Apple’s Vision Pro Headset: A Brave New World for Computing

By | February 2, 2024
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I took the tech giant’s newly launched, $3,499 futuristic ‘spatial computing’ headset for two test drives — and my mind was seriously blown

<p>Courtesy of Apple</p> <p>” src=”https://s.yimg.com/ny/api/res/1.2/xtENAMrm0pMfQXZEDunp_g–/YXBwaWQ9aGlnaGxhbmRlcjt3PTk2MDtoPTY0MA–/https://media.zenfs.com/en/people_218/129972d2ad13d2e3322824adf 2c5c884″/></p> <p>Courtesy of Apple</p> <p>” src=”https://s.yimg.com/ny/api/res/1.2/xtENAMrm0pMfQXZEDunp_g–/YXBwaWQ9aGlnaGxhbmRlcjt3PTk2MDtoPTY0MA–/https://media.zenfs.com/en/people_218/129972d2ad13d2e3322824adf 2c5c884″ class=”caas -img”/></p></div> </div> </div> </figure> <p>Here’s a confession: For the past seven months, I’ve been mildly obsessed with a pixelated, virtual butterfly. More on this later.</p> <p>This whole butterfly thing started last June when I went to Apple’s headquarters in Cupertino, California. I was invited to test drive the new Vision Pro, a wearable headset that merges the physical world with a surprisingly lush digital universe projected on two postage stamps. sized screens with higher resolution than a 4K TV.</p> <p>Vision Pro is Apple’s first step in what company CEO Tim Cook calls “spatial computing,” which the tech giant hopes will transform the way we work on daily productivity tasks, communicate with each other, and enjoy movies, games, and memories in video form. and photos in a completely new way.</p> <figure class=
<p>Courtesy of Apple</p> <p>” src=”https://s.yimg.com/ny/api/res/1.2/Ma575VwUIxsGTi_9Zfranw–/YXBwaWQ9aGlnaGxhbmRlcjt3PTk2MDtoPTY0MQ–/https://media.zenfs.com/en/people_218/f0ee228de8dd83f0599e214238 0c01c2″/></p> <p>Courtesy of Apple</p> <p>” src=”https://s.yimg.com/ny/api/res/1.2/Ma575VwUIxsGTi_9Zfranw–/YXBwaWQ9aGlnaGxhbmRlcjt3PTk2MDtoPTY0MQ–/https://media.zenfs.com/en/people_218/f0ee228de8dd83f0599e214238 0c01c2″ class=”caas -img”/></p></div> </div> </div> </figure> <p>Describing my experience with this device as mind-blowing hits the nail pretty hard – but it still falls sadly short.</p> <p>The Vision Pro looks like a pair of old-school ski goggles, weighs about a pound and is loaded with 23 sensors, including a dozen cameras and six microphones that track eye movements, hand gestures and sound, as well as detect objects. is found around you.</p> <p>According to Apple, images are transferred to screens eight times faster than the human eye can blink. The strap that holds the device over your head contains an array of speakers that transmit audio (what they call spatial audio) so that everything you hear matches the acoustics of the virtual environment you’re immersed in.</p> <figure class=
<p>Courtesy of Apple</p> <p>” src=”https://s.yimg.com/ny/api/res/1.2/_w32fzmC2ChJY4wIeZChiQ–/YXBwaWQ9aGlnaGxhbmRlcjt3PTk2MDtoPTY0MQ–/https://media.zenfs.com/en/people_218/a63bae1d21162c3b5553ee0 6fb1a0d9a”/></p> <p>Courtesy of Apple</p> <p>” src=”https://s.yimg.com/ny/api/res/1.2/_w32fzmC2ChJY4wIeZChiQ–/YXBwaWQ9aGlnaGxhbmRlcjt3PTk2MDtoPTY0MQ–/https://media.zenfs.com/en/people_218/a63bae1d21162c3b5553ee0 6fb1a0d9a” class=”caas -img”/></p></div> </div> </div> </figure> <p>To be honest, I wasn’t expecting much when I first got the chance to try it. Over the years, I’ve worn a few more of these headphones, and each time I’d leave feeling nauseous, with a headache, and overwhelmed. If this is the future of computing, I’m not impressed. </p> <p>But from the moment I held Apple’s new device and found myself staring at its two tiny screens packed with 23 million pixels, I couldn’t help but gasp and say, “Oh wow! . . . Wow! . . . Ohhh! . . . No way!”</p> <p><button class=The story continues

I knew that none of the images that flashed before my eyes were flesh and blood reality, but after a few seconds I didn’t care. I felt engrossed in everything I looked at. I was having a richer, more authentic experience that went beyond the feeling of looking at and interacting with files, words, and images on my MacBook Air.

Related: Everything to Know About the iPhone 15, Including New Features and Price Changes

<p>Courtesy of Apple</p> <p>” src=”https://s.yimg.com/ny/api/res/1.2/vqnK9lhWIwIA2t7.IiuUNg–/YXBwaWQ9aGlnaGxhbmRlcjt3PTk2MDtoPTY0MQ–/https://media.zenfs.com/en/people_218/299acaa90623dd0683195bf 1ff01119a”/></p> <p>Courtesy of Apple</p> <p>” src=”https://s.yimg.com/ny/api/res/1.2/vqnK9lhWIwIA2t7.IiuUNg–/YXBwaWQ9aGlnaGxhbmRlcjt3PTk2MDtoPTY0MQ–/https://media.zenfs.com/en/people_218/299acaa90623dd0683195bf 1ff01119a” class= “caas-img”/></p></div> </div> </div> </figure> <p>During my first hands-on road test with the Vision Pro, I pressed a button that required Apple to recreate my glasses prescription on the device for half an hour and then secure it properly to my face to make sure no light was letting in. Digital Crown in the upper right corner of the glasses. Vision Pro came to life quickly.</p> <p>Within seconds, a grid of circular app icons began to appear in the middle of the room. (Apple says more than a million apps can work with the device, and more than 600 apps are designed specifically for Apple’s VisionOS.)</p> <p>To select a specific app, I looked at it, pinched my thumb and index finger together, and the app opened. Keeping my pinched fingers together and moving them up or down allowed me to scroll through the content. Navigating with my eyes, hands, and voice was incredibly intuitive.</p> <p>Since I spend most of my waking hours working on my keyboard for work, I was enjoying experiencing what it would be like to use the Vision Pro. Creating a document that I could enlarge to the size of a Mini Cooper and carry with my hands anywhere in the room had a certain impact. <em>Minority Report</em> feel it. And looking at the loud words I typed on the virtual keyboard (you can also connect a Bluetooth keyboard) was visually satisfying.</p> <p>When I turned the Digital Crown, the room I was sitting in fell apart. Suddenly, I was standing next to a pristine alpine lake near the foot of Oregon’s Mount Hood. Insects buzzed around me as light rain spattered the surface of the lake. When I looked around, I could see clouds floating in the blue sky and my feet touching the ground. There were tall fir trees behind me.</p> <figure class=
<p>Courtesy of Apple</p> <p>” src=”https://s.yimg.com/ny/api/res/1.2/obnR2PXG.ICiBjx4sJNEmA–/YXBwaWQ9aGlnaGxhbmRlcjt3PTk2MDtoPTY0MQ–/https://media.zenfs.com/en/people_218/8b4746d00315d436fb77b 46a452cfee0″/></p> <p>Courtesy of Apple</p> <p>” src=”https://s.yimg.com/ny/api/res/1.2/obnR2PXG.ICiBjx4sJNEmA–/YXBwaWQ9aGlnaGxhbmRlcjt3PTk2MDtoPTY0MQ–/https://media.zenfs.com/en/people_218/8b4746d00315d436fb77b 46a452cfee0″ class= “caas-img”/></p></div> </div> </div> </figure> <p>Making a video call on the device with FaceTime was even more awkward. Vision Pro cameras created my virtual 3D doppelgänger, known as a Persona, which was shown to the Apple representative I was chatting with elsewhere on campus.</p> <p>Thinking of using the headset with others in the room? To prevent users from becoming isolated from those around them, the device also projects a digital representation of your eyes onto the front of the glasses so those around you know when you’re looking at them (instead of browsing the web).</p> <p>You can also create your own 3D movies, known as “spatial videos”, by activating the camera using the button on the left side of the header; These videos were unlike anything I had ever seen before, and after a few seconds I was almost convinced that I had been transported back in time to the exact moment when that scene was filmed.</p> <p>Even more awe-inspiring? I was watching the videos on the huge screen projected in front of me. At one point I found myself engrossed in the Encounter Dinosaurs app and standing in a lava field as a giant dino wandered in front of me. Soon it appeared to move beyond the boundaries of the screen and began to move towards me, as if the ground beneath my feet was shaking. My brain and gut were telling me it was all fake, but it was still a little unnerving.</p> <p>Related: Apple AirTag Helps Dog Reunite with Owner After Pet Was Carried Away by California Floodwaters</p> <figure class=
<p>Courtesy of Apple</p> <p>” src=”https://s.yimg.com/ny/api/res/1.2/6oXXPjnzZ4MQf0KSJTAHhw–/YXBwaWQ9aGlnaGxhbmRlcjt3PTk2MDtoPTY0MQ–/https://media.zenfs.com/en/people_218/2a76197cb53c7053d9d7f 4bd411acc1b”/></p> <p>Courtesy of Apple</p> <p>” src=”https://s.yimg.com/ny/api/res/1.2/6oXXPjnzZ4MQf0KSJTAHhw–/YXBwaWQ9aGlnaGxhbmRlcjt3PTk2MDtoPTY0MQ–/https://media.zenfs.com/en/people_218/2a76197cb53c7053d9d7f 4bd411acc1b” class=”caas -img”/></p></div> </div> </div> </figure> <p>Then I noticed the virtual butterfly. It was fluttering in the distance, unaware of the huge creatures nearby. At one point I reached out my hand and watched it slowly land on my finger. And that’s when it happened. Literally the moment its six spindly legs made contact with my finger. <em>to feel</em> It touches my skin. This experience was incredibly confusing, and in the months that followed I convinced myself that I had somehow imagined the whole thing.</p> <p>Three weeks ago I was invited back to Apple’s LA headquarters to spend some more time with the Vision Pro, and all I could think about was that damn butterfly. After testing the device and checking out some of the latest tweaks and new content, I asked my managers if I could encounter their virtual winged bug one last time. And sure enough, as soon as it landed on my finger, the same thing happened again. I could feel it.</p> <figure class=
<p>Courtesy of Apple</p> <p>” src=”https://s.yimg.com/ny/api/res/1.2/C3XoydUT2rNgrrf_EIQt6A–/YXBwaWQ9aGlnaGxhbmRlcjt3PTk2MDtoPTY0MQ–/https://media.zenfs.com/en/people_218/12e539c1f30f78b4a96f8 9f591ef8e49″/></p> <p>Courtesy of Apple</p> <p>” src=”https://s.yimg.com/ny/api/res/1.2/C3XoydUT2rNgrrf_EIQt6A–/YXBwaWQ9aGlnaGxhbmRlcjt3PTk2MDtoPTY0MQ–/https://media.zenfs.com/en/people_218/12e539c1f30f78b4a96f8 9f591ef8e49″ class=”caas -img”/></p></div> </div> </div> </figure> <p>And that’s when I realized that of course I was imagining the whole experience. That’s how powerful Vision Pro is at recreating the reality of fleshspace (i.e. the physical world). It serves up a jaw-droppingly realistic artificial world, and my brain – doing what my brain always does – fills in the gaps.</p> <p>what my brain <em>can’t</em> What we need to do is imagine where Vision Pro and the technology behind it will take us; But I am very happy to put on my seat belt and go on the journey. Meanwhile, I will be outside, with my index finger outstretched bravely, looking for butterflies.</p> <p>Don’t forget to sign up for our newsletter for more People news!</p> <p>Read the original article about people.</p> </div> </div><!-- .entry-content --> <footer class= Category: Technology Tags: ,

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