Apple on Monday unveiled its long-awaited mixed reality headset, called “Vision Pro” and let’s review it. Some half an hour with the Apple’s new Vision Pro headset a spatial Reality Platform was all it will take to convince you it’s the real future of virtual and augmented reality, even if it will cost an arm and a leg.
Apple WWDC 2023
Apple WWDC 2023 event kicked off on Monday with CEO Tim Cook delivering keynote speech. The 5 day long developer’s event started with the company finally taking the wraps off the worst kept secret in Silicon Valley its first ever mixed reality headset Vision Pro at the event along with other products.
Apple Vision Pro MR headset experience
CEO Tim Cook described Apple VR headset as “spatial computing” with the device controlled by your eyes, hands and voice.
Apple VR headset is priced at $3499 when it launches in early 2024. The headset, sci-fi as it sounds, could be the beginning of a new era not only for Apple but for the entire industry.
“It’s the first Apple product you look through, not at,” Cook said.
Apple is calling the Vision Pro, the world’s first spatial computer.
“With Vision Pro, you’re no longer limited by a display. Your surroundings become an infinite canvas,” the Apple chief executive, Tim Cook, said. “Vision Pro blends digital content into the space around us. It will introduce us to Spatial Computing.”
Apple Vision Pro MR headset experience simply put, it brings the digital into the real world by introducing a technology overlay into your real world surroundings. Once you strap on the headset that is reminiscent of a pair of ski goggles, the Apple experience you must be familiar with by using iPhones or Mac computers is brought out into the real world.
“Creating our first spatial computer required invention across nearly every facet of the system. Through a tight integration of hardware and software, we designed a standalone spatial computer in a compact wearable form factor that is the most advanced personal electronics device ever,” said Mike Rockwell, Apple’s vice president of the Technology Development Group, in a press statement.
Apple VR headset specifications
The mixed reality headset uses a built-in display and lens system to bring Apple’s new visionOS operating system into three dimensions. Users with digital content as if it is actually present in the real world, according to Apple.
The Vision Pro will use a total of 23 sensors, including 12 cameras, 5 sensors and 6 mics, according to TechCrunch along with its new R1 chip, two internal displays (one for each eye) and a complex lens system to make the user feel like they are looking at the real world, while in reality, they are essentially getting a “live feed” of their surroundings with an overlay on top.
A feature called “EyeSight” will show users’ eyes on the front screen when they are in an AR mode, simulating a transparent screen and letting them more naturally interact with those around them, but will show a blurred version of a VR experience to indicate to others when they are not present in the room. There are also downward-firing exterior cameras on the headset that will track your hands so that you can interact with visionOS using gestures.
“Apple Vision Pro will change the way we communicate, collaborate, work and enjoy entertainment,” said Apple Inc. CEO, Tim Cook.
Apple WWDC 2023 keynote highlights
As per the latest news, along with the Apple Vision Pro previewing upgrades to its major operating system- iOS 17, iPadOS 17, MacOS 10, watchOS 10, tvOS and more were also announced. Apple also unveiled an all new MacBook Air with 15-inch display, new Mac Studio and Mac Pro with advanced features and M2 Ultra Max processor.