> THE SHIFT
MATT BOLTON thinks the biggest obstacle to the success of Apple’s vision for Vision Pro is people’s vision
THERE’S A LOT of detail around Vision Pro that Apple has yet to reveal, or that will take more time to become clear. Apple seems content to trickle information out ahead of the headset’s launch in 2024. Not long before writing this, Apple showed a number of US journalists the experience of capturing “Spatial Video” (i.e. Apple’s flavor of 3D video) on iPhone, which they could then watch on the headset. Over time, we’ll hear more of this —no doubt there will be a moment when journalists are invited to try using it as a Mac substitute, or to use virtual film–making tools, and other areas Apple especially wants to show off.
THE VISION PRO HEADSET REQUIRES PRESCRIPTION LENSES — AND THEY’RE LIKELY TO NEED CHANGING
But this drove a problem home for me that I had glossed over at the device’s launch: the need for prescriptive lenses inside the Vision Pro. Journalists had the Vision Pro headsets pre–prepared for their demos. We knew from the launch that adding prescription lenses would add to the cost, which was frustrating —but what occurred to me this time is that this cost isn’t likely to be a one– off. My eyes have settled in the last few years; I haven’t needed a significant change in my glasses for a while. But our eyes deteriorate continuously and steadily for years, and mine will no doubt require a change in prescription as I get older. Is the Vision Pro the first piece of hardware that may become obsolete not because the technology’s moved on, but because I have changed? No doubt I’ll be able to get new lenses when I need them, but it certainly won’t be a low–cost option. And it’s not just middle–aged professional users I’m thinking about here…
The Vision Pro demos herald a new dawn for computing and screen time. A freedom from the physical confines of a laptop’s small screen, or an iMac’s lack of portability. The ability to merge the real world and the virtual in ways that could mean all kinds of new approaches to
