At WWDC 2023, Apple announced its first XR headset, the Vision Pro. Unsurprisingly, the hardware outperformed every other VR and AR headset on the market. Unfortunately, the advanced technology packed into the slim and stylish Vision Pro headphones puts the price out of reach for most consumers.
The new standard for XR headphones
Apple
For $3,499, Apple Reality Pro sets a new standard for AR, VR, and the general term XR. It lets you put virtual screens around your Mac, take FaceTime calls without digging into your pocket, and write emails from the couch.
If tight Apple integration is all the Reality Pro offers, even first-time users might balk at the steep price tag. However, Apple did not disappoint, giving its XR headphones truly revolutionary capabilities.
intuitive management
Apple
Most VR headsets require controllers, but the Vision Pro allows full hands-only access. Apple hasn’t shared all the details, but it seems that touching and moving your fingers, grasping objects with your hands, and drawing with your index finger are enough to trigger actions and interact with visionOS.
Hand tracking is supported in Meta’s Quest 2, Quest Pro, and the upcoming Quest 3, but only in some games and apps. Since Apple makes hands-on the primary input method, all apps in the visionOS App Store must support manual interaction.
For authentication, Vision Pro performs a retina scan to quickly and effortlessly confirm your identity.
Apple
You need more than hands to play. Fortunately, Apple realizes this and game controllers can be used for fast and responsive control.
your private theater
Apple
Apple claims that its headphones provide a view equivalent to a 100-foot widescreen. With Spatial Audio included, this gives you a private room for movies, TV shows, sporting events and more. Of course, Apple TV+ will be available on Vision Pro.
The image quality of Apple’s Vision Pro is also noticeably better than the competition, with 4K resolution for each eye with a total of 23 million pixels across two screens. That’s more than double the best VR headsets from Meta and even dwarfs the Varjo Aero’s impressive 2880 x 2720 pixels per eye resolution.
Apple didn’t share details about the screen’s brightness or color space, but it did mention brilliant colors, spectacular detail, and high dynamic range. The presentation showed someone using Adobe Lightroom professional image editor in Vision Pro.
The implication is that photographers, videographers and graphic designers will be able to use Vision Pro instead of a monitor and still be confident that image quality will be good on traditional flat panel displays. Color fidelity is currently unconfirmed.
spatial recording
Apple
Apple produces some of the best mobile camera technology on the market and has not forgotten about photography and video with its headphones for everyone. The Vision Pro can capture spatial photos and videos at the top of the button on the top of the earcups.
These spatial memories can be played back inside the device to relive important moments with a realistic depth effect.
Vision Pro Applications
Apple
Apple’s Vision Pro has a home screen with apps, just like your iPhone. You can see the time and date, check the weather forecast, and view notifications just like you do with any other Apple product.
Apple has also brought many of its core apps to Vision Pro, making it easy for iPhone, iPad, and Mac users to put on their headphones and see familiar icons and themes. There’s Safari, Photos, Music, Messaging and more. Transitioning to a whole new way of interacting with a device isn’t easy, so this soft landing is important.
You can use voice input and the floating keyboard to enter text with Vision Pro alone, or combine it with Apple Magic Keyboard and Trackpad to increase productivity.
That sounds like a great start. However, as a completely new product category for Apple, Vision Pro won’t have as rich a library of native third-party apps as the Mac or iPhone.
Meta’s Quest 2 and Pro headsets enjoy a huge collection of games, and the platform has been around since 2019, picking up where the Oculus Rift left off.
This is where the iPad and iPhone apps come into play.
iPad Apps
Apple
Apple had key developers working on the Vision Pro apps before its announcement, but it will take years to develop new games and port existing content to the new platform. Meanwhile, Apple is filling that void with apps for the iPad, likely including the recently released Final Cut Pro and Logic Pro.
Apple Vision Pro will be able to run iPad apps, expanding its capabilities before immersive apps are available. Because the headset is powered by the high-performance M2 chip, it’s as fast as the iPad Pro. The same chip powers the new 15-inch MacBook Air and other Macs.
When you use Apple Vision Pro, you can pick up where you left off with your iPhone, iPad, or Mac, multitask with multiple apps side by side, or focus on a single app.
mixed reality
Apple
Unlike the Meta Quest Pro pass-through and other VR headsets that have noticeable visual glitches, Apple’s Mixed Reality display from your real-world environment feels almost indistinguishable from what you’d see with the headset turned off. This is due to higher quality cameras and increased processing power for fast and accurate alignment of generated images.
The Vision Pro Digital Crown, which resembles the one on the Apple Watch, allows for easy transition between the immersive view and viewing in your room. When someone approaches you, the screen will detect it and they can see you too.
Based on Apple’s Vision Pro demo, the graphics rendering works well enough to render objects that look almost as substantial as the physical desktop you’re sitting at. This is the mixed reality we’ve all been waiting for. As long as it doesn’t cost more than a MacBook Pro.
Games
Apple
Apple’s Vision Pro uses Apple Metal 3 technology on the M2 chip, providing excellent gaming performance. The challenge, of course, is getting enough content on the platform to compete with existing VR headsets with libraries that have been built over several years.
Apple Arcade will offer more than 100 apps at launch, drawn from the iPad’s library, but that won’t be enough to inspire gamers to buy Apple’s powerful but limited device.
Apple has announced an intriguing partnership with Disney, but it will take time to meet the demand for games that take advantage of Vision Pro’s impressive capabilities, super high resolution, and special features.
Eyes front and center
Apple
In what will surely be the most controversial aspect of the Vision Pro headset, Apple has placed the screen on the outside of the headset so that your eyes remain visible even when you’re wearing the device. The view is a bit dark, but it looks convincing.
We’ve already seen Meta prototypes with a similar design called a reverse step. Apple’s implementation is much better, like wearing ski goggles.
Hardware
Apple
Apple has equipped the Vision Pro headphones with state-of-the-art technology. Clearly this must have been an expensive device. Previous rumors have suggested that the iPhone company has realized that this is not a device for everyone. It is aimed at early adopters, developers and corporations who can afford the costs given the potential it unlocks.
With the integrated M2 and the new R1 processor, this will be a high-performance device with the same computing power as the MacBook Air. In the world of VR, you would need to connect to a computer with a powerful discrete GPU to achieve this speed.
Apple
In its presentation, Apple didn’t address battery life, but quietly admitted that it’s only about 2 hours. An external battery is used, so a wired connection is required to use the headphones.
While most of us look on with envy, you can be sure that a lower-priced Apple XR headset is already in development to further Apple’s plan for the future of augmented reality.
Price and availability
Apple announced the Vision Pro today, starting at a fantastic price of $3499. The powerful new XR headset will be available early next year.
We’ll be following developments closely, so stay tuned for full specs, additional app details, and more.
editor’s recommendations
Categories: GAMING
Source: newstars.edu.vn
Alot of good information on this blog, thanks!