Apple’s Kim Vorrath joins AR team to ‘bring some order’ to headset development

Word on the street has been swirling for quite some time that Apple is working on an augmented reality headset of some kind. A recent change within Apple’s ranks may put that headset on the right track.

According to a report this week from The Information, Apple has shifted Kim Vorrath, a software executive, over to the team in charge of building the company’s oft-rumored AR headset. The report states that Vorrath’s inclusion on the AR team is meant to “bring some order” to the proceedings.

Vorrath has been a long-standing employee at Apple for 15 years. She has led program management on the software development team for that stint. Now, joining the AR and VR team, Vorrath will be answering to Mike Rockwell. The entire team consists of around a dozen people.

Kim Vorrath, who led program management in the software team for more than 15 years, has moved over to the team headed by Mike Rockwell, the vice president of AR and virtual reality at Apple, said a person familiar with the situation. In the Apple hierarchy, Mr. Rockwell sits under Dan Riccio, senior vice president of hardware engineering. Mr. Rockwell has a big team with nearly a dozen direct reports who are working on everything from software to hardware to content in the area of AR and VR, as detailed by The Information in an Apple Org Chart published earlier this year.

The incoming augmented reality headset/glasses have been a semi-consistent rumor for quite a while now. Whether or not it’s a project that Apple actually plans on launching to the public remains to be seen. However, considering how often the rumors pop up, the safe bet is that Apple is at least developing something of this nature.

However, it was rumored in July of this year that Apple had actually shut down the project building the AR glasses. That report was sketchy at best, though, and almost immediately considered false. At least, as false as a report regarding an unannounced product can be.

Are you interested in an AR headset from Apple?