Vision Pro: Apple’s breakthrough AR headset, and why it is a big deal

What is Vision Pro?

Apple’s first major new product category in eight years, the Vision Pro is a headset that the wearer can control with her eyes, hands, and voice, a feature that other headsets do not have. “It’s the first Apple product you look through and not at,” CEO Tim Cook said. Vision Pro represents “spatial computing”, and brings “a new dimension to powerful personal technology”, he said.

The headset features a glass 23 million-pixel screen that covers the upper part of the user’s face like a pair of oversized ski goggles. The facial interface is adjustable, which means it should provide a closer and more comfortable fit than competing headsets.

The headset is encased in “aerospace grade alloys”, glass, and fabric, and contains five sensors, 12 cameras, a 4K display for each eye, and a wearable computer that is cooled by a fan.

What can it do?

Vision Pro is essentially an augmented-reality (AR) headset that “seamlessly” blends the real and digital worlds. The device can switch between augmented and full virtual reality (VR) using a dial. However, Apple did not use the expressions “mixed reality” or “virtual reality” in the presentation.

According to Apple, the Vision Pro allows users to consume and create content in a new way, in the spaces around them. They can watch movies in 3D, with spatial audio as though they were in a cinema theatre, look at pictures or video, and play video games.

Vision Pro has the ability to see apps overlaid across real-world surroundings. Users can scroll through or select an option by flicking or tapping together their fingers. During the presentation, Apple showed how users would be able to interact with others when using FaceTime, for example.

What’s the technology?

Vision Pro runs on the same M2 processor that Apple uses in its Macs. It has a proprietary R1 chip, which allows the device to stay silent and stream images without lag.

R1 also enables EyeSight, a feature that projects realistic graphics of your eyes to those around you while you are wearing the headset, and also enables you to see the person you are speaking with through the headset. This puts Vision Pro miles ahead of other headsets on the market.

Vision Pro uses a custom software called visionOS which, according to Apple, is “the first OS designed for the ground up for spatial computing”. Architecturally, visionOS is similar to macOS and iOS, but it adds an additional “real-time subsystem” for processing interactive visuals.

There will be a dedicated App Store for Vision Pro. The apps will be tuned for the 3D interface, and will use the headset’s eye tracking and optic ID, allowing the user to use Apple Pay and autofill passwords. Apple has said no user data will be shared without permission.

IF YOU WEAR GLASSES, you can still use Vision Pro. Apple has teamed with Zeiss to create custom optical inserts that magnetically attach to the lenses for those who wear glasses. But how this actually works will be clear only after enough people with specs start using the headset around the world.

IT IS NOT FOR CHILDREN. Apple has recommended the user is at least 13 years old.

ITS RUGGEDNESS IS NOT KNOWN. Apple has also not said if the headset has received any water resistance rating.

BATTERY DOESN’T LAST LONG. Vision Pro requires an external battery pack that you need to charge after about 2 hours of use. The separate battery suggests Apple wanted to keep the headset as light as possible. Meta’s Quest Pro headset includes the battery that makes it bulky.

IT IS EXPENSIVE. Vision Pro is priced at $3,499, or about Rs 2,90,000 at the current exchange rate. The Quest Pro mixed reality headset costs only $,1000 (Rs 83,000).

YOU CAN’T GET IT TILL 2024. Apple plans to start selling the headset sometime early next year — only in the United States to begin with. The headset could come to India later in 2024.