Apple has announced the Vision Pro, a groundbreaking mixed-reality headset that combines virtual reality (VR) and augmented reality (AR).
It’s the company’s first major new product in almost 10 years and was officially announced today at the Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC).
“Vision Pro creates an infinite canvas for apps that scales beyond the boundaries of a traditional display and introduces a fully three-dimensional user interface controlled by the most natural and intuitive inputs possible — a user’s eyes, hands, and voice,” Apple says. “Featuring visionOS, the world’s first spatial operating system, Vision Pro lets users interact with digital content in a way that feels like it is physically present in their space.”
It Doubles as a 3D Camera
The Vision Pro has a 3D camera onboard, allowing the wearer to capture 3D photos and 3D videos. The wearer can view the media back later in an immersive way that puts you back inside the captured memory.
Also, if you have captured a panoramic photo on your iPhone it can be viewed as an enormous, immersive image inside the headset.
Intuitive Control with the Eyes and Hands
The sleek new product is solely controlled by eyes, hands, and voice. Apple describes its “first-ever wearable spatial computer” as “magical.”
The device uses spatial computing and has a fully 3D interface, allowing the wearer to display the apps and software however they see fit.
As an augmented reality display, Vision Pro users can choose to see the world around them while having their content and user interface overlaid on their surroundings.
While the outside world is projected into the Vision Pro through the digital displays, a new feature called EyeSight allows the headset to “feel” transparent by projecting the wearer’s eyes onto the front of the display, showing people on the outside where the user is looking.
Apple’s First ‘Spatial Computer’
The device also works as a computer, it connects with the user’s keyboard and mouse and can also connect to Mac computers and laptops. The California company says the device is perfect for use in the office or for working remotely.
A Virtual Movie Theater in Your Home
Vision Pro also offers a “spatial cinema” experience, dimming the real world and giving the wearer a huge screen that looks like it’s up to 100 feet wide. The ultra-high-res display system boasts 23 million pixels across two postage stamp-sized displays, one for each eye. This provides the equivalent of a 4K TV on each side of the headset.
Apple even suggests using it on an airplane — the device will offer streaming services and can block out external sounds to give you a quiet, enjoyable viewing experience.
It doesn’t stop there, with the viewer being able to watch 3D movies. Apple boasts is “the only device in the world” that can offer quality 3D video.
Pricing and Availability
Apple’s Vision Pro will cost $3,499 and will be available in early 2024.
-Petapixel
