The Future Of Computing? My review of AVP. Feb 20, 2024
Leisure Sunday afternoon in Spatial
Over the weekend, I spent 5 to 6 hours over two days, trying out the
new Apple Vision Pro, just recently released. I found the experience,
extremely delightful and better than expected. Just as most of the
reviewers pointed out, the eye and hand tracking was a “magical”
experience. It is a truly “game changing”. Even while typing text, I
was able to highlight certain.
words, edit, copy, and paste as in
any word processing document,
using the eye, hand tracking and
voice input, without a mouse . It
wasn’t perfect precision, but you
could certainly see the potential!
User Experience
From a UX perspective and VisionOS software perspective, Apple has
truly nailed it. For this V1 product , I could see myself using
VisionPro as a Sunday leisure activity. It’s incredible to experience
multiple apps open all around me in space, like listening to music
with Spatial Audio around you, browsing Safari on a large window in
front of you, watching a YouTube video to the side of you, and
interacting with 3D simulations like the Mars Rover, or an art
museum in front of you. I haven’t even had a chance to experience
watching a fully immersive feature film, which I heard is a highlight
of this V1 product.
I experienced all this sitting outside in my backyard, looking at a
partially immersed, Mount Hood environment in the background.
Being immersed in Mount Hood had me feeling like I was in Oregon.
I could feel the presence of the lake with the Spatial Audio sound
effects of the water ripple or the light rain falling against the water.
Sitting outside in my backyard, with the real wind blowing on my
face, added to this effect. It really did feel like I was teleported
to a new place. I wonder if we will be able to simulate “wind” in the
future :).
Lastly, the visual splendor of 4K resolution per eye and all the
associated optics tech, is clearly evident and much better than
anything I experienced in Meta. I never felt motion sickness at all,
which wasn’t the case when using Meta.
The headset & isolation
I have read some social media comments about using headsets,
questioning if it is the right way to experience spatial computing. I
also read about the “being in isolation” issue with headset . Both of
these are fair thoughts, however, after a small discussion on this
topic with my dad, here’s my conclusion.
I’m not concerned about this headsets being a problem for spatial
computing. In my day-to-day life, I realize that I experience daily
activities more as an individual, or “individualistically”, than with
others. For example, I experience movies alone, I’m on my computer
or iPad experiencing my work alone on my devices. I’m even sitting
here in an airplane writing this blog alone, while listening to music
in my ear-pods. All that said, I do have
the presence of others around me in all
three examples. For example, when I do
watch a movie, my girlfriend is usually
next to me even though we both are
individually experiencing the movie
ourselves. Or here in the airplane, I have
other passengers sitting next to me. But
regardless of this, my experiences are
usually individualistic.
Headsets do not change this. It does not
create more isolation in the Apple Vision
Pro, especially in the mixed reality mode,
where you mix the real world with the
virtual world. That was the intent of what
Apple Vision Pro was designed for. On the other hand, wearing this headset has only enhanced real life with more audio, visual and
kinesthetic (ability to “do things”) effects around me. Basically, the
headset technology has just added another dimension of sense and
feeling, to stuff I already do and I believe using headsets for this
My dad, experiencing AVP form of computing, will work. After about 4 to 5 generations, we
will not need keyboards, mice or physical screens anymore and we
will believe stop ridiculing the, “computer on the Face” sentiment
being shared today.
Concluding Thoughts
To conclude my weekend review, I have been through many
innovation leaps in computing in my own career and life. From DOS
to Windows GUI (graphical user interface), the launch of the World Wide Web, touch screen interface and the smartphone revolution, AI & Chatbots… I believe Spatial computing will be yet another major leap we will undergo, and Apple (not Meta) has set the bar for this.
I realize that this is a very expensive generation 1 device with shortcomings. Although I don’t see myself using this every day right now, primarily because of what other reviewer have already said, e.g. lack of major App support, eye/ hand tracking not being perfected, the weight & comfort issue, simply taking time to get in and out of a
headset, etc., I definitely see this becoming a revolutionary shift in
the way we use computers in the future.
Are we moving towards a Ready Player One reality?
The question about if we moving towards a life like portrayed in
the movie, “Ready Player One” (a must-see for those who haven’t yet!),
has been a question being asked by many. My simple answer: I don’t
think so. The Mixed Reality experience, tied in with some Immersive
VR for special situations like training and education, will be the
most common scenario of using this new form of computing. We
might end up having two separate forms of wearables such as
googles and lighter glasses, but if long-term comfort can be
addressed, I think Apple’s approach of unified Mixed/ Immersive
spatial headset device makes sense. I don’t think we will ever want
to live or be living 100% in Virtual world exclusively but having the
benefits of both will be great.
All of the above is what I anticipated as I followed the rumors of
the development of this device over the last few years. I was
extremely excited when it was announced at WWC last year, watching
it at 2 Am in China, with my dog, Coco. The anticipation was huge.
My first experience, lived up to this hype. It was the first time I’ve
invested in a first generation Apple product and I personally will
dedicate my time and company resources in building spatial apps
for training and education, to take part in this new age.
This is not just a “toy”, a nice “media consumption device”, or
another “niche “ VR headset, as some have said. Apple (and Meta to a
lesser extent) our giving us a glimpse into the future of computing.
And I’m sold!
Onward.
Here is my 3 minute unboxing video with some additional thoughts
such as the battery de-tether:
