AR could soon become an actual reality for Apple and the proof is in the hires. According to a report from Bloomberg, the Cupertino giant has assembled a team of AR all stars and engineers from companies including Microsoft, Facebook, and Adobe. And this is by no means the first indication that Apple is planning to enter the AR space. They're hiring optical lens engineers, 3D animation experts and acquiring technology from AI related startups. Even Tim Cook has hinted at the possibility. There's virtual reality and there's augmented reality. Both of these are incredibly interesting but my own view is that augmented reality is the larger of the two. Unlike virtual reality, which promises to fully immerse goggle wearing users in a virtual world AR allows you to interact with the real world by overlaying virtual images and data. And, if the reports are true, we could see the fruits of these efforts before the end of the year. A report in February suggests that the next iPhone could debut augmented reality features Similar to what Google is already doing with its Tango-enabled phones. And it could extend well beyond the iPhone. Apple is also rumored to be working on its own HoloLens-like ARI wear, with German optics manufacturer Carl Zeiss. The glasses could be announced before the end of the year, but likely won't be ready until So much later. What we do know is that, at this point, Apple is late to the AR game. Tango enabled [UNKNOWN] phones are already available and Microsoft has a two-year head start with its headset.