Asus Making an Augmented Reality Headset for 2016 Launch

Asus, which previously had said that it was considering the idea of making an augmented reality headset, has announced that it has decided to enter the new category and will launch its first headset in 2016.

CEO Jerry Shen said in an interview that the Taiwanese technology conglomerate believes that augmented reality will be crucial for people's lives. "You can make a real setting meld together with yourself and the AR (augmented reality) portion," he told CNET. "Internally, we are talking about how to prepare." Shen added that the company also plans to release a service robot next year.

At this point, it is not known whether the ZenPhone-maker has partnered with Microsoft to create a version of HoloLens or is building one of its own from scratch. The company had previously said that it was talking with Microsoft to create an affordable version of HoloLens.

HoloLens is Microsoft's first augmented reality headset. Its capabilities, ranging from games to medical science, have been showcased by the company in a number of conferences. While at this point Microsoft hasn't announced exactly when it would make the device available to consumers, a developer kit has been promised to arrive in early 2016 for $3,000.

Both augmented reality and virtual reality spaces are currently in an infant stage and understandably, not many companies are currently making investments on such projects. Apart from Microsoft, Facebook-owned Oculus VR, HTC, Sony, and Samsung are currently among the few companies that have unveiled their products.

With the smartphone category yielding low profits, and PC shipments continue to decline, Asus, which reported a three percent drop in quarterly revenue in Q2 2015, is no doubt looking to new segments for additional revenue sources.