Apple Vision Pro?-?Where Have I Seen This Before????

A few days ago Apple gave the world the first look at Apple Vision Pro — their version of a mixed AR/VR experience expected to launch sometime in 2024.

Truth be told, I think if anyone will make a success out of this from an adoption level, it will be Apple. They have some of the most loyal followers of any brand on earth. They build exceptional technology, and they have one of the most successful ecosystems in all of tech. Of all the heads-up display tech I’ve seen or used, this is probably the best looking in its design.

Obviously, I have not gotten to try it yet, but watching reviews like MKBHD did, assure me this is not prototype piece of hardware. Listening to the accuracy of tapping your fingers together, versus having to hold controllers in your hand like Oculus, seems very next level?… and it appears to work very well.

However, I’ve seen this software before.

Listen, I know everyone knows I’m a bigger fan of Google than Apple. My EDC is a Pixel 7, and my home tech is all Google ecosystem, but my EDC laptop is a MacBook Pro, and we’ve got Apple TV’s in my home. My wife and kids have iPhone’s, and over the years I’ve had iPhone’s as my main EDC as well. In my opinion, from a phone perspective, iPhone is a nicer phone, Pixel is a smarter phone.

But while the world seems to think Google failed miserably on Google Glass, I see them as having just been early. And don’t ever misunderstand being early with being wrong.

I was one of the first user of Google Glass. I had to travel to NYC Google Offices to meet with the Glass Team, and as the first person in the state of Georgia to obtain a pair for testing, several stories were written about it.

Ultimately, I think is was very early for consumer use. We all remember the “Glasshole” name calling, the being kicked out of restaurants and bars, the mockery?… it seemed to never end.?

But some of us saw it having a different use — in business.?

I founded a company called Basecamp Networks and we began using Google Glass in agriculture. Eventually called the app intelliSCOUT, and the first app we wrote it for was for Glass. Basically, you took a picture of a plant and it told you what disease or pest infestation it had.

We also wrote algorithms to count things using Glass…

It worked, and we did project with Monsanto, Syngenta, Google X, AGCO, Zoetis, and others. Eventually, Glass as a piece of hardware was more a novelty, and we moved to devices others were already used to carrying around with them; their phone.

But from a consumer perspective using a heads-up display device in everyday life, things look very familiar.

I don’t want to take anything away from Apple, truly. But let’s give some credit where credit is due.?

And it’s not all just Google, Thad Starner, has been at this longer than most.

Thad Satrner is a founder and director of the Contextual Computing Group at Georgia Tech’s College of Computing, where he is a full professor. He is a pioneer of wearable computing as well as human-computer interaction, augmented environments, and pattern recognition.

And, I’m sure we can find people even earlier working on wearable, heads-up display tech, that I’m too lazy to go research.

Microsoft Hololens was right behind Glass coming out in 2015. Oculus was even a little earlier than Glass in 2012 when it was introduced, but came out several years later.

Apple Vision Pro will undoubtedly outperform all of these. They’ve had years to refine the experience by learning from others mistakes.

I posted on Twitter and the responses are?… laughable at best:

No Google product EVER worked this well.

Google Glass was a downright lie they told the public. The portrayed idea of how it worked in marketing was not remotely close to the product. It was not in actual FOV, no situational awareness, etc. It was just a dumb, blurry, barely transparent display in your peripheral.

I’m impressed they scrapped it. Google are the KING of clumsy half-assed trash.

Reid Hoffman used to say on his podcast, “If you’re not truly embarrassed by the first release of your product, you’re not doing it right.”. It’s called research and development for a reason.?

Apple comes out with something years later, and it’s far better, and everyone acts like they’ve changed the world, yet it’s all been done standing on the shoulders of others calling themselves tall.

I think the Apple Vision Pro is incredible and I have not even gotten to experience it yet. I think Apple can truly make it a success to the right audience. It’s not something I would buy, but that’s just me. If I can’t use it in a work environment, I don’t have a use for it. I enjoy tech that can assist in my daily life, (Nest products, Google Assistant, etc), but this face covering obtrusive headgear is not something I’d wear in public, sitting at home, with my family, (the kids birthday party example Apple gives is a bit ridiculous, I mean, take it off and be present with your kids), or otherwise.

But that’s just me. Others will enjoy this and good for them — to each their own.

I do think Google Glass did a great job on making it less noticeable. People often had to look twice if you were wearing Glass because they we’re not sure they saw something different from a regular pair of glasses or not. Even Glass’ second generation for enterprise, was adaptable to fit on your Glasses, and folded like a pair of glasses. It was much smaller, lighter, and usable for specifc tasks/jobs like we built it for.?

The trade-off is that the Apple Vision Pro will kick Glass in the pants on performance. But it does come at a price?… both financially and in heavier hardware on your head that is exceedingly noticeable by others.

I guess at the end of the day I write this in defense of Google Glass and others simply saying?… don’t misunderstand being early with being wrong, or even with being a failure.

And that goes for all kinds of tech.?