Here's Everything We Know About Apple's Augmented Reality Plans

Apple may be gearing up for one of its most important events of the year next week, but news about a recent Apple hire has the tech world talking once again about Apple's plans to enter the world of augmented reality.

This week,Piper Jaffray analyst Gene Munster wrote a research note that a former Apple employee, Nick Thompson, left his post as the HoloLens audio hardware engineering lead at Microsoftand and is now back at Apple. That may not seem very noteworthy in and of itself, but when coupled with other augmented reality moves by Apple over the past few years, its augmented reality plans are starting to come into focus.

Apple's not sitting idly byJust so we're all on the same page, augmented reality overlays information and graphics onto the real world via screens or devices in real-time, so that its users can do things like learn about objects in front of them, control virtual objects, or play immersive games.

This is the future if Microsoft's HoloLens has anything to say about it. Source: Microsoft.

While Apple's competitors get a lot of attention for their augmented reality and virtual reality pursuits, Apple's certainly been busy as well. Take a look:

Back in February Apple was awarded a patent for head-mounted display in which an iPhone is slipped into the device as the main screen.
Apple's also posted job openings for AR and VR positions, looking for people with "a proven track record in virtual and augmented reality."
The company purchased the AR software company, Metaio, back in March, and now owns its 171 pending worldwide patents and 25 U.S. patents.
In 2013, Apple bought PrimeSense, the 3D sensor company that made some of the tech found in Microsoft's Kinect.
And, of course, the recent hire of Thompson away from Microsoft's HoloLens.

All of these moves certainly don't mean Apple is ready to put an AR device up for sale, but it does show the company is taking the technology seriously. And it should be, because the competition is already heating up.

Keeping up with the JonesesAccording to Munster's note, published on Barron's, here's what Google is doing in the space:

In short, Google is pursuing multiple AR and VR avenues, especially with Google Ventures' $542 million investment in Magic Leap. And just in case all of the above sounded a bit too boring, check out the video below to see what Magic Leap is up to:

And as for Facebook Munster says:

The Oculus Rift VR headset. Source: Oculus.

Last year, Facebook purchased Oculus for $2 billion and will release its first device, called the Rift, to the public in the first quarter of 2016. While the Rift is a virtual reality headset, and not augmented reality, it still puts Apple far behind the competition when it comes to any type of publicly released immersive computing experience.

And, of course, I already mentioned earlier that Microsoft's been building HoloLens, which is an AR headset the company hopes people will use for gaming, design, and even research. The HoloLens pairs with gesture controls, leaving the mouse behind.

The fact is, with all of these major tech players diving into augmented and virtual reality, Apple's latest AR moves should help keep the company from falling too far behind its competition.

Don't hold your breathWhile Apple is likely working on its own augmented reality device, it could be many years before it reveals it to the public. Apple tends to be slower to release devices in new segments than other companies.

Which means that it would be perfectly comfortable watching Microsoft, Facebook, and Google sell their devices before it releases its own. But with its current moves, Apple investors can be sure the company isn't overlooking augmented reality, and if you factor in its penchant for secrecy, Apple could be further along than any of us suspect.

The article Here's Everything We Know About Apple's Augmented Reality Plans originally appeared on Fool.com.

Chris Neiger has no position in any stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool owns and recommends Apple, Facebook, and Google (A and C shares). It owns shares of Microsoft. Try any of our Foolish newsletter services free for 30 days. We Fools may not all hold the same opinions, but we all believe that considering a diverse range of insights makes us better investors. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.