While nearly every big tech company has some sort of plan in place to deal with the upcoming onslaught of virtual reality and augmented reality technology, there's been one rather large holdout: Apple. According to a report from the Financial Times, however, Apple now has its own VR/AR expert. Doug Bowman is joining Apple following a sabbatical from his position as a professor of computer science and the director of the Center for Human-Computer Interaction at Virginia Tech.

Bowman, who was the lead author of 3D User Interfaces: Theory and Practice, has an impressive background in virtual reality tech. His research focused on "three-dimensional user interface design and the benefits of immersion in virtual environments," according to his academic profile. He also collaborated on numerous articles including "Virtual Reality: How Much Immersion Is Enough?" (PDF), "3D User Interfaces: New Directions and Perspectives" (PDF), and "The Effects of Visual Realism on Search Tasks in Mixed Reality Simulation" (PDF).

Notably, last year Bowman was the recipient of a $100,000 (£70,000) research grant from Microsoft for using its HoloLens headset for a study on "collaborative analysis of large-scale mixed reality data."

While Bowman's hire doesn't necessarily mean that Apple is developing its own VR headset to go toe-to-toe with the likes of Facebook's Oculus Rift, HTC's Vive, or Microsoft's Hololens, the company has shown some interest in the nascent technology.

Apple has filed patents that show how to turn an iPhone into a VR display, it created a 360-degree music video for U2, and it purchased emotion-recognition company Emotient and augmented reality company Metaio last year.

As the FT points out, there's also a chance that Apple's foray into VR and AR won't involve headsets at all; rather it may focus on electric cars. Apple has long been rumoured to be working on its own electric car, and with gesture-based interfaces from Audi and BMW gaining traction at this year's CES, the company may want to secure talent early to stay ahead.