Apple‘s recent Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC) on June 5 has brought many tech enthusiasts up on their seats as Apple displayed its first AR (augmented reality) headset, the Apple Vision Pro. The AR headset has been trending in all social media with tech creators and tech enthusiasts all excited to try it on. The headset is Apple’s start to a new era of spatial computing.
Let’s see what the AR headset offers when launched in 2024.
Design and build
The Apple Vision Pro enclosure features a striking piece of three-dimensionally formed laminated glass flowing into an aluminium alloy frame, curving around your face. Ensuring a precise fit and an uninterrupted experience, the light seal flexes to conform to your facial contours, effectively blocking out any stray light. The head band offers not only cushioning and breathability but also customisable adjustments through the fit dial, for optimal comfort according to user preferences.
Power-wise, the external battery supports up to 2 hours of use, while all-day usage is possible by simply keeping it plugged in. Furthermore, the Apple Vision Pro prioritises immersive audio without compromising environmental awareness, as strategically positioned speakers deliver rich spatial audio while keeping you attuned to your surroundings.
Apart from that, the zeiss optical Inserts can be customised with your vision prescription, magnetically attaching to the lenses for precise viewing and accurate eye tracking. The aluminium-encased battery, designed for portability, can be conveniently slipped into a pocket and connected to the headset using a cable.
Technology
Apple Vision Pro is a testament to groundbreaking technology, offering an extraordinary AR experience that engages your senses. The micro-OLED display system, with its 23 million pixels per eye, delivers stunning resolution and vibrant colours, while the specially designed three-element lens creates a sense of a display that extends to your peripheral vision. Spatial audio reaches new heights with the dual-driver audio pods positioned next to each ear, providing personalised sound while allowing you to hear your surroundings.
The advanced eye tracking system, using LEDs and infrared cameras, enables precise input without the need for controllers, allowing you to interact with elements simply by looking at them.
The sophisticated sensor array, consisting of high-resolution cameras, ensures clear visuals and facilitates accurate head and hand tracking, along with real-time 3D mapping. TrueDepth camera and infrared flood illuminators enhance the depth and accuracy of the AR experience.
The dual-chip design, featuring the powerful M2 chip and the dedicated R1 chip, enables seamless execution of visionOS, advanced computer vision algorithms, and stunning graphics with remarkable efficiency.
With technologies like LiDAR scanning, TrueDepth camera, and infrared flood illuminators, Apple Vision Pro accurately renders digital content in your environment. Additionally, a thermal system ensures optimal performance while maintaining a cool and quiet operation.
visionOS
Apple’s visionOS represents a groundbreaking step in spatial computing, offering a spatial operating system designed specifically for Apple Vision Pro. It builds upon the solid foundation of macOS, iOS, and iPadOS, providing a powerful platform for immersive spatial experiences. Interacting with visionOS feels intuitive and magical, as you can control Apple Vision Pro using your eyes, hands, and voice.
Whether it’s looking at an element to interact with it, tapping your fingers together for selection, or utilising the virtual keyboard and dictation for typing, the interactions blend into the spatial computing environment.
With visionOS, apps come to life in a whole new way, extending beyond the confines of a traditional display. It can fill the space around you, move freely, scale to the perfect size, and even react to the lighting conditions in your room, creating a truly immersive and dynamic app experience.
Environments within visionOS enable you to expand your surroundings and transform the space around you. You have the freedom to choose from a selection of beautiful landscapes that can extend beyond the dimensions of your physical room.
These environments not only enhance the visual experience but also contribute to a deeper sense of immersion. The Digital Crown, a familiar Apple feature, grants you complete control over the level of immersion, allowing you to adjust your surroundings effortlessly.
Users can have a fully immersive experience or prefer to maintain awareness of their physical environment, visionOS provides the tools to customise and shape your AR experience according to their preferences.
Furthermore, the Apple Vision Pro ensures that you remain connected to the people around you. Through EyeSight, your eyes are revealed to those nearby, indicating when you are using apps or fully engaged in an AR experience.
When someone approaches, the Apple Vision Pro intelligently displays the person and reveals your eyes, fostering meaningful human interactions even while immersed in the digital world. With visionOS, Apple has reimagined the way we interact with technology, creating an operating system that seamlessly blends the digital and physical realms, fostering connection and personalisation like never before.
Features
The Apple Vision Pro is full of features making this device a revolutionary change in augmented reality when released. With the Apple Vision Pro, users can seamlessly integrate their apps into their surroundings, creating an infinite canvas for productivity and entertainment. Whether users are browsing the web in Safari, jotting down notes in Notes, or chatting in Messages, the Apple Vision Pro allows them to arrange and scale their apps anywhere, making the workspace of their dreams a reality.
The familiar apps such as Safari, Photos, Music, and Messages, have been transformed to live in their space, bringing a new level of immersion. And with iCloud integration, users’ content is automatically synced across their iPhone, iPad, and Mac, ensuring a seamless experience across devices.
One of the standout features of the Apple Vision Pro is its ability to magically transform users’ surroundings with stunning environments. These landscapes extend beyond the dimensions of their room, providing an immersive backdrop for their apps and creating a focused and captivating space.
Furthermore, the Apple Vision Pro introduces a new dimension to app interactions with its ability to bring 3D objects to life. Users can pull objects out of apps and examine them from every angle, offering a truly immersive and interactive experience.
When it comes to entertainment, the Apple Vision Pro takes users to the ultimate theatre experience, regardless of their location. They can expand movies, shows, and games to the perfect size, feeling fully immersed in the action with Spatial Audio. With more pixels than a 4K TV for each eye, the visual quality is stunning, whether users are on a long flight or relaxing on the couch at home.
The camera capabilities of Vision Pro are equally impressive. As Apple’s first 3D camera, it allows users to capture spatial photos and videos, bringing their memories to life with immersive spatial audio. Users’ existing library of photos and videos looks exceptional at a remarkable scale, and panoramas make them feel like they’re standing right where they took them.
Apple Vision Pro also enhances connectivity and collaboration. During FaceTime calls, each participant appears in the users’ space within adjustable tiles, creating a lifelike presence. Spatial audio places each person’s voice in the location of their tile, making conversations feel more natural. Additionally, apps can be used within FaceTime to collaborate on documents simultaneously, making meetings more productive and meaningful.
With the Apple Vision Pro, sharing experiences with others is seamless. Users can share apps with others and use them together in FaceTime through SharePlay. While sharing an app, everyone remains visible in large video tiles, ensuring an inclusive and engaging experience.
The Apple Vision Pro is set to bring a revolutionary change in how technology is used. It has the potential to revolutionise multiple industries. It can greatly benefit design and architecture by offering immersive visualization of 3D models. In entertainment and media, it provides an unparalleled theatre experience and enhances content consumption.
The education and healthcare sectors can utilise its capabilities for interactive learning, precise medical imaging, and remote consultations. Collaboration and communication in various industries can be improved through lifelike virtual meetings and document collaboration. Lastly, Vision Pro offers creative professionals new avenues for storytelling and immersive experiences.
The Apple Vision Pro is set to launch in 2024 and has a price tag of $3499 and is expected to be around Rs 470,000.
