Customers enter the Apple store on 5th Avenue beneath an Apple logo in the Manhattan borough of New York City, July 21, 2015. REUTERS/Mike Segar -

(Reuters) - Apple Inc has assembled a large team of experts in virtual and augmented reality and built prototypes of headsets that could one day rival Facebook’s Oculus Rift or Microsoft’s Hololens, the Financial Times reported.

A secret research unit, housing hundreds of staff assembled from acquisitions or poached from other companies, is working on next-generation headset technologies, the FT reported, citing people familiar with the initiative. (on.ft.com/1PK0dUI)

The newspaper had previously reported the hiring of leading virtual reality researcher Doug Bowman by the iPhone maker. (on.ft.com/1SgnhuR)

Apple was not immediately available to comment.