Ever since Apple launched Vision Pro last Friday, I understand the importance of immersive content. This is not a radical proposal by any means. At this point, we are all well aware that hardware platforms live and die by their content offerings.
Think back all the way, for a moment, to late 2014. When Tim Cook unveiled the first Apple Watch alongside the iPhone 6, the product was met with some blank stares. What, many wondered, was the point of such a device? It wasn’t the Dick Tracy wristwatch we’d been promised since the mid-1940s, but rather a small-screen extension of the iPhone.
It took Apple a few years to really grow into fitness as the biggest device driver. When you wear a smartwatch these days, you have far fewer questions about why you would possibly want such a gadget. There’s no guarantee that Vision Pro will follow a similar trajectory, but if it does, it will be on the backs (faces) of app and game developers.
The Vision Pro is an undeniably impressive piece of hardware. It does a lot of basic things — like traversal, spatial correlation, and high-resolution displays — better than anyone else in the consumer space. But many people understandably still ask, “Why?” As in, why would anyone spend $3,500 on this? The price and extensive history of the reality have cast additional doubt on Apple’s first earphones.
Ultimately, however, the “why” comes down to content. A little less than a week after the device’s launch, what should we cite as the Vision Pro’s killer app? For now, it is computational. This is where Apple has leaned heavily, in part in an effort to attract business customers with deep pockets. If these organizations buy headsets in bulk, scaling will help lower the cost of subsequent models.
The beauty of the platform game is that it is a method to crowdsource functionality. Apple may have more money than any deity you can name, but its developer resources are still finite. By relying on 3D parties, you tap into a wealth of foreign genre perspectives that bring the kind of outside-the-box thinking that’s often considered counterproductive to the final media in a big company’s tools.
Ahead of Vision Pro’s launch, whether Apple still had the clout to attract mainstream developers remained something of an open question. Six hundred “optimized” apps at launch was a strong showing for a first-generation device in a category with a rocky history. This number is boosted by significantly more iPadOS apps that can run on the device. As for what constitutes “optimization,” the answer isn’t as simple as you might think.
This can be as simple as tweaks to the UX in line with the transition from touch gestures to gestures, or as complex as full immersion and advanced hand tracking. For the sake of this piece, I’m more interested in optimized apps with immersive properties. Using an iPad app on your headset is generally not a bad experience (nor do you want full immersion all the time), but we’re here to talk about a $3,500 piece of exhausting hardware — let’s see what this bad boy can do .
Fitness and mindfulness
I’m a firm believer in screen breaks. Take a walk, read a book, talk to a human, touch the proverbial grass. If anything, that’s more important when that screen is strapped to your head. After spending a little over a week with the Vision Pro in my home, I’ve found that my usage tends to fall into groups. For example, I’m writing this to you on my desktop — the real one, not the virtual one. My interaction with the infinite desktop experience is still limited.
I find that the device is best used with intention. Rather than simply trying to turn as much of my life into spatial computing as possible, using Vision Pro is an ongoing process of determining when it’s the best tool for the job at hand (I’ll fully admit that my philosophy may have been different if I had paid the upfront cost instead of reviewing a lender unit). Your mileage will vary, but I tend to get nauseous relatively easily, so I’ve limited myself to around 30 minute sessions.
A few apps have crept into my morning routine lately. For several months now I have been suffering from degenerative disc disease, spinal stenosis and sciatica. Things like this really reduce your ability to go to the gym. However, as I have done a little self-rehabilitation, I am more able to do moderate exercise. My mornings now include 20 minutes of Apple Fitness+ Pilates, followed by a game Synth Riders in Vision Pro.
The latter has been ported over from Meta Quest. It’s a rhythmic Rock Band/Guitar Hero game where your hands become instruments that collide with bullets moving towards you at high speeds. It’s a fun, fast-paced game reminiscent of Beat Saber. Here, all levels revolve around synth tracks and the broader aesthetic can be described as “’80s Trapper Keeper”. It features either full or partial immersion, depending on how aware you need to be of your surroundings.
Synth Riders is the most exercise you can do on the Vision Pro, given the price, weight and battery. I don’t sweat playing the game. it has more to do with pumping blood. It is also suitable for a 3–4 pm workday break when your energy starts to hit. If you sweat a bit, you can always hand wash the light seal insert.
Moving forward, I’d love more apps that bring light exercise to the platform — and the Quest ports are a solid place to start. I’d be curious to see how the system handles boxing and form correction, à la products like Tonal and Mirror.
I wrote a little about Apple’s Mindfulness app. It’s pretty bare in terms of features, but that’s not a terrible thing in the world of meditation. I have tried too Edel Kingdoms after a short morning workout. I’ve written about Endel’s mobile app and how its algorithmically generated music helped me get back into the meditation groove. Realms is a much simpler app right now, creating calm or energetic environments. You basically sit there for five to 10 minutes and let the light bath wash over you. So far I have found it centering.
Science and entertainment
There are three things I want to see more of in Vision Pro: dinosaurs, ocean exploration, and space. I have reported Dinosaur Experience sometimes here, because it serves as an excellent example of what can to be done with immersive, interactive technology. Getting up close and personal with dinosaur bodies based on the latest scientific research is one of those experiences that shows what such a system is capable of.
More than anything, though, it’s proof of concept. It’s short, plays and loops, and its total interactivity is limited to a butterfly landing on your finger and a trio of dinosaurs staring at you as you walk. There’s not a ton of meat on that proverbial bone, but it’s beautiful, exciting, and will hopefully point the way to bigger things.
Image Credits: SkyGuide
As I await a tour of the solar system, I’m happy to spend some time with him SkyGuide. The app works similarly to NightSky on the iPhone, providing an immersive look at the stars, constellations and planets. SkyGuide is a bit less place-bound than NightSky (which is honestly one of its best features) and instead deals with simulating locations (a cityscape without light pollution, the top of a mountain range, and the open ocean).
Lego has absolutely killed it with their Nintendo AR demos. Builder’s Journey is a highly enjoyable experience that takes full advantage of the system’s object recognition, placing a box of bricks directly on the table in front of you as you follow the story and build virtual structures.
Loona occupies a similar space — albeit an even cooler one. This is what our Danish friends call hygge. This is where you assemble some basic items like a scooter or fireplace. It’s good for turning your brain off, though unfortunately you have to pay to unlock all but the first puzzle.
Business
Microsoft Word It doesn’t bring much to the table on the immersion front, but if you plan to do some work inside Vision Pro, the 40-year-old app remains a gold standard for word processing. As with all apps that require a lot of typing, I highly recommend getting a Bluetooth keyboard and mouse. Voice dictation still has its limitations, and while I’ve gotten pretty fast with gesture typing, the idea of using it to enter much more than a username and password makes me want to jump off the roof.
The coolest part of the UI here is the addition of a small predictive text field that sits right above the keyboard — pretty much the same you’ll find on iOS. So far, I’ve mostly limited longer form typing to sending a few emails.
I’ve written a bit about Vision Pro enterprise applications over the last couple of weeks (as has Ron). My current take on the category is that it’s where Apple sees the highest and most immediate return on investment. Companies have deep pockets and will buy products in bulk if they think it will save them in the long run. Bring in enough customers and you start to get to a place where scale has a tangible impact on build prices.
Training is pointless. It can be particularly useful for more complex tasks that require a 3D understanding of objects in space. This last part is also a fundamental aspect of it JigSpace, which is designed for creating AR demos. Right out of the gate, you can explore objects such as a jet turbine, an F1 car and a human heart. The app offers a glimpse of how this technology might be used in the future.
