Apple Vision Pro was unveiled as the One More thing at the end of the WWDC23 conference in the eyes of many people. This device can be said to be Apple’s most disruptive product this time, symbolizing that Apple is no longer satisfied with physical screens, but still has a rich imagination in the virtual world. This product was not taken lightly, but came with full preparation and confidence.
If your memory is still fresh, you may remember that Meta, the parent company of Facebook, once hoped to build a virtual world. All users need to enter the virtual world through special head-mounted devices. Even given a special name from the Metaverse. However, in the end, the “Metaverse” is just an empty and brilliant bubble that melts as soon as it is blown. Apple’s idea is relatively simple. Putting aside the huge goals of the metaverse, we first seek usability.
Vision Pro can still see the surrounding environment after wearing it, which is very friendly to people who are afraid of such devices. The actual picture will appear in the field of view in the form of a virtual object. People next to you will think that the person wearing a huge ski mask is operating something in the air, but those are actually the result of Apple’s mature AR technology.
Products similar to Vision Pro may remind some of Google Glass from many years ago. The product had similar goals and even had a smaller and more inconspicuous shape, but Google Glass ultimately failed to become a pioneer and expand the technology industry’s imagination of virtual reality.
Vision Pro Design
Before Vision Pro came out, many people got the news in advance and generally thought it was going to be a VR or MR head-mounted display. It’s just that the appearance is quite unique, almost like some kind of protective mirror. For example, ski goggles will be made into similar shapes. There are few things that can be controlled around it. There are mainly some buttons on the top and a digital crown. The crown is roughly similar to the one on the Apple Watch, but it is enlarged.
Hardware specifications
Vision Pro made it clear at the press conference that it uses an M2 chip and an R1 chip inside the machine. The M2 chip is obviously mainly responsible for the calculation of the operating system and graphics functions. The R1 chip is special. It is a chip designed for Vision Pro. This chip not only has to process the content of the 12 cameras, 5 sensors, and 6 microphones on the Vision Pro, but also ensures that these information can have ultra-low latency, and the speed is even much faster than the blink of an eye. If Vision is a person, the M2 chip is equivalent to the brain, R1 The chip is equivalent to the sum of vision, hearing, vocal organs and balance organs.
In addition to the visual aspect, the auditory aspect is also very important. Although Vision is a two-channel configuration, the headset can simulate the sound field through software, allowing the wearer to have a more surrounding listening experience when using it.
operate
Vision Pro is controlled by the user’s eyes, hands and voice. All operations have corresponding somatosensory actions. And Apple has been very good at voice commands for a long time. Unless the user has some inconvenience due to congenital or acquired accidents, most people can use it normally.
Since Vision Pro is an AR device, all interfaces usually have real-life images as the background. Operation only requires both hands. This out-of-the-box approach is very Apple-like. Players do not need to learn how to control hand devices, and there are no so-called hand devices available.
However, Apple’s own external devices such as the Magic Keyboard, Magic Trackpad, and others are available. But judging from the information obtained at the press conference, Vision Pro has many useful operations with just your hands, and only requires a headset. The basic concept of use is completely different from traditional VR head-mounted devices.
The Vision Pro basically acts as a head-mounted theater display to watch movies in. But the object of viewing is the AR video player window in front of you. Since it does not interfere with reality and you can see your surroundings when using it, it is much safer than VR devices that cannot see your surroundings. Of course, the game or usage logic of the two is completely different and cannot be compared, and each has its own advantages.
Since you can see the outside, the glasses can also see you from the outside, but it is a little different. What you see is a piece of face information captured by the inside camera, so the outline of the face can be seen by people outside. This feature is displayed through a lenticular OLED display to anyone looking at the wearer. So although it is not directly visible through the glass, it is at least certain that the wearer’s face can be seen outside.
In terms of security, there is even iris verification called Optic ID, and verified users can directly unlock the device for use. It can also 3D scan the user’s appearance, including facial features and three-dimensional undulations.
Vision OS
Finally, the Vision Pro system is introduced. It is also named after the main category of the product, so it is called Vision OS. The system can be said to be a comprehensive display of all Apple products. It supports macOS and iOS software. The system logic is coordinated with the three-dimensional space operation of Vision Pro. However, the interface you see so far is mostly just like a piece of paper, and the paper is the window. It only has two-dimensional content. Although it is cool to put it in a three-dimensional space, it always feels that it is not necessary to use Vision Pro.
Perhaps this is because Vision OS currently lacks some substantial content, and general operating systems can only plan through two-dimensional space. Perhaps we’ll see this system grow alongside the Vision Pro series in the future. but. For the first-generation product, it still has special significance.
Vision Pro is currently officially priced at US$3,499, which is about NT$107,000. It may be more expensive in Taiwan, about the same price as a brand new SYM DRG 158cc motorcycle.
Source: KOCPC Chinese