13. For $3,500, apps float before your eyes

11 June 2023

I.

For the first time, I was invited by Apple to visit Apple Park in Cupertino, California, for the Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC). Every year, hundreds of developers and journalists gather there to see new software and products from Apple. It was a special edition, because there was a brand-new device: the Vision Pro. An augmented reality headset with virtual reality capabilities, priced at $3,499. Gulp.

A brief explanation: augmented reality lets you project images over your surroundings. It then looks as if apps are floating in mid-air in front of you. You can, for example, conjure up an enormous screen to watch films and series on. With the headset you can also take photos and videos — in 3D. The headset is also designed for working. You can expand your MacBook screen by placing virtual tabs next to your laptop. You have to see it for yourself:

II.

Unfortunately I was not one of the few lucky people who got to wear the Vision Pro for about an hour, like YouTuber Marques Brownlee. But I did get to see the headset. About ten of them were displayed in the Steve Jobs Theater, with their visors facing the audience. Touching them was strictly forbidden. Looking at the inside was also impossible. Apparently even the lenses were taped over.

I did get a good look at the exterior. The thickness was less than I expected. The era of bulky VR/AR headsets really does seem to be over. Although it apparently is quite heavy to wear. The headset comes with a cable attached to an external battery, which you can put in your pocket and which Apple says will last two hours. That won’t get you through films like Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse or Avatar: The Way of the Water. Then you’d need to plug the headset into the mains or attach additional batteries, which will undoubtedly be sold separately.

The external display also didn’t seem particularly bright to me and reflected quite a bit. That screen on the outside is mainly there for bystanders. The eyes of the wearer can appear on it. They are filmed by small cameras on the inside. This is meant to give people nearby the impression that you’re not entirely in your own world. In Apple’s promotional material it looks a bit creepy.

III.

It remains remarkable how Apple creates momentum around its products. Meta and Microsoft haven’t managed to get the mass market excited about VR/AR headsets. But after the announcement of the Vision Pro, suddenly everyone is talking about the headset. It immediately spawned a flood of memes. And whether because of the (very) high price or not, even Hema had a riff on it.

For NU I wrote this article about the Vision Pro and Apple’s idiosyncratic course. While other tech giants focus on the arrival of generative AI, Apple is now going all-in on AR. That’s a gamble by Tim Cook. He believes this ‘spatial computer’ will have the same impact as the iPhone and Mac.

The initial reactions are positive, but they focus mainly on how the Vision Pro works. The resolution is better than that of competing headsets and the hand and voice controls seem to hit the mark. But the real question (which you can also ask about headsets from Meta and Microsoft) remains unanswered: why? Why would you want to pull apps into the real world? Are we all going to put on ski goggles and sit next to each other on the sofa? And: why would you shell out $3,499 for one?

It’s too early to say anything sensible about that.

IV.

I think Mark Zuckerberg is rather pleased with the renewed attention for AR/VR. He poured billions into his Metaverse, a virtual world that has so far failed to really take off. It wouldn’t surprise me if people excited by Apple’s Vision Pro now want to try the technology with a Meta Oculus Quest.

They would then be buying a quite different device. Apple and Facebook have different ideas about mixed reality. “Our vision for the Metaverse is fundamentally social,” said Zuckerberg after Apple’s announcement. “Our device is about being active and doing things. In every Apple demo, there was a person sitting on the sofa. That can be a vision of spatial computing, but it’s not what I have in mind.”

V.

Here, by the way, come along for a short walk around Apple Park. I took some photos.

PS.

Poor Things is the new film by Yorgos Lanthimos. Emma Stone plays Bella Baxter, a dead woman who is subsequently brought back to life by Dr. Godwin Baxter. The doctor is played by Willem Dafoe, who himself looks like the Frankenstein monster thanks to facial prosthetics.

The film is based on the novel of the same name by Scottish author Alasdair Gray from 1992. It’s about men’s desires and women’s independence. You can already see that in the trailer, as well as the gloriously pronounced Victorian fantasy setting. I’m very much looking forward to this.

I’ve seen Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse and believe me: it’s fantastic. If you thought the animation of the previous Spider-Verse film couldn’t be topped, brace yourself. Go and see it in the cinema.

And this is really great. A 14-year-old boy recreated the Across the Spider-Verse trailer in an extraordinary way using LEGO. Phil Lord and Christopher Miller (directors of The LEGO Movie and writers/producers of Across the Spider-Verse) saw the video, were deeply impressed, and asked the boy to collaborate on the new Spider-Man film. And yes: duh, he wanted to.

Here’s a nice video that explains in 17 minutes how Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles grew from a joke into a 15-billion-dollar franchise. While the Turtles became world-famous, the two cartoonists lost touch with each other. Somewhere in this story lies a longer documentary with much more drama.

This video focuses mainly on the comics (which started with a print run of 3,275), on Netflix there’s an episode of The Toys That Made Us dedicated to the popularity of TMNT action figures.

The new season of Fortnite has started. You can unlock Optimus Prime, so I’m playing again. I’m a simple man. Oh, and there’s a This is fine emote.

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