5 Existential Questions for the Vision Pro (to save humanity)
When that headset is on, it’s Apple’s world and you’re just living in it.
Table of Contents
- Are certain memories meant to be lived once?
- Who do you see in the mirror?
- Will people become less intimate?
- Is it bad to treat ourselves like Sims?
- Too realistic for our own good?
Most people have written the Vision Pro off as another gadget for the ultra-wealthy given its price tag of $3,500, but Apple has much grander ambitions. In 5 years it will be as ubiquitous as the iPhone at a fraction of the price. (Remember Tesla’s approach with the Roadster?)
It’s the first consumer-focused headset that is not a toy. It will change the paradigm of how we interact with technology in a way that VR has not yet been able to do.
The Game Boy is to the original MacBook like the Meta Quest Pro is to the Vision Pro.
Why? Anyone who has tried the Vision Pro can attest — the digital world becomes indistinguishable from reality.
While all relevant conversation may be around having a 200-inch movie screen or 6-monitor set up in your bedroom, this headset is way more powerful than even Apple wants to convey at this point.
As it gets better over time, the question will eventually be: when is it too powerful?
Look, I’m no Luddite, in fact, quite the opposite. I love new and advanced technology. However, for a new class of computing beyond anything humanity has ever seen, I would have thought I would see a public response more like the outcry around AI ever since Chat GPT debuted.
In this post, I want to uncover a few topics that I think deserve more attention. I have kept the Vision Pro central to my ideas, but note that several points are more related to the Metaverse or technology that are still a few years away.
1. Are certain memories meant to be lived once?
Remember the scene of a father bonding with (actually, kneeling near) his daughters during the Vision Pro unveiling? Revealing the feature of being able to record moments in 3D that can be relived later as if you were in the moment again?
There seem to be two main camps of people who watched this scene.
- Most non-parents: Cringe…take that thing off your head, dad.
- Some parents: *Cries* while overcome with emotion. (Here is an example)
The idea that you can replay some of life’s most special memories is moving, but may there be a darker side to this? — I am very interested in the psychological implications of this feature for the person filming.
Sometimes, life is meant to be lived once and when you take this way, there’s something lost.
After all, the hippocampus (responsible for memory) is programmed to forget for a reason. Researchers found evidence that neural systems actively remove memories, which suggests that forgetting may be the default mode of the brain.
Surely, evolution did not come to this conclusion by mistake. While there are many theories on why this may be, (namely, to forget trauma) I wonder if the Vision Pro is threatening this genetic advantage.
While this technology seems great for certain applications, such as watching the game-winning shot at an NBA game you attended (assuming the entire simulation of the game wasn’t already downloadable), I am worried about the more intimate moments. While with any transformative inventions, there will always be terrible edge cases. In the case of tragedy, sentimental recordings could have a twisted effect on someone’s mind. (I’ll leave this to your imagination, so as not to be a total downer). After all, people record these instances in 2D, but the scary part is when a 3D recording feels so lifelike the brain can be fooled into believing it’s the real thing. Given the recording exists, will our brain’s ability to retain memories degenerate even faster on the premise that moments can be perfectly relived if they’re just recorded in the first place?
However, it’s important to not let these examples be disproportionately weighted to the profound effect they could have on the greater good.
And for those “non-parents” above concerned about a headset always being put in someone’s face — don’t worry, I am sure it won’t take long for there to be a handheld device to capture the same type of footage.
2. Who do you see in the mirror?
You’re wearing the Vision Pro and are face-to-face with a mirror; who do you see? The real-life reflection of yourself wearing the headset? A superimposed digital representation of your face? Maybe that same rendering, but with modifications (added makeup, smaller nose, less acne)? Or even a totally different person?
I am not a psychologist, but the last two options strike me as incredibly concerning. During the first couple usages, it may feel akin to a fun toy like what you see with a Snapchat filter, but I can see this quickly crossing the line into a feature more problematic.
Body dysmorphic disorder (the excessive concern with appearance) will become more prevalent as people realize how much “better” they can make themselves look in the Metaverse. The standard of beauty that will become commonplace online will be unmatched in the physical world.
And you thought catfishing nowadays was excessive…
This will have obvious repercussions on societal mental health and increase reliance on the headset itself. Just as someone may be too insecure to leave their house without makeup in today’s age, this could be an order of magnitude higher. Why meet up in person if you can portray the “best” version of yourself online?
“In the state of nature, social comparison has life-or-death consequences, so natural selection built a brain that responds to social comparisons with life-or-death brain chemistry.” -Graziano Breuning
The convolution of both existences will muddle the perceptions people will have of themselves. You can behave as the person you have always been or be someone completely different. It will be interesting to see how people behave given a sheet of anonymity from the internet coupled with the acuteness of real life. Everyone will have an alter ego (to varying degrees) in the virtual realm whether they realize it or not.
Whoever you see in that mirror may (or not) be up to you.
3. Will people become less intimate?
Imagine a world of people whom all have mixed reality headsets. Given a lack of physicality, social interaction will be fundamentally different from how we know it today.
(At some point we’ll probably have a neural implant that can simulate any physical sensation, but for the purposes of this topic, let’s assume we’re still far away. One study of this tech. found here.)
Touch. bridges. connection. It’s why people hug to say hello/goodbye, shake hands to seal a deal, or wrap their arms around each other to take pictures.
Humans are evolutionarily pre-disposed to like touch so our bodies release the ‘feel-good’ hormone, oxytocin.
Why? Reproduction aside. While up for debate, my opinion is that 200,000 years ago humans were more likely to survive if they lived in a group. While there are many benefits of being a part of a group (strength in numbers), one important perk was especially relevant in the winter. If times were cold, shared body heat keeps you warm, but more importantly…alive.
As social creatures, humans are wired to be touched — it’s a need, not a want. A bunch of studies attest to this.
However, the more people are hooked on their VR headsets, the less physical interaction they will have. Over time, the convenience of the Metaverse will supercede the innate longing for touch. This is called the “principle of least effort” which states that humans will naturally choose the path of least resistance.
Foregoing in-person meetings in exchange for virtual ones may save effort, but the less apparent repercussions could become problematic to your health. Mind you, I’m not referring to that weekly call with your boss, but a (more dystopian) world where you choose to throw on your headset to meet up with friends and family for Christmas because it’s easier.
There will be no inconvenience of travel and you won’t need to get ready. In an instant, your digital self is fully clothed in your favorite outfit with a face of makeup (or total facial reconstruction).
Since your body will adapt to this lack of touch, finding serotonin elsewhere, you will then be less affectionate when you are in person.
Ultimately, ways in which people interact virtually will flow over to the physical world. Less hugging, more waving.
4. Is it bad to treat ourselves like Sims?
When I was younger, I was a big fan of the Sims 2. My sisters and I would take turns on the house computer, with me as the little brother usually ignored when it was finally my time to play.
It’s a game where you control virtual characters and guide their lives, relationships, and aspirations in a simulated world of endless possibilities. You play god and need to make sure each person is healthy according to a table of “Needs” (see below).
Before anything else, you had to make sure everyone had their “Mood Bars” high.
This was always my least favorite part of the game. I was too focused on earning money so I could build the best-designed dream home, not playing ‘House’.
Thus, I would maximize everyone’s “Needs” as efficiently as possible. When the characters were hungry, my sisters would feed each of them their ‘favorite’ foods corresponding to the proper meal. On the contrary, when I was in charge, everyone ate cereal all day, every day. The food preparation was quick, it filled up their hunger bars quickly, and was cheap.
As for the other “Needs”, I followed a similar process. In terms of the “Social” meter, everyone spoke to each other exclusively about the weather (a conversation prompt with high output) and solely watched the television (the “Fun” need) despite having a pimped out game room with a pool table, darts, and a pinball machine.
(If any of my avatars resurrect into a living human and is reading this: PLEASE DO NOT SEEK REVENGE, I AM SORRY)
As I reflect on my Sims days, I can’t help, but draw a lot of parallels to the real world. We all have those same internal mood bars, just without the metered interface.
Just as I hacked mood levels by leveraging the highest-output-per-unit-of-input strategy — humans are doing the same in real life every day. The term is called “bio-hacking”, even if you don’t realize it.
Here are some examples:
- Pleasure: Feeling down? Don’t fret. Your next hit of dopamine is one click away! Open up TikTok because those dance videos won’t watch themselves.
- Alertness: Why give your body a sufficient 8-hours of sleep when you can slurp up a caffeinated beverage and be just as awake?
- Anxiety: Life can be tough, but it doesn’t have to be! A few smokes or a visit to the liquor shelf can help calm the nerves.
- Weight: Your days of forcing yourself to get on that treadmill are over! Drugs previously used for diabetics (like Victoza) are now the hot trend for curbing your appetite — shed those calories!
You’re overriding thousands of years of evolution — taking shortcuts to fill up your mood bars.
And this trend will continue to grow, gradually being written off as a “part of life”.
The virtual world is no exception and will serve to aid any deficiencies at scale. The Vision Pro is much more than a means to display virtual screens — it gives you a new reality. I believe its name, “Vision Pro” is drastically underplaying its functionality as to underplay its influence.
A more accurate name should be the “Reality Pro” because its influence is far more than what you see, rather what. you. feel.
Going back to your needs — let’s touch on some examples of how mixed or virtual reality may serve you. (Note: it’s not the headset alone that will accomplish these hacks, but it will enable AI/ML in a way we haven’t encountered before.)
- Companionship: Feeling lonely? A lifelike avatar designed to your preferences is available at the snap of your fingers. No need to have those pesky real world friends anymore!
- Stimulation: Need to escape the fast-paced chaos of everything around you? A trip into nature from the comfort of your cashmere couch may help. Best of all? No mosquitos or mud to deal with.
- Physical Health: Dealing with bodily pain that requires physical therapy? Don’t bother pushing yourself through the challenging recovery stage if you can distract yourself from that discomfort with virtual reality hypnosis.
- Pleasure: Watching TikTok’s on your phone of puppies will instantly boost your dopamine levels, but even more so if they’re projected on the floor in front of you.
The Vision Pro will change the way we satiate our needs, but at what point does treating our bodies like Sims characters become wrong?
One end of the spectrum is living like our primal ancestors while the other is consuming a miracle drug to fulfill most of our biological needs. Sure, the latter is not ‘natural’ (in our understanding of the word today), but would it need to be? One could argue that if it makes life better and easier — who cares?
With great power comes great responsibility. For the exact reason the FDA approval process is so thorough, to help mitigate any foreseen side effects, there should be some safety protocols in place for the Vision Pro.
What limitations should be instituted to mitigate abuse? Should children or the mentally vulnerable be allowed to use the headset? If so, for how long or what functionalities?
Or will it be a right that everyone is entitled to free, unvetted access to these virtual experiences and/or bodily shortcuts?
Societal decisions on digital presence over the next 10 years will drastically affect the trajectory of mankind over the next 100. It’s a fine line whether we will trend toward the Axiom Humans in WALL-E or be more empowered to focus on creative work, generating new ideas.
5. Too realistic for our own good?
As is the case with every feature on all Apple products, they didn’t launch their first headset as a ‘Mixed Reality’ headset by coincidence. They won’t admit it (yet), but their end goal is to have computer-generated worlds as lifelike as life itself — hyperreality.
It’s not a matter of if, but when this day will come.
If you’ve never heard of Unreal Engine 5, “the world’s most open and advanced real-time 3D creation tool for photoreal visuals and immersive experiences”, check it out. Computer graphics are already at a point I would have thought unimaginable 10 years ago.
Given Apple only aims to release perfect experiences, it is more feasible to augment the world (as we see it) to a T than replace it altogether.
Blurring the lines between the virtual and physical worlds may unlock unimaginable potential, but it also carries a number of threats.
- Addiction: If you can be so immersed into a screen the size of a hand — imagine that, but scaled into every pixel of your peripheral (with limited distraction to break you out of that mind control). Not to mention, the readily available convenience of a computer in your line of vision at all times is…well…pretty darn helpful.
- Disorientation: A similar feeling to when you need to pinch yourself if you’re dreaming, you may need to touch your face to check if you’re wearing the device. After prolonged usage, I theorize this confusion could be concerning for one’s mental illness across many conditions. To name one: multiple-personality disorder could become more commonplace. As highlighted earlier, users with starkly different identities in real life compared to virtually may unknowingly alternate between the two, even while not wearing the headset.
- Phantom usage: As someone who sometimes experiences phantom vibration syndrome (perception that one’s phone is vibrating when it’s not), further to the above, a similar phenomenon will likely occur with Vision Pro users. They will mistakenly use common hand gestures meant for the headset even while not wearing one. This won’t necessarily be a problem, but certainly a funny quirk.
- Impulsiveness: During moments of instinct, someone’s fight response may get triggered thinking they’re in a virtual space when they’re not. For this reason, hopefully a rendering of Grand Theft doesn’t come too soon…
- Fear: Given sufficient usage, the brain’s perception of danger could morph materially. Let’s imagine someone is a big fan of fully-immersive horror movies. (Which, by the way, will absolutely not be me). Not the cartoon kind, but one that may be based on a true story. Will your amygdala become desensitized or more sensitive to fear? Whether newfound paranoia prompts you to check your closet before bedtime or you remain unfazed in the face of peril — I am intrigued which response will be more common (I’d guess the latter).
Final thoughts
We are living during a very exciting time.
Computational power is both increasingly powerful and accessible, artificial intelligence is gaining attention faster than ever, and the most immersive medium for human computer interaction is nearing mainstream adoption.
As for the Vision Pro, this device will make much more of a splash on the world than I believe people realize. Just as every other product line in Apple’s portfolio has been transformative, this will be no different — in fact, more impactful if you ask me. You don’t get to be a $3 trillion company without being able to see the future.
Sure, there are several concerns to keep in mind, but I strongly believe the better we can understand and prepare for the consequences — the more outsized benefits we can realize.
As for myself, I am extremely excited for it’s release and look forward to aiding it’s adoption (even though I probably won’t own one myself…$3,500 is a lot). I am passionate about working on emerging technologies and welcome any opportunities that will enable me to help feed this passion — even outside of VR/Mixed Reality/AI. My background is predominantly heavy in finance, operations, and marketing.
If you enjoyed this post, you will also like my earlier article on the Vision Pro here: “11 Productivity Hacks for the Apple Vision Pro” where I cover several futuristic ideas that I would love for Apple to implement. Some are especially unique that I was proud to think up — like pairing haptic feedback from an Apple Watch with someone’s headset and jet lag acclimation.
Also, my latest post on even more ideas to think about: “11 Futuristic Ideas for the Vision Pro (to change the world)”
