The Apple demo is very impressive. Especially their new immersive film they made for it (some of it filmed at the Sheldrick Wild Trust Nairobi Nursery and Bondeni is in it). It’s pretty close to feeling like a 4D theatre, almost like you’re actually inside the film. If you’re ever passing by an Apple Store, definitely book one.
If they can get that core experience down into a sub £1000 device with an integrated battery, I wouldn’t hesitate in buying one.
I might book a demo just to see how it compares to the MQ3 to be honest. If it did all the stuff Apple Vision Pro does now but it was <£1,000 I would have bought one, I’m a sucker for new tech as long as it’s priced what I consider appropriately.
I tried a Vision Pro recently. Putting it on at first it was quite clear that I had a screen in front of my face (pixelated, etc) and no I don’t need glasses, recently had two eye tests. The Apple employee didn’t like that comment. Though once you start using it, that effect quickly becomes hard to notice.
The effect is quite impressive, I had a few moments when my brain tried to process that people around me can’t see what I see. And some of the spatial videos they showed me were interesting and gave me goosebumps but others I was a bit more ambivalent about.
Overall, I couldn’t shake the feeling of how dystopian it felt. Sitting there alone, with the people around me blocked out, reminiscing about memories playing back at me on a screen. While the people fading in and out of your vision is an impressive feat, it just further underlined that isolation, that I am choosing to shield myself from the world, and people around me and instead withdraw into a bubble of past memories.
It’s dystopian, and it’s sad. I don’t think it’s healthy. And this is coming from a huge introvert.
Memories are memories and while reliving them can be positive, this feels Black Mirror-esque and I’m not sure it’s healthy. Grandma passed away, and you could look at a photo of her together with the family, or you could withdraw into your little virtual world to spend time with the same looping video of grandma in 3D. It just doesn’t feel right.
I can see some uses for VR. Using a VR headset for some very clearly defined tasks, like playing a video game on a Meta Quest – but not the way Apple envisions this working.
I don’t get the dystopian feel at all, to be honest. That sounds a tad dramatic to me.
The immersive/isolating nature is more akin to the idea of headphones, but for your eyes, IMO. VR is the visual equivalent of noise cancellation, and AR is like the transparency mode on AirPods.
I think it’s just weird because it’s new, and the contexts in which you use are not going to be like the demo environment in an Apple Store.
You must have outstanding vision. Each eye display is 3,386 PPI, or 7 times that of the iPhone 16 Pro. In fact, each eye display has more pixels than a 4K monitor, but at a fraction of the size.
I’m not doubting you by the way, I’ve seen other similar reports online. It’s just surprising, given the spec and pixel density of those displays. I guess everyone is different, including their vision.
I wouldn’t buy the Vision Pro for various reasons (price being the main one) but it’s difficult not to be impressed by the technology.
Is it possible the displays were dirty? Any sort of smudge ruins the illusion pretty quickly.
moments when my brain tried to process that people around me can’t see what I see. And some of the spatial videos they showed me were interesting and gave me goosebumps but others I was a bit more ambivalent about.
