Apple finally announced their long rumored augmented reality headset.
I am trying to sort out how I feel about it so I just want to talk about the use cases
and ask why I would want the Apple Vision Pro!
The demos and videos that Apple showed were impressive, very impressive.
Mesmerizing maybe?
Everything they showed looked really cool like being able to have a very large personal
movie screen, or having multiple apps side by side that you can manipulate the size and
placement of.
The idea of turning the immersion up or down to just the right amount of real reality is
all very, very cool!
The amount of tech they showed off is seriously impressive between the dual 4k -plus- displays,
all the cameras, lidar, infrared projectors, front facing screen, the ability to get latency
down to 12ms…..
The windows have shadows and react to the ambient light in the room, there is constant
tracking of your hands for performing gesture control, your eyes are used to select things…and
on and on….. all of that is just over-engineered in the apple way.
There is no denying that what they showed on stage was stunning and hard to believe,
if true, but I am having a hard time trying to figure out what I would use this for.
Apple showed this being used for work apps, for browsing with safari, watching videos,
playing games, and taking FaceTime calls.
First of all, I am not going to wear this thing around the office as I am walking around,
or talking to people, or going to conference rooms.
I don’t care that your eyes can appear from a void on the front, this thing just will
not be socially acceptable inside most office environments.
It looks like most of the apps are basically iPad apps and have you ever used Excel for
iPad?
It’s pretty limited, so you will run into app limitations for regular business type
apps.
If I am in my office at work or my home office, wearing this thing all day to run office apps,
messaging, and video calls, that is going to get super tiring on my face and head.
Some reviewers in the press commented after a hands on that the Vision Pro is Heavy.
What type of long term consequences could there be with wearing a headset like this
for many hours a day?
It reminds me of the movie The Jerk with Steve Martin where people who used the Optigrab
went cross eyed over time.
Show movie
What can we expect with something pulling on the front of your head for hours on end?
I already have bad posture.
Moving your whole Mac display to the Vision Pro does seem interesting with the ability
to make your whole Mac display larger; however, it doesn’t seem to add real estate, just
make what you have larger, But I do want to try this.
And let’s be honest, people are going to use this for their…um….private browsing
needs….
Then there is battery life on the headset with the battery pack dongle thing, its only
about 2 hours which means you will have to have multiple batteries to use throughout
the day or plug it in constantly in order to stay charged up.
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Apple spent a lot of time showing off facetime using the Vision Pro, and it did look cool
how you can stack people up next to your apps.
During the demo I instantly wondered how others would see you if wearing the headset and Apple
did answer that..
After a setup procedure requiring you to scan your face, an interpretation of you is then
sent to the other people on the call.
Interpretation seems like the right word.
In the demo it looks almost like a high end video game render of a character.
It renders facial expressions, and movement like some kind of deep fake version of you.
It really looks like uncanny valley territory where it looks good, almost real, but off.
Also, FaceTime is more of a personal interaction where your are holding a device and talking
to friends or family and this feels very impersonal.
This feature will also work with other apps like zoom or teams for work calls and maybe
that is less of a personal interaction and it would be OK, but…….I can’t really
explain it, but something about this just feels weird for talking to people you like.
So those 2 use cases, work and FaceTime calls, seem like a no go for me, mostly.
I understand that some people will like it.
When it comes to entertainment, I do see myself being more interested in that.
I could see myself sitting back and watching a movie on the Vision Pro with a really large
theater environment all to myself.
With the HDR abilities and the spatial audio I think this could be a really good use case.
I have used this feature on other devices, although it has been a while, but it was alway
lackluster.
I didn’t feel immersed in the movie.
My hope is that Apple really is accurate with the latency and the precision it takes to
lock a floating window in augmented reality.
For a single person watching a movie or show this might be a really good use case of Vision
Pro.
I think I would like that, but I usually like to watch movies with other people.
I think movies are just better when you experience it with someone else.
Of course you always have the option to buy one of these headsets for your significant
other, or your whole family and watch together using SharePlay….AT a prohibitively expensive
$3500 a piece!!!!!!
I don't want to get into the price in this video but....wow…..
Video games, are the biggest, most obvious use case for a device like this, me thinks,
although if I am wrong, let me know below….you always do.
I think that gaming is a more personal activity than watching movies for most people and apple
showed playing Arcade games using a PS5 controller.
This is really cool and, again, as long as all of this actually plays out like Apple
says, I am excited to try this out.
I really wish Apple would get their crap together with triple A game devs so we can have actual
console games, or heck, even PC games on all of Apple’s devices running Apple Silicon.
With the release of the M2 Mac Pro, it is clear that supporting other GPUs is gone so
Apple needs to make a really good case, or Pay a large sum of money, to start getting
bigger games over to their platforms.
If or when that happens, I think that the Vision Pro could be one of the best ways to
play video games.
And I know I said all that stuff about wearing a headset for a long period of time and potential
effects, but In smaller, bite sized sessions, sitting back in a comfortable couch or chair,
I think that might be acceptable, vs an all day desk use.
Overall, I am very curious about the Apple Vision Pro and I really do want to try it
out.
I am not trying to be negative, I just am not sure in how many situations this thing,
or any headset makes sense, beyond entertainment.
Anyway, what do you all think of Vision Pro?
Are you skeptical like me or cant wait to get your hands on it?
Let me know below.
If you are interested in my thoughts on the 15” macbook air check out this video right
over here.
Hit the thumbs up button if you liked it, hit subscribe if you want and ill see you
next time.