Apple focuses on VR/AR, but little else happens
The summer months are usually the summer break for VR enthusiasts. Apple was kind enough to postpone that break a bit and dominated the conversation this week.
Apple Vision Pro is a VR headset that doesn't want to be a VR headset
Yes, Tim, we get it: Augmented reality is the next big thing. But the truth is that the Apple Vision Pro VR/AR headset, which was unveiled in detail on Monday, is just a VR headset. That's because even the pass-through is only the virtual rendering of reality, the conversion to a digital image.
Okay, enough of the quibbling because Apple is really all about AR, or as Apple marketing cleverly calls it, Spatial Computing. At home and at work, the Vision Pro is supposed to make a difference in the future, enabling spatial interaction with digital content, making 3D movies and experiences more immersive than in a movie theater, and even making Facetime calls an immersed experience. Users will even be able to create their own 3D photos and movies with the Vision Pro.
Whether all this works out, especially for the starting price of $3,500, remains to be seen in early 2024 when the Apple headset hits the market.
All that remains – some PSVR 2 and a look at the real Metaverse
Otherwise, this week was typical summer: warm and light on news. The Playstation VR 2 sales charts for May were fairly predictable, but also well deserved.
Virtual Desktop, the PC VR streaming software, received a significant quality upgrade. Quest 3 promises more performance with better cooling.
Meanwhile, once again, a single developer shows that the Metaverse is not a VR happening like the Oasis. Stephen Rogers shows in a video what much better social gatherings and interactions might look like. It's a glimpse of a meaningful vision of the metaverse, where the digital layer merges with physical reality. For long-distance relationships, by the way, this could be killer.
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