Apple’s Vision Pro showing the art of what’s possible to consumers, helps to grow spatial computing.
When Apple introduced its AR Kit software at WWDC in 2017, I had a chance to talk to Apple CEO Tim Cook after the morning keynote at a private event later that afternoon. I asked him about his thoughts on AR, and he shared that he believed AR technology could be one of Apple’s most important products someday. He also confirmed that the company was committed to delivering a powerful AR experience in the future.
That is why Apple created the AR Kit and was getting a jump on building software for a new AR device that, when ready, would have hundreds if not thousands of apps available when it shipped. Tim Cook also told me that the AR device needed to be more like glasses: unobtrusive and acceptable for all.
So, when reports started coming out around 2021 that Apple was building VR-like googles, you can understand my confusion, given my previous talk with Tim Cook.
Through my interactions with optical glass suppliers, battery manufacturers, wireless radio vendors, and others, I am aware of the need to streamline these products and perfect the technology necessary for immersive AR/MR experiences in eyeglass form. It becomes apparent that the development of advanced AR/MR eyeglasses is still a few years away, at the very least.
We now know that Apple, which wants to play a significant role in creating a mixed-reality experience, instead decided to do a “moonshot” product first.
While the Vision Pro is not selling in huge numbers, mostly due to its $3500 price tag, it may not be the product that helps Apple bring AR/MR to the masses. But it is fulfilling an important role in the XR-spatial computing world.
One big role is that it has put XR and spatial computing on the map of both business users and consumers. Millions of people have seen an XR-spatial computing future thanks to Apple giving free demos of the Vision Pro at Apple stores.
Indeed, as I mentioned recently in my column on Augmented World Expo, all of my panelists who are industry leaders in XR headsets welcome Apple to this market. They feel Apple is a vital ambassador to help consumers understand XR-spatial headsets’ role in the metaverse.
Second, doing a moonshot product with so many great immersive 3D features, including VR and AR in a single headset, shows people the art of what is possible today. Yes, it is in an expensive headset format. Still, it serves as a vehicle to spur software developers and educate potential users on how virtual technology will deliver a game-changing experience over time.
The third important thing is that Apple has used the creation of the Vision Pro to help it start building an advanced ecosystem of software and services. Eventually, once the technology is ready for prime time, Apple could bring true AR glasses to the market.
Apple has clearly used the creation of the Vision Pro to help it model new hardware, software, and services that will allow it to create more powerful headsets. These headsets will be lighter, cheaper, and eventually in the eyeglasses format that Tim Cook described about seven years ago.
As one headset vendor told me at AWE a few weeks ago, it expects Apple to be a formidable competitor. It also believes that Apple’s Vision Pro, showing the art of what’s possible, will help the company and others eventually grow the market for spatial computing.
Disclosure: Apple subscribes to Creative Strategies research reports along with many other high tech companies around the world.