Vision Pro: Apple Has Introduced Its First VR Glasses Under The Garb Of 'Spatial Computing'. Here's What's 'Different'

Virtual reality (VR) has been around for a while now. So what has Apple done differently?

It was in many ways a classic Apple performance. It began with the iconic “And there’s one more thing” line and was followed by some of the most compelling storytelling the Cupertino giant has indulged in for a while. Certainly, it was the most comprehensive effort to sell a concept since perhaps Apple brought in the Macintosh. This was Apple in what many call the Steve Jobs zone — taking an existing concept full of potential but which had been poorly implemented by others, and then trying to make it more accessible (and indeed, desirable) by adding Apple’s own blend of design and functionality to it. 

And as we had hoped, Apple has indeed taken a bold step and made a tryst with a ‘new’ future. 

The Apple Way: Others Have Been There, But Haven’t Done 'That'

Virtual reality (VR) has been around for a while now. And it has been backed by some of the biggest names around. Mark Zuckerberg bet so heavily on it that he literally changed his company’s metabolism while renaming it Meta. That effort has not done well in spite of some very heavy investing and marketing spiel. 

Which ironically, paves the way for Apple. 

There are many who believe that the MacBook and iPhone did well not just because they were superb products, but also because their predecessors or competitors from other brands were incredibly bad. 

The same could well be the case in VR, Meta-phorically speaking. Facebook’s attempts in the space might actually have lowered consumer expectations of the technology. A notable thing about Apple is that while it seldom invents a product, it also very rarely enters a market with a product that has a comparable competitor. 

Be it the MacBook, the iMac, the iPod, the iPhone, the iPad or the AirPods or even the Apple Watch; the Cupertino brand has held itself back and let others try the waters, before venturing itself into them, often with a totally different vessel. 

Would people have loved the iPhone as much if previous touchscreen efforts had not been a stylus-driven, hammer-display-in-despair experience? Would the iPod have worked if previous MP3 players had not been next to impossible to use easily?  

VR Glasses That Are ‘Not’ VR Glasses

That is the model that seems to be at play in Apple Vision Pro, the brand’s first VR Glasses which it has taken great care not to call VR Glasses. 

Apple has instead called it “a revolutionary spatial computer that seamlessly blends digital content with the physical world while allowing users to stay present and connected to others.” 

The wording is of paramount importance. 

By steering clear of the V-word and using a whole new term, Apple has made it clear that the Vision Pro are a pair of super smart glasses, they are NOT VR glasses, which have such a negative connotation, thanks to Facebook's rather unsuccessful Meta-morphorsis (all right, that's the last Meta pun we are making). 

They might look a lot like VR glasses (a huge pair of glasses held to the head by a strap), but Apple took care to point out that they were much simpler to use. 

The Vision Pro control system is simpler. Although there were no snide asides about clunky controllers, it was hard not to think of Steve Jobs' stress on using one’s hands on an iPhone instead of a stylus, when one saw how the Vision Pro was controlled by eyes and hands! 

A Whole New World, While Staying Connected To The Current One

It is also notable that whereas others in the VR space had kept going on about how the technology would take you to another world (well, hello, metaverse), Apple made it a point to stress the fact that Vision Pro would keep you connected to your surroundings, even while giving you a taste of a different world. 

In simple words, while previous VR players promised to take us to a different place, Apple simply told us that we could go to a different place and have the comfort of home too. It is to be noted that not only can users see through Vision Pro but that even their eyes will be visible to others, making the glasses so much more human than most other VR products that looked like face masks on steroids designed for Lord Darth Vader. 

Instead of leading with a spec and design blast, Apple opened with what Vision Pro could do. This was not a business opportunity or a new place to visit. This was a fab adventure in tech fairyland with magic dust being sprinkled liberally along your path. 

Want to see your Mac’s screen on Vision Pro? Just look at the Mac through Vision Pro. Voila! The audio and camera sensors in the Vision Pro analyse the room and materials in it to ensure you get the best and most immersive experience. Presto! 

Indeed, Apple left the specs and design and even the OS of the Vision Pro for later. 

This was not a tech giant showing off a product, this was a storyteller spinning a tale of the future, embroidered with spatial computing yarn, focusing more on what will be, rather than how it will come about. 

The Talk Has Been Talked, But Can Apple Walk On These Waters?

As a communications effort, it was masterful and a far cry from the more adjective-rich and faux excitement-laden presentations of other VR players. And yes, getting Disney on stage and committing to content for the new device added a whole new dimension to it.  

Just how well all this actually plays out will be discovered next year. That is when the Vision Pro will be released, first in the US and then in other markets. 

There will doubtless be challenges to overcome — the issue of battery life in a device packed with so many sensors, just how comfortable it would be to wear, whether the software will work as smoothly as advertised, whether having screens literally a few inches from your eyes might harm them (ironically, Apple announced a feature for tracking eye health for the Apple Watch) and of course, most of all, whether whatever is delivered will justify that $3,499 price tag.  

Still, for the moment, it is safe to say that Apple has done a superb job on the messaging front. It has introduced a product that seems very different from anything the competition has brought to the market so far, even though it does seem very similar in many regards. Shades of the Mac. And the iPhone. And the AirPods. Good shades those. Will the Vision Pro be as cool?  Only time will tell. Apple has rolled its VR dice. 2024 will show what they turn up to.

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