David Reid, a professor of AI and spatial computing, explains why Apple is leading the way when it comes to virtual reality
INTERVIEW
Apple isn’t exactly known for being the pioneer of new technology. Whether it’s smartphones, music players or computers, Apple is rarely first out of the gate. Instead, it waits. A few years go by, technology advances and after its competitors have released a few versions of their devices, Apple swoops in with its first iteration of the technology – one that’s refined, powerful, stylish and always extremely expensive.
Years on from the initial boom of virtual reality, Apple has finally played its card, unveiling its first virtual reality headset. It might be late to the party, but Apple has made its usual move, with its first ever step into virtual reality being the best model we’ve seen yet.
But what’s so good about Apple’s first venture into the world of the virtual? We spoke to David Reid, professor of AI and spatial computing at Liverpool Hope University to find out.
BLENDING REALITIES
Unlike some previous attempts at virtual reality headsets, Apple’s Vision Pro device uses a mixed-reality format. This means that, instead of blacking out the world around you, the headset mixes the virtual world with the real one.
Put the headset on and you could interact with a virtual floating monitor above your desk, play games in your living room or essentially make the real world that little bit more fun.
“The big selling point here is that Apple is trying to expand what we mean by the metaverse. Where Meta is based in virtual reality, Apple is looking at augmented reality, putting these virtual elements into the world around you,” says Reid.
“There is a theory known as spatial computing. It’s the idea that a machine can retain and manipulate referents to real objects in the world. That’s what Apple is doing here and doing so believably.”
This doesn’t mean that the headset is incapable of using virtual reality. With a toggle of a switch on the side of the headset, users can alter how much of the world around them is blocked out.
Able to access both virtual and mixed realities, Apple is looking to offer the best of both worlds. While it isn’t the first to do this, Apple is the first to do it with this much processing power.
POWER ON TOP OF POWER
Where Apple really stands out from the crowd is inside the headset. Apple uses two separate chipsets with the Vision Pro: one for processing graphics, vision algori
