It will be a historic WWDC conference. Let the show begin.” With this phrase, which reflects a certain degree of euphoria, Apple CEO Tim Cook began on Monday the presentation of a series of products that culminated with the Vision Pro, augmented reality glasses that aim to be a new revolution To understand the concept of the device it is necessary to imagine that, when the visor is put on, the reality that surrounds the user becomes an unlimited canvas where virtual leisure and work screens can be placed that are controlled without commands, only with eyes and hand gestures.
It is a mixture of augmented reality and virtual reality. What the user sees around him is what the 12 cameras in the visor transmit to screens located in front of his eyes, which have an enormous definition, something never seen before. But if someone looks at the Vision Pro directly, they will be able to see the wearer’s eyes. It’s a projection. Apple has been alert that it is not understood as an individual isolation product, but as an advanced communication device.
Microsoft has had its HoloLens on the market for seven years, which will cost the same as Apple’s when they go on sale in the United States in early 2024, $3,500, but it has only sold about 300,000 units during that time. Why does Apple firmly believe it will succeed where others have failed?
The keys to the Vision Pro are very diverse and, however excellent the technical characteristics of the device, there is nothing to guarantee that it is a product of mass adoption. In this case, Apple has been maturing the product for 15 years, when it registered the first patent. Today it has more than 5,000 granted patents. If he’s waited all this time and is selling it at this high price, it’s a sign that he expects his rate of adoption to be slow, but steady.
One of its technological keys is the use of extreme quality components. Each of the two state-of-the-art Micro LED technology screens for each eye has a resolution that allows you to see every detail of reality and virtuality with formidable precision that far exceeds that of 4K TVs.
So far, several manufacturers that have tried to go this route have run into the resolution problem. Screens without enough definition recreate a world that is perceived as fictitious. Apple has gone to great lengths to avoid that feeling.
The degree of public adoption for Vision Pro is an unknown. You can work with it in a different, very creative way, and in your spare time it offers things such as recreating a large cinema screen of the highest quality – even in 3D – with surround sound in the middle of your living room. But it is a product for one person, while for many people watching TV is a shared activity with others.
Vision Pros are also a double-edged sword for software developers. If they spend time on a product with an uncertain future, it may be a mistake, but if Apple’s viewer prevails, being in the front row is an advantage.
The price will be a determining factor, at least at first. Apple has little room to make it cheaper. It has two state-of-the-art chips, 12 cameras, advanced sensors and sophisticated systems, such as iris recognition to identify the user. The show has started.
