After a reported seven years of development, Apple’s AR headset is finally here. It’s been a minute since we’ve had a “one more thing” moment. The wisdom, efficacy and ultimate fate of the product have yet to be determined, but one thing we can finally say for certain: unlike the long-rumored Apple television and car, it’s real and it’s finally here.
“With Vision Pro, you’re no longer limited by a display,” Tim Cook said, introducing the new headset. Unlike earlier mixed reality reports, the system is far more focused on augmented reality than virtual. The company refresh to this new paradigm as “spatial computing.”
It’s a way of interacting with the computing UI – something the company is referring to as kind of input device, akin to a mouse or trackpad. The headset is surprisingly similar to earlier renders – it does, indeed, look ski googles.
The hardware utilizes a new feature called “EyeSight,” which uses a front facing display to reveal your eyes to other people in the room (compensating for the opaque visor. While the product is, indeed, mixed reality (owing to the need for on-board passthrough), the company seems disinterested in engaging with the virtual reality conversation.
Interestingly, it does appear to be a work first device. It’s telling that the company is focused on things like email, rather than, say, gaming. In fact, users can actually bring a version of their Mac desktop over, projected out in front of them. Apple really went to great lengths to avoid a touchscreen Mac, it seems.
Apple’s Vision Pro AR headset is finally here by Brian Heater originally published on TechCrunch
