According to TechSci Research, the Augmented Reality (AR) tools by Apple and Google will enable the AR market witness tremendous growth because of rising demand for AR and VR products in consumer electronics, automotive and aviation industries. Over the last few years, AR and VR products, especially head-mounted displays and smart glasses, have witnessed significant innovation, globally. This has led to robust growth in the adoption of these products by consumers and industries alike. Moreover, the mobile application testing (MAT) services market in the United States is likely to exhibit robust growth due to Apple and Google’s completion for developing AR tools. Anticipated market growth can be attributed to increasing adoption of mobile applications supporting advanced technologies such as Virtual and Augmented Reality, Near Field Communication, Artificial Intelligence in major industries including BFSI, retail and manufacturing to enable customers to enjoy high performing, user-friendly and reliable mobile applications. Moreover, increase in demand for mobile applications for implementing Industry 4.0. and supporting Internet of Things (IoT) is expected to positively influence the United States MAT services market in the coming years.

According to the recently published report by TechSci Research, “UnitedStates Augmented Reality and Virtual Reality Market Forecast and Opportunities, 2020”, the market for augmented reality and virtual reality in the United States is projected to grow at a CAGR over 37% during 2015-2020. Growing adoption in automotive, pico-projectors, and gaming & entertainment industries, for display of information, along with facilitation of real-time human interaction with objects and digital devices, are anticipated to be the major growth drivers for United States augmented reality & virtual reality market over the next five years. The market is segmented into Head-Mounted Display (HMD) products, Head-Up Display (HUD) products, smart glasses, and handheld device applications, wherein HMD products held the largest revenue share in 2014. United States augmented reality & virtual reality market is majorly dominated by BAE Systems, Thales Defense and Security, Inc., and Rockwell Collins, Inc.

According to the recently published report by TechSci Research, “United States Mobile Application Testing Services Market, By Architecture (Native, Hybrid, & Web-based), By Type (Manual Vs. Automation), By Operating System (Android, iOS, etc.), By Device, Competition Forecast & Opportunities, 2012-2022”, United States mobile application testing (MAT) services market is projected to grow at a CAGR of over 11% by 2022, on the back of increasing number of smartphone and internet users across the country. Moreover, growing culture of Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) and Bring Your Own Application (BYOA), rising adoption of DevOps and SMAC (Social, Mobile, Analytic and Cloud) ecosystem, and increasing use of mobile applications across diverse sectors including financial and retail, are some of the factors anticipated to boost the demand for MAT services in the US during the forecast period. Owing to growing demand for security and reliability of mobile applications, which deal with customers’ personal and financial data, the MAT services market in the US is expected to witness an upward growth trend over next five years.

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