Death of a Techno Vision (Pro)

I trekked out to Highpoint to have a demo of the Apple Vision Pro. After this touch of VR and AR I returned to RR (Real Reality) slightly deflated.

Don't get me wrong, this is a technically stunning product. For all practical purposes we have achieved the hardware peak that has been off in the distance since the first wave of virtual reality systems in the 90's.

Half my life I have been waiting for this dream to be realised. Maybe Lawnmower Man (1992) is not the sort of film I should be quoting as a seminal experience but it set an expectation that the technology would catch-up, that we would have the ability to enter immersive environments with new possibilities for applications, games and experiences.

The closest I've experienced is Google Earth on a Quest headset. That is amazing - the ability to be a god-like observer gliding gently above any place on the planet made that appliance worth the price of admission to me. But that's a pretty limited use case, and maybe meaningful to everyone.

After many generations of hardware since then I think Apple has delivered (at a $5k price) a device that is good enough; is VR has a point then this should be it.

The hardware is here, the purpose is not. This impressive piece of kit does not answer the all important 'So What?' question. I couldn't imagine ever using it as a virtual workstation - partly because they haven't solved the keyboard problem). I can't see that it improves media consumption. So I'm left with games. The techno-optimist in me wants to see the new paradigm, but I can't. Maybe the infinite, multi-dimensional whiteboard I have always pined for will be the killer application, but Apple's FreeFrom on a Vision Pro is not it.

So in the hallowed halls of Highpoint the dream died for me.

Maybe the next generation of developer's will prove me wrong and have the imagination to see the future. Good luck!