Stuffy airplane seats. When a woman puts on a mixed reality (MR) headset that looks like goggles, a large screen appears before her eyes and an immersive blockbuster movie unfolds. The surrounding environment becomes a beautiful sunset scene, not an airplane.
This is a scene from a video showing the use of Apple’s MR headset ‘Vision Pro’, which Apple released on the 8th (local time). Apple declared on this day that it would open a new era of ‘spatial computing’ that seamlessly connects the digital world and the real world, and announced that it would launch Vision Pro in the US market on the 2nd of next month. Online advance reservations are available from the 19th of this month.
Vision Pro is a new product that Apple ambitiously launched nine years after the smartwatch ‘Apple Watch’ in April 2015. Apple explains that the development took more than seven years and involved about 1,000 developers. Apple CEO Tim Cook said in a statement that day, “The era of spatial computing has arrived,” and “Vision Pro is the most advanced consumer electronics device ever made. “This innovative and magical user interface will redefine the way we connect, create and explore.”
View largerApple announced the launch of mixed reality headset ‘Vision Pro’. apple homepageMR headsets, computers that are worn like glasses, are already a market in which a market is being formed, including Meta’s ‘Quest’. The price of the Vision Pro unveiled by Apple on this day was set at $3,499 (about 4.6 million won) based on 256GB (gigabyte) of storage capacity, as originally announced. This is more than seven times the price of Meta’s latest MR device, ‘Quest 3’ ($500).
According to Bloomberg News, Apple’s Vision Pro is priced higher than existing MR devices because it is equipped with a high-end display, processor, and user experience interface. Apple’s explanation is that Apple Vision Pro runs based on ‘Vision OS’, which is compatible with iOS and iPadOS, and is equipped with a 4K ultra-high resolution display for each eye to reduce eye fatigue. Another advantage is that 1 million existing apps can be run on Vision Pro.
It is also noteworthy that you can select and run apps with your eyes, fingers, and wrist without any separate controls. When using Vision Pro, you can select it with your eyes on the screen and then scroll or enlarge the screen with your finger. Additionally, you can run apps using Apple’s voice recognition assistant, Siri. Apple particularly emphasized that through the concept of ‘spatial computing’, it is possible to feel immersed as if entering a movie, game, or memorable travel photo from the living room or airplane seat.
The market is paying attention to whether Apple, which has been facing negative news this year due to poor sales of the iPhone 15 and the Apple Watch patent lawsuit, can make a leap forward with its new product, Vision Pro. On this day, Apple’s stock price rose 2.42% on the New York Stock Exchange, reflecting market expectations.
It is analyzed that Apple also intended to bring the spotlight by revealing the release date of Vision Pro a day before the opening of ‘CES 2024’, the world’s largest consumer electronics event. Apple has mainly released new products only at its own developer events in June and September every year and has not attended CES.
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Source: Donga
Mark Jones is a world traveler and journalist for News Rebeat. With a curious mind and a love of adventure, Mark brings a unique perspective to the latest global events and provides in-depth and thought-provoking coverage of the world at large.