Next June, Apple is expected to unveil a helmet for "mixed" reality, that is, augmented and virtual at the same time, a step that had been expected for years, but it comes at a time when investor and consumer enthusiasm for the parallel virtual world of "Metaverse" has declined from what it was. He had it last year.

And an interview with the head of the American giant Tim Cook with "GQ" magazine re-launched the rumor in this regard a few days ago.

Without giving concrete information, Cook praised the advantages of augmented reality, which allows "adding elements of the digital world to the real world" in order to "improve communication between people and communication with others."

"It's more about the idea of having this scalable environment than just being content with the digital world," he added.

Many observers and analysts expect Apple to present a helmet for augmented and virtual reality in June during the conference that the American group holds annually for developers.

According to speculation by Daniel Ives of "Widbush Securities", "Apple" will offer "glasses" of this type at a price of approximately $ 2,500.

This launch, if it happened, would allow "Apple" to strengthen its system of products and services, according to the analyst.

"There will be criticism, but we don't think this decision is strategically right for Apple," Ives told AFP.

Experts had expected Apple to launch a helmet of this type last year during its annual developer conference.

And Tim Cook indicated at the end of January 2022 that he sees "many potentials" in mixing virtual and augmented reality, revealing investments related to this vision.

At that time, Metavirus was widely promoted as the future of the Internet, after the World Wide Web and mobile devices, driven especially by the Meta Network.

However, the efforts of the social media giants have not yet led to a widespread adoption of this concept beyond the realm of immersive video games, with or without virtual reality technologies.

A study, the results of which were published on Tuesday by Piper Sandler, showed that 29% of American teens own a virtual reality helmet (compared to 87% who have an iPhone), but only 14% use it at least once a week, a number that has not seen any improvement since the fall.

Quest helmets manufactured from the Meta network accounted for more than 80% of the market by the end of 2022, according to Counterpoint.

But like many other giant companies in the technology sector that were affected by the overall economic situation, the parent company of Facebook and Instagram was forced to lay off thousands of employees, in measures that also affected the Metaverse department.

Last month, Google announced the suspension of sales of augmented reality glasses, “Google Glass”, which did not achieve any significant results.

The two competing companies were forced to refocus their efforts on artificial intelligence, which is witnessing a major boom since the success of the “Chat GPT” program manufactured by the “Open AI” company funded in particular by Microsoft.

"After Facebook has lost so much money in this field, it seems surprising that a new helmet is being launched for consumers," says independent analyst Rob Enderle. "But the train may be on the tracks and it is difficult to stop it."

"In everything we did, we were constantly faced with a lot of skepticism," Tim Cook told GQ in his interview.

He pointed out that “Apple” wants to “control the basic technology” whatever the product, explaining that “assembling pieces of third-party technology does not interest us.”

Apple will try to launch its own version and get other players to catch up, according to speculation by Carolina Milanesi of Creative Strategies.

The analyst points out that Meta wants to develop an immersive form of Facebook, with an advertising-based economic model, while Apple sells luxury devices and a world of user-measured services, from entertainment to payments.

Milanesi expects Apple, for example, to offer augmented reality versions of movies or concerts through streaming applications.