This article is only available in Dutch 🇳🇱
With the Vision Pro, Apple is putting the focus on augmented reality (AR). You see the world around you as it is, over it you place your apps and other interfaces. This super-sophisticated experience makes the Vision Pro more broadly applicable than just for gaming. Potentially, the headset offers solutions to problems we can't even imagine right now. In this article you'll read Matthijs' findings and expectations of (perhaps) Apple's most experimental device ever.
Magical first impression
'The product onboarding is a sophisticated and stylish digital experience that is worthwhile in its own right. The technical process in which the device calibrates the distance between your eyes, eye direction and hand control feels like a simple and elegant game with soothing visuals and sounds. You control the Vision Pro primarily by looking at items with your eyes and selecting them with your hands. This works as smoothly as you would expect from an Apple product and feels almost magical. In fact, by using eye tracking instead of a mouse or finger, you skip a step. The Vision Pro is tuned to the user's eyes in such a way that it is not possible to simply switch users. Fortunately, the Vision Pro has a demo mode, where you can temporarily lend the headset to others. That user then gets a mini-onboarding including calibration and can then experience the product for themselves. A cool feature that ensures we can also take our customers into the world of the Vision Pro.'
Spatial Computing
'The Vision Pro's operating system, visionOS, is an extension of iOS, macOS, iPadOS and watchOS. If you strictly follow Apple's Human Interface Guidelines, you can create an app that you can very easily customize for all those specific platforms. This makes the step to develop Vision Pro apps small. You can see this in the market as well: thousands of new apps have been added in a matter of weeks. Something that other headset manufacturers have not yet managed to do. What makes visionOS unique is the layering created by being able to work with depth and space. Users can place various windows and apps spatially around themselves thanks to AR. For example, you can place a window on a table flat in front of you and have one or more apps floating in front of you. But it doesn't stop there. You can also work with space and depth inside Vision Pro apps. Apple calls this Spatial Computing. Because you can place elements "physically" closer or further away, you create a new dimension in which to construct a UI. This allows you to give your app a spatial 3D structure. A nice challenge for our Developers and Designers, which requires a lot of reading, experimenting and fine-tuning.'
Unique product
'Two things that make the Vision Pro unique are the extension of the iOS ecosystem to apps (and especially non-gaming) and the UI/control of the device. Until now, Move was not necessarily concerned with VR or AR; the headset industry was primarily focused on gaming, with a few exceptions such as the Microsoft Hololens. This latter device, in retrospect, was never able to win it. Those who have tried it know that the viewing angle is lamentably low and the controls are not as intuitive as Microsoft promised. The Vision Pro changes that.'
Looking to the future
'The app market has taught us that the most innovative applications are not available on day one. I think the Vision Pro's application will mostly end up being a mix of productivity and entertainment. Watching movies in your private theater? Check. And by interfacing with your Mac and being able to place windows and apps around you, you create your own ultimate work cockpit. At the same time, this device is perhaps Apple's most audacious product ever. In fact, this first generation was marketed primarily so that developers and parties like us could work with it. Thus, the production numbers are not huge, the price is hefty and it is only for sale in the US. Future generations are expected to be cheaper and more mainstream. If the hype on social media is any indication, this product will be fine. Anyone who remembers the AirPods-are-just-toothbrushes meme knows that fuss about looks or price among the mainstream is not necessarily an indication of a product not catching on.'
Conclusion
'Magical as we have come to expect from Apple? Yes. Expensive, perhaps. Do I want to buy one myself? In itself. The future of personal computing? Sure, but not as mobile as an iPhone. Or maybe not yet. With the iPhone, Apple also solved a problem we didn't know existed at the time. We follow developments closely and, in the meantime, continue to experiment with the Vision Pro.'
