Vision Pro: Apple Vision Pro: A spatial and special experience – Times of India

In the tech world of launches, this perhaps will go down as one of those “where were you when…?” moments. Like when the iPhone was launched and since then people have been looking for the “next iPhone moment”. Generative AI could turn out to be that moment as well but Apple’s Vision Pro might end up having a similar impact.
Headsets that promise you to take into a different reality have always generated a copious amount of scepticism. This comes from testing a few headers over the years as they end up feeling good for perhaps five minutes and you wonder is it really that big of a deal? When I walked into a specially created makeshift space — it didn’t look like one — at Apple Park in Cupertino, the sense of scepticism was stronger than ever. A day earlier Apple CEO Tim Cook presided over an impeccably prepared keynote where Vision Pro — Apple’s hottest new product — had all the panache that had people squealing in delight. Is Vision Pro a really big deal? Here’s my experience of spending some time with perhaps the most talked about gadget that has got a lot of people gushing and excited.

Apple Vision Pro: How it looks like

As soon as I walked into the special demo zone created for Vision Pro, I was whisked into a small cabin. By the way, the whole zone didn’t look like a temp area created for just the Vision Pro. Since I wear glasses, Apple’s concern was to give me an experience that was suitable for my not-so-perfect eyesight. A few details later, I was told that my customised headset is ready but not before a spatial audio test was conducted. If you’ve used an AirPods Pro, then it’s very similar to that.
If there’s a company that knows how to do a proper design flex, then it is Apple. The Vision Pro joins the illustrious list of extremely well-designed products. There are 12 cameras and six microphones in the Vision Pro yet the panel of the curved glass does a great job of hiding all the sensors and cameras. The Vision Pro is made of a custom aluminium alloy and is surprisingly lightweight. In some ways, it gives off very AirPods Max and the early editions of iPhone vibes. Elements have been borrowed from other Apple products, like the Digital Crown, which plays a vital role in the Vision Pro experience.

Another aspect of the Apple Watch is the band experience. The headband of the Vision Pro can be swapped, which means there’s another product that will keep the third-party — big and small — accessories makers churning out for lesser rates.

Apple Vision Pro: The experience

The Vision Pro feels quite daunting at first. I had this irrational and comical fear of looking silly while wearing it and not being able to get the hang of it. However, the whole experience of wearing it and getting a hang of it is quite simple. There are a lot of cool Apple things in it. Case in point: something called Optic ID. It is a rather easy process of creating an ID — just like FaceID — by rotating your head and registering your eyes. What this also does — and it is a downside — is that it ensures no one can use the Vision Pro except you.
Once the setup was done, it was time to get used to how Vision Pro actually works. Vision Pro relies on your fingers, voice and eyes or rather eye movements, voice commands and gestures. To paraphrase Coldplay, eyes will guide you home. For instance, if you look at an icon, say a Safari, it will hover on it like a cursor. Just put your thumb and index finger together on the app icon and pinch it open. The same pinch comes in handy for moving the apps around the display. Apple has done an excellent job of getting these gestures absolutely on point. There wasn’t an instance where the pinch doesn’t work and also it didn’t look like you were a part of Steven Spielberg’s “Minority Report” where you see people waving their hands in the air to get things done.

It’s quite a delightful experience using the Vision Pro and it is simply controlled by your eyes and the pinching gestures. Be it scrolling through a webpage or closing apps, it feels natural and that is a big win for Apple and Vision Pro. AR/VR headsets haven’t felt natural in their usage and perhaps that’s why they feel intimidating and restrictive to use. What is also a big deal is how smooth and refined the interface and experience are. I, for once, never felt that this is actually a first-generation product. The interface is precise and it really is incredible how easily you get used to controlling the headset in just a matter of a few minutes.
Apple showed me a lot of cool stuff during the demo, including making a FaceTime video call. Apple calls a digital avatar of you — or any other person — Persona and it does look quite lifelike. The FaceTime call experience with another person was a bit surreal wearing the headset.

The Apple Immersive Video was perhaps the one thing that was extraordinary about the whole experience. Apple should be able to convince app developers to create more content that supports Vision Pro but the Immersive Video format is simply exceptional. It is something that has to be actually experienced and at the same time, it is the sort of technology that could change the way people consume content forever.
There’s a battery pack attached to Vision Pro, which means it isn’t a wireless device as such. I did walk around with the Vision Pro with the battery pack but didn’t really feel I was carrying anything extra as such.

Apple Vision Pro: What the future holds

The Vision Pro is a great product and it is more impressive because this is just the first generation. Apple will take time to add finesse to it if you remember while the first iPhone was an absolute game changer, it was the iPhone 4 when things really started to settle and explode at the same time. The same happened with the Apple Watch as the first-generation model raised more questions than answers. By the time Watch Series 3 came out, the Apple Watch was already on its way to becoming an absolute trailblazer in the smartwatch industry.
For the Vision Pro, I expect something like that to happen as well. At $3,499 (roughly Rs 2.8 lakh), the Vision Pro will not be selling in droves in the initial year. There’s a sense of scepticism around augmented reality, virtual reality, mixed reality of even the metaverse. But if there’s a company that can give the technology a level of trust then it is Apple. The perception is that if Apple is throwing its might behind it, then it will get it right as Tim Cook and co have a reputation that may give them more leeway than others.

And Apple has thrown its might as the Vision Pro is an absolute powerhouse of a device. It packs in the same processor as the one found in MacBooks. There’s an all-new processor and a new operating system that has been created just to ensure that Vision Pro works seamlessly. There’s far too much power and innovative tech at play in the Vision Pro for it not to impress the audience out there. Apple has already said that the iPhone and iPad apps will support Vision Pro and that makes it an even bigger draw. Apple’s ecosystem has a fancy, new innovative addition and sooner or later it will be so well-integrated that many might just end up paying a premium for an experience that will perhaps be unmatched.
Apple will make the demos available at its stores when the Vision Pro is actually ready to reach customers. And you can put good money on the company having the wow factor for consumers.
There was a metamorphosis of the smartphone industry when Apple introduced the first iPhone. I am quite certain that the Vision Pro will do the same for the headset and mixed reality business. It is an expensive product at the moment and perhaps more suitable for hardcore tech enthusiasts. However, in a couple of years though you might see an “SE” version of the Vision Pro, which makes it more mainstream. You can be certain that the market will be flooded with cheaper, affordable and less powerful alternatives to the Vision Pro, which will further give a fillip in making the technology more mainstream. Apple’s vision for the future of computing is spatial, supercool and special at the same time.