I’m not sure I’ve seen 100% of the embargoed Vision Pro content that has hit the web in the last 24 hours, but I have seen and heard a load of criticism that just doesn’t provide the flattering light I would like to see lit against what is in the same breath billed as the state of the art. Many, if not most of the reviewers are leveraging the weight of this media yak shaving competition, and not giving enough embrace to the state of physical limitations.
Sure, yes, it’s a multi trillion dollar company, stamping out these space age ski goggles. I’m not here to make apple wine out of this moment; I am here to set the world straight on the soiled grass of head mounted displays.
Lets put down the old model of software; the old experiences that you associate with VR. Reconsider the software Apple is known for; the experiences users/fans are known to produce within their guard rails. Why do Apple users keep coming back – why do they love the experience?
I saw a comment on X, and I agree with it’s direction; are these not some of the greatest NPC’s of all time (referring to the personas)? Even look at the competition; Meta, or even Apple memogis. It’s remarkable the progress, how much nuance and natural qualities they’ve absolutely forged into this pixel vessels. Are we literally at the point in this world, the state of the art, where raw horse power is in an indistinguishable uncanny valley apart from the world of Star Trek? From the Verge reviews and their most recent podcast — sure, it’s not real life (referring to the pixels, and color depth), but the integration, the multi-tasking, the experience isn’t about breathing life into our information so that it takes a presence beyond reality, its about connecting it more deeply to our human understanding. That’s like saying AI hallucinations and deep fakes don’t hurt humanity by representing a fraud as reality. The Vision Pro is here to help us get closer to our information.
Take a look at Brian Tong’s multi tasking in his video – this machine, this device stands on it’s own against any other world class computing device, with it’s potential to integrate information in a visual interactive experience. The Verge review did point out, the device may be the only other device to run three operating systems on one device. While it’s a small point, it should go to show that this device can integrate information into our consciousness, potentially better than any other Apple product to date. Not only does is visually display information, but the software stack; the human interface – sight, touch, voice, keyboard, mouse, microphone, and image capture, are all wrapped into a unified experience.
If we’re wondering how to better get ourselves into a computer, to better interact with our ideas, why not strap a complex sensor around our senses, so we can collect more data? Why not explore an interactive portal with more of our awareness? Even for a first generation product, a lot of the experience is right where I want to see it. It’s a productivity and entertainment device, right now. Name one Apple device that doesn’t excel in that niche already. They lead the pack. This is standing right on top of the trillion dollar ideas that enabled creatives to form this glacier.
If you’re reviewing this, and scoffing that it doesn’t stand up to the gaming experiences, or software stack found of previous HMD – name device, one software stack that can mimic beyond a grade school level of reality. ChatGPT or the best deep fakes cannot hallucinate better than this thing can synthesize reality.
Gaming will probably will start to hit Apple’s base with this device. Apple has extended the olive branch; with the horse power of the M-Series Macs; opening up game stores (recently) – things could change for Apple gamers. Gaming graphics and VR experiences will probably start their climb from this device; but, as a way to interact with our information, the backbone of every Mac, this device stands at the peak.