Know All About Apple Vision Pro.
At its yearly WWDC 2023 conference today, Apple unveiled the long-rumored Vision Pro augmented reality (AR) headgear. One year in the creation and loaded with technology, the Vision Pro is one of Apple's most ambitious products to date. Its exorbitant price may even be justified by the technology it contains.
But today's announcement covered much more ground than just hardware. Apple unveiled the Vision Pro along with visionOS, a brand-new operating system, and a slew of apps that will be obtainable on the OS and, consequently, the Vision Pro, at launch.
There is a lot to remember, so we put up a quick summary of all the information Apple released regarding the Vision Pro and visionOS.
The chassis of the Vision Pro immediately draws comparisons to a set of expensive ski goggles. A fan that sucks air through the headset to cool its internal components is hidden behind a continuous, tinted front panel that wraps around the wearer's eyes to serve as a lens.
An easily removable band and a dial for regulating the headset's snugness are located around the back of the Vision Pro. Apple and Zeiss collaborated to develop magnetic lenses for those who use prescription glasses.
The Vision Pro's battery pack is separate from the actual device, unlike some other augmented reality headsets on the market. Up to two hours of use are provided by a battery pack that is connected by a wire extending from the back. Wearers of the Vision Pro can also plug into the power for a more prolonged experience.
The majority of the power is probably consumed by the screens. One for each eye, the Vision Pro features two (plus an external panel), totaling 23 million pixels. The UI is constantly visible thanks to a special 3D lens, and features like HDR and "wide colour" supposedly produce a better image.
While the hands are being tracked by downward-facing cameras on the outside of the chassis, the eyes are being tracked by IR cameras inside the Vision Pro. A third set of sensors, called lidar sensors, detects and tracks the positions of objects in real-time around the Vision Pro.
All 23 sensors in the Vision Pro, including 12 cameras, 5 sensors, and 6 microphones, feed into the R1, a new chip created by Apple that is intended to "eliminate lag" and send images to the headset's display "eight times faster than the blink of an eye" (according to Apple PR).
The Vision Pro's EyeSight feature, which beams a live feed of the user's eyes to the aforementioned external display, is likewise enabled by the R1. At least in pre-recorded footage, it has the effect of making the headgear appear transparent. Of course, how well it performs in practise is still up for debate.
Vision Pro is powered by visionOS, which Apple refers to as "the first OS designed for spatial computing" — "spatial computing" being its term of choice for augmented reality and virtual reality applications. VisionOS shares fundamental building blocks with MacOS and iOS at the architectural level but adds a "real-time subsystem" for handling interactive visuals on the Vision Pro.
Apps can now appear side by side at various scales thanks to the visionOS three-dimensional interface, which liberates them from the restrictions of a conventional display. The user interface (UI) reacts dynamically to outside light, creating shadows that assist convey scale and distance.
When visionOS first launches, it will include software from well-known developers like Adobe (particularly Lightroom), Microsoft (Office), and others. These apps will operate natively on the Vision Pro and include Unity software. There is software for doctors to view anatomical renderings, and there is an engineering app enabling engineers to see physics phenomena like airflow over real-world things.
These apps and more may be found in a brand-new app store that debuts alongside the Vision Pro. Over 100 Apple Arcade games will also be playable on VisionOS on "day one," according to Apple, in addition to apps.
FaceTime is at least one iOS staple that will transition to visionOS. FaceTime will operate on the Vision Pro by building a 3D avatar of your face off of scans. 3D avatars will also be supported by Teams, Webex, and Zoom.
The Vision Pro won't be readily available until "early next year," according to Apple, and it won't be cheap. The Vision Pro costs $3,499, which is much more than even the most gloomy rumours claimed.
Positively, buyers who schedule an appointment at an Apple Store will receive a demo and the opportunity to customise their fit before purchasing the Vision Pro. I believe the red carpet treatment is appropriate given the cost.