Consider what can be done today as a “Ready Player One” device, but look the the future in what they’ve announced. In the long term the win is the AR developer APIs. It seems to me that Apple is giving third parties the tools to use the Vision Pro platform to deliver AR experiences for customized applications.
Right, but that’s exactly my point. The scenarios where I want AR are situations where I want to overlay useful information on the real world—that person’s name, walking directions in an unfamiliar city, etc. Apple didn’t show anyone outside of their little cocoons, just like in “Ready Player One,” where people had to hide their real bodies while in the virtual world. Developers can add these AR capabilities, but I think it will be a long time before people will be willing to wear these in public as a matter of course.
If Apple had started with less ambitious glasses that could be worn in the real world, then they could have added more capabilities as the tech improved, but we’d be accustomed to the concept. Now we have to rely on the tech to improve to turn the Vision Pro mega-goggles into eyeglasses unless Apple’s willing to drop a lot of functionality.
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Well, I was thinking more of aesthetics, not interaction.
With interaction I put the blame fully on the person using the tech, whether it’s headphones, a phone, a screen, or even a book. (As a kid I was always yelled at for having my nose in a book.) These days I always try to be sensitive and aware of those around me so that I’m not “lost” in my electronics. That will be even more important – and difficult – in a VR situation.
That’s good for you, but you’re in the minority. Most people don’t have multiple monitors.
I haven’t had a multi-monitor setup for decades. I switched to laptops for my work years ago and love the portability. I can’t even bear the thought of sitting at a desk for work any more. I’d love some large external monitors, but then I’d be stuck in one place and have to have a desk. My first thought of seeing Vision Pro would be having multiple virtual monitors while still having my portability: I could even sit out on my deck or lawn and work on several big screens. I do that now, but only with my 16" laptop screen.
It’s too early to tell if that’s really practical, though. Maybe it wouldn’t work that well. Maybe it would be great. Like you, I’m anxious to test drive it!
Matthew Panzarino at TechCrunch says the technology is really good, though he’s withholding judgment on whether or not it’s a new computing paradigm like Apple claims.
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And Jason Snell is equally as impressed with the tech, but asks:
Does anyone want a device like this, at any price? Will people want to use one for work? Will people want to use them for entertainment? For all of Apple’s concern about not making a product that’s perceived as cutting you off from the world, don’t most of the use cases for this product seem lonely and solitary, and not appropriate for anyone with a partner or family at home?
And then there’s the Washington Post coverage:
https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2023/06/05/apple-headset-vision-pro/
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It seems a very expensive novelty. I can’t imagine a circumstance in which I’d wear this outside and when I’m at home I’m more than comfortable with my current screens and devices.
The technology is clearly innovative but the practicality is deeply questionable. This is not the isolated world in which I want to exist.
Allowing for advancements in hardware capabilities and for a modern software ecosystem, I had surprisingly strong flashbacks to attending Silicon Graphics “Reality Center” demos and executive briefings in the late 90s and early 2000s.
I don’t know if that means that Silicon Graphics was way ahead of its time in imagining AR/VR use cases back then…or if Apple and others are chasing a seductive technical vision that still demos well but remains far from being ready for broad, sustainable adoption.
I suspect the answer is a bit of both.
What is “XR”?
My only disagreement with Adam’s posting is that heck no, I have NO desire to try one.
This discussion is refreshing for its nuance. Thanks everyone!
I have to say after 40 years of designing publishing systems that the Apple Vision presentation is the first in a long time where my jaw dropped at 4 minute intervals. The engineering in that thing is simply astonishing. But, well, a billion here, a billion there, and a bit of world-class engineering & manufacturing talent can produce a polished V1 product. . . . 
I truly share the misgivings that many are voicing about the isolation and I think I would be non-plussed to see a head clad in that thing in the same room probably bellowing with laughter at the Caddy Shack that no one else can see or hear. But then, I see that on the El where some guy with airpods on, watching Tiktok on their iPhone, explodes in laughter without realizing the entire car heard him ‘cause he had noise cancellation turned-on and didn’t realize how loud he was. Didn’t like that, either, but was very amused.
So, that’s a serious concern. So is the weight. You know? They may have set the battery life at two hours because that’s how long your neck can bear wearing the thing?
Aside from the wows of the few reviewers who actually have worn the thing I’ve not seen any real comprehension of the image quality. If their videos are accurate (probably) the equivalent of a 4K screen for each eye with quality optics conditioning the view seems like a massive improvement over the competition.
This will have limited success because it’s expensive and “odd” in a discomfiting way but there are large areas where this will sell like hotcakes:
• Sports fiends.
• Every hospital and medical school in the country.
• Big or not so big engineering and architectural offices where this kind of immersion has been a grail for decades but they’ve been put-off by the lack of image quality.
• Simulation systems. Yes, for aircraft you really want actual controls under your hands in the simulator but there are other areas where this would be a cost-saving solution.
• Movie fiends.
• Etcetera, etcetera.
In other words, there are areas where this could be wildly successful (when developers thoroughly get their teeth into it) even if the mass market is indifferent and that might eventually be taken care-of by iteration #7.
My one concern for Apple is how they’re going to deal with the world-wide class-action suits brought by parents whose children have been insufferably moaning for months about why they can’t have one. . . .
I would love to try this! But not just for a half-hour. Can I rent one for a couple days?
Dave
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I had the thought that some of those fancy airlines (i.e. Etihad) would have loaner ones for their passengers to use on long flights.
I’m not sure about renting, but Apple does usually have a good return policy. I bet this kind of device would have a higher-than-usual return rate, especially initially.
Actually the $34999 is the base price. By the time you add AppleCare, likely added, given the purchase price and the warranty period and tax, It is likely closer to $5000. Given Apple’s history of charging for generally needed or much desired extras and the likelihood of having some kind of subscription service offered to go with it, I figure the cost is similar to a MacPro 7.1 2019 Desktop computer, but with much less utility and usefulness. At least the AVP seems incompatible with Apples $400 optional sets of wheels, similar in design to office chair casters, that are accessories for its tower computers, which seem to be still optional for the new Apple Silicon MacPro Desktop with a base price of $7,000.
Additionally, other than Avatar II, Way of Water, 3D movies once again seem to have been a passing fad. For example, when is the last time you recently saw a current model of a 3D TV being released or sold in a retail store? Frankly I am of the opinion that in the technology realm that 3D headsets may be a short-lived product category as I suspect major efforts are being made to design and produce 3D holographic projectors which will allow users to see virtual 3D objects without headsets which will likely be a far more desirable device. From what I have read so far about AVP, I would not be surprised to see it to land up in Apple’s history category as Lisa, Newton, Quicktake, and Apple 3 did. What I have learned from history and experience is that buying version 1 of any technology is rarely a good idea and often a waste of money.
I additionally find it interesting that despite one of the major current uses of its competition is for physical exercise and training, which seems to have been barely mentioned with the introduction of the AVP. This raises the question for me as to why, as this seems to be a major discipline for such a device and one would think that it would be promoted or if not might the AVP have some significant issues if using it for such purposes.
As for my own needs, frankly the cardboard or plastic holder designed to hold a phone and a set of wireless earbuds will continue to suit me just fine for now as I have better things to spend around $5000 than version 1 of a customer unproven limited use device, with external battery pack that needs to be recharged every 2 hours.
Can you provide some references to that? As someone who pays no attention to the gaming world, but quite a lot to the exercise science world, I’ve not heard of this before. From what I can tell, the Vision Pro is purely an indoor device (it certainly doesn’t look like it’s water-resistant in any way) and my sense is that it wouldn’t lend itself to fast motion associated with exercise. Surely Apple would have demoed Apple Fitness+ with it if there was a tie-in.
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I have to say that I think that this would be a great use case for indoor cycling training, sort of like what Zwift can do now, but way, way better than watching on a monitor or TV in front of the bike. Treadmill - that I’m not so sure about, since you really need to concentrate on staying on the belt when running, at least in my experience.
Fitness+ could do some cool things with this, though, for bike, rower, and elliptical exercise machines in the future maybe.
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David Pogue has a long article about his test now. He’s a fan, perhaps unsurprisingly given that he tends to be more a tech promoter than critic, but he and others found the weight (he estimated 1.5 pounds; all Apple will say is “about a pound”) to be uncomfortable.
https://medium.com/@davidpogue/my-first-immersion-in-apple-vision-pro-heavy-man-d99f0a940c7c
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My guess is that this product was unveiled at the Developer’s Conference so that there will be a load of apps available for the headset when it is actually released. This will create a whole new revenue stream for Apple and developers.
An interesting new development. Apple is loading up the stakes in goggles/glasses:
That’s the price with add-on wheels (/macprojoke)
It occurs to me that the goggles aren’t really useful for anyone yet. As a lot of people have noted, there’s no real worthwhile usage for them. As such, they’re going to sell to the tech-forward people who want to latest toy – and Apple’s pricing it to extract maximum revenue from them.
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My first thought when I saw the Vision Pro was Zwift: wouldn’t it be cool when I rode by the dinosaurs in Titans Grove that I could turn my head and watch them. But apparently the goggles are not that sweatproof, so that might be a problem.
More seriously, the only other personal use I’d have for a Vision Pro is video. In particular, I own a Garmin VIRB 360. Garmin has long ago left the action camera market but I have lots of 360 video. The camera still works and Garmin’s software still works on Apple Silicon, so there will be more. 360 video would be perfect to view with AR goggles. I’m not sure that’s possible, though, since apparently the cable on the gogles connects only to a battery and there are no input ports available (all of my video is backed on to portable hard drives).
My wife is a professor of astronomy at Penn State and for years has run a large online introductory astronomy course, which they also market to other universities. It’s extremely popular with students. If I remember right, they use Unity, so moving it to Vision OS would probably be easy. It’s unlikely that Penn State would buy their student’s Vision Pro’s, though.