Beyond the Headset: Welcome + Apple Vision Pro

Welcome to Beyond the Headset! Throughout this ongoing series, we’ll take a step out of the virtual world and bring you news stories from the VR-scape and the gaming world at large. Ranging from topics like the latest gadgets, game reviews, to Virtual Reality news and beyond!

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The big news in the virtua-scape this week is the release of the Apple Vision Pro Headset. This is Apple’s first foray into VR/AR technology, and they’ve come out of the gate swinging.

While it’s not a headset anybody at FREAK is investing in (simply because it doesn’t run any of our games…yet!), we have to take a step back and look at what this means for virtual reality as a whole.

Apple is usually pretty quick on the draw with investing in new technology. We’ve seen in the past multiple iterations of iPhones and touch-screen devices, with different generations sometimes releasing within the same 12-month period. This has become more and more commonplace, especially considering the rivalry between Samsung’s Galaxy lineup and Apple’s iPhones.

That said, Apple has taken a bit more time R&D’ing the Vision Pro. Virtual Reality technology has been around for almost 10 years now, with commercial products becoming available in Australia circa 2016; HTC Vive and Oculus Rift pushing the front of PCVR and Samsung Gear and Google Cardboard bridging the gap with equipment for mobiles.

There had always been rumors that Apple would make a headset because, well, it’s Apple, of course they will. Then, in June 2023, Apple officially announced the Vision Pro.

Utilising brand new Spatial Computing technology (migrating the digital with the real), Apple is pioneering Augmented Reality technology in a way we haven’t really seen before. They even make this claim on their advertisements. Quote from Apple:

“…visionOS is the world’s first spatial operating system that blends digital content with the physical world.”^[1]

Based on Apple’s own publications, it’s clear the Vision Pro was designed with business and communication in mind first. This device feels very much like an iPhone strapped to your face, then projected into the real world – which it seems like is kind of the point. Even in these super early stages of release, I feel like they’ve knocked it out of the park…

…except for that obnoxiously hefty ~$6,500 AUD price tag.

While very little of the Vision Pro’s technology involved Virtual Reality, instead choosing to go all-in on Augmented Reality, I believe these movements in spatial and quasi-augmented-vision technology will also have incredible implications for Virtual Reality technology, too. Any leap forward for technology like this can only serve to benefit the entire industry, so long as Apple is willing to play ball.

That, combined with the rise of AI in new non-VR/AR technology such as Samsung’s S24 and Google’s Pixel AI, means we’ll see huge leaps forward in VR gear and equipment very, very soon.

 

I, for one, am hyped beyond reality.

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