Vision Pro - Early Insights

This video was filmed using the new #visionpro!

And I am finally ready to share some initial insights!! ?? I've been testing the Vision Pro headset for 4 days now, for both personal and business applications, and it has been challenging to form even marginally coherent thoughts, because of the excitement. This moment represents a powerful and ground-breaking step forward in #XR.

If you take one thing away from the below insights, let it be this: As consumers, we need to make it clear that we want high-quality spatial computing solutions, at reasonable price points; we want transparency, open platforms, shared app stores, and a focus on supporting more integrated solutions. We have an opportunity to influence what comes next, we should take advantage while manufacturers are listening.

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1.?? There is a learning curve. The headset can feel heavy, and the straps and light-blocking cushion combo are fiddly. But, when you begin engaging with the interface, the discomfort fades for a time, and it feels like wearing ski goggles. Your view is limited, but you can function in the world.

2.?? Significant barriers to entry. The tech is astonishing, but most people are excluded from engaging with it because of the $3,500 price tag. And, we need to do better. There must be space for everyone to participate in building spatial computing frameworks, especially marginalized and underprivileged communities. Every person at every price point should be empowered to participate, and we can all benefit from the diversity of opinion, perception, and background.

That is why I am so excited to support Immersed , and their offering of Visor later this year. Visor boasts the same 4K per eye, at a much more reasonable price point of $400. It’s not locked down to prevent SteamVR integrations, and there is even talk of opening a software development kit for individual sideloaded applications.

3.?? Limited Applications. Established VR & XR communities are clamoring for their platforms to be available. This will improve in time, but it means that the Vision Pro cannot fully replace my Quest Pro, yet. My favored meditation app, TRIPP, Inc. , has a limited selection of their content available – but currently lacks all the content and features I rely on. I could not find boxing or exercise applications – I rely heavily on Supernatural and other VR exercise solutions. And finally, no support for my favorite work application, yet! On the Quest Pro, Immersed supports any application that my laptop can run, which means I’m not limited by an app store.

4.?? Hand and eye tracking are intuitive and powerful. Home. Run. The interface feels a lot like your iphone. A glance, selection, pinch, and dragging motion move things seamlessly in the space. That said, in the beginning I found it challenging to open the control panel – the panel with all the quick settings you access frequently. To get to it, you have to peer up high, until a tiny floating menu appears. But, the height perception setting of the control panel can be changed in general settings, which made accessing that feature easier on my eyes & brain.

5.?? 4K per eye is astonishing. The picture quality, entertainment potential, and detailed immersive environments are breath-taking. The hardware is catching up – this is some of the most advanced tech I have ever seen, and it is incredibly well executed.

6.?? AI Integration is key. OpenAI has a fantastic GPT assistant available, and it’s clear that others are coming. Generative AI is poised to play a critical role in building XR infrastructure, environments, platforms, you name it. Buckle up, because here we go. ?

7.?? Headsets are highly personalized. This is not a headset that is easy to pass around. Biometric unlocking of the unit, facial mapping and optical recognition, password protection, limitations on recording capabilities when certain applications are running, and several other privacy features are in place. We need these – they are critical. But it’s difficult when everyone wants to play, and your password gives them access to your apple wallet, text messages, confidential work applications, etc. Today I found the setting that allows guest users - so more exploration needed, there! (It's on the control panel - womp womp.)

8.?? Hands-free content just got easy. Filming from the headset is easy, fun, and familiar. My mind is reeling with the potential for videos I’ve been struggling to capture with traditional cameras. And the immersive output is absolutely stunning. This is going to be a lot of fun.

9.?? It needed a software update on day 2. This happened seamlessly, while the unit was charging, with no intervention from me.

10. Makeup & Practicality. The light cushion gets stained with makeup, and I do not know a single woman who wants to wash their face and re-apply makeup during their workday, to use a productivity tool or attend a meeting. A simple materials change should suffice, if Apple is interested in addressing this minor challenge. I’ll be ordering several replacement cushions – because the two I have already look gross.

11. Limited battery life, and no hot switch capability. I don’t mind being tethered to the battery, it’s pretty unintrusive as long as you have pockets. But, I wish that the battery life was longer. It takes 1.5 hours to get a full charge, and then you can use the headset for about three hours. Ordering an extra battery is an option, but the headset shuts down and restarts when you switch over.

12. People seem ready. So far, I have attended 2 Teams meetings in the headset. I was concerned that it might be jarring for people to interact with my "persona", Vision Pro's representation of a user, rather than a human on camera. But, no one reported an "uncanny valley" effect, or experienced reluctance interacting with an artificial representation of me. After some initial questions about why I looked ghostly, everyone was surprisingly accepting of interacting with my persona.

Granted, our industry is very forward-thinking, when it comes to emerging technology. But still, big giant thanks to Beth (Gomez) Finkle , Aileen Borders- J.D., CEDS , Jacalyn Rosborough , Maribel Rivera , Patti Zerwas, CEDS , Emily Bartkowicz, CEDS, ACP , Meribeth Banaschik , Sharika de Freitas , Jonathan Mills , and Susan Landaluce , and others for giving me the opportunity to test how this tech looks in real meetings!

I'm looking forward to testing how well this works alongside Quest's Microsoft Mesh solution with Jerry Bui , in a few days! The more I learn, the more I will have to say, so stay tuned and please share your impressions and thoughts - let's have these conversations, now!