Amazon hires employees to build ‘advanced’ and ‘magical’ AR/VR product

Amazon plans to join other tech giants like Apple, Google and Meta in building its own mass-market augmented reality product, according to job listings found by Protocol.

Numerous related positions included roles in computer vision, product management, etc. They were reported to have referred to “XR/AR devices”and “XR research advanced concept”. Since Protocol released its report on Monday, several job listings mentioned have been removed and others have had product-specific language removed.

The UX designer role required applicants to be able to “think spatially with 3D design experience in motion design, animation, AR/VR, games, architecture, or industrial design”in order to work on “the core system interface along with end user applications.””. from multi-modal interfaces to 3D entertainment with augmented reality.” (Again, some language has been changed or removed since the protocol published its paper.)

Google, Microsoft, and Snap have released various AR wearables with varying degrees of success over the years, and it looks like they’re still working on future products in the category. Meanwhile, it’s one of the industry’s best-kept secrets that Apple has a large team of engineers, researchers, and others working on mixed reality devices, including mass-market consumer augmented reality glasses. And Meta (formerly Facebook) has been clear about its intentions to focus on AR over the last couple of years.

No wonder Amazon is chasing the same thing. Amazon has launched a new R&D team led by Haris O’Connell, an executive who has previously worked on AR products at Google and other companies, the protocol notes.

But the Amazon product may not be the product we know Meta and Apple have focused on; it may not be a wearable item at all. Some of Amazon’s job listings call it a “smart home”device. And Amazon is among the tech companies that have experimented with room-scale projection and holograms instead of wearables for augmented reality.

Whatever form the product takes, it’s likely to be years away, given that many of these roles are involved early in the development process.