While in Nashville, having just torched my insides with a fiery hot chicken sandwich from Prince’s, I passed by the all-glass enclosed Apple store on the corner of 5th & Broadway. It was about 6pm, and observations would indicate the evening had already started in the morning for most people. It was my last night in town and the Apple store got me thinking about the Vision Pro, my Quest 3, the 250,000 units Apple had sold to date, and of the articles claiming you could get a demo. So I walked in and asked “Can I get a demo of the Vision Pro?” “Sure! We may have an appointment left,” the friendly associate exclaimed. 7pm was available. I handed them my deets, and went off to drop some shopping goodies off at my hotel a few blocks away.
The Pre-Demo Setup
Before I even left the store, Apple had texted me a pre-demo survey. It was primarily concerned with whether I wore glasses (I do now), and whether I used them for near or far sightedness, or both. I answered the questions and Apple told me I was all set.
I strolled back into the store close to 7pm. They greeted me quickly with “You’re back!” Well, “I’m a man of my word” I exhorted, and followed them to the back of the store for the demo. Sam would be talking me through the demo. But first they needed my glasses so they could measure them with a fancy, expensive looking measurement machine. I think I’ve seen the same device at Warby Parker. They needed this to set up the Vision Pro for my exact prescription. This begged the question, “So what if my prescription changes? Do I need a new set of inserts?” “Yes, you would need to order new inserts” she explained. I didn’t see her add any inserts, so I was a bit confused by this, but why die on that hill? My guess is the Vision Pro adjusts by itself once provided the script details, but who knows. I sure hope I wouldn’t need to buy new adapters, err “inserts,” after already spending thousands of dollars on this thing. And of course – at this time – you can only buy Apple’s special Zeiss inserts, which I’m sure are a pretty penny.
After my eyes were ready, I also had to use an iPhone to scan my face. This process wasn’t working well until I moved to the solid-colored wall. The app just kept missing the scan. Sam was a bit frustrated as well, but she kept her cool.
Now, keep in mind, I’ve owned a Meta Quest 3 for a few months now. I was 100% comparing the setup process of that under $500 device to the setup process of a $3,500 (base!!) device here. With the Quest, I just put the unit on my head after some simple setup, and just kept my glasses on. I’m curious how much of this pomp and circumstance is actually necessary, or might be removed in a future software update for the Vision Pro.
Seeing all the work and equipment that went into just getting the unit to be “ready for me” helped me understand the price point. The optical equipment, the personnel, the technology for such a customized experience, has to come from somewhere. Given Apple would have raked in around $1.125B after selling 250K units, I hope they’ve recouped their costs. Now if only there were an iFixit teardown… Oh wait, there is!đ
Note that the entire demo was done while in a sitting position. I was sitting on a chair next to a wooden table. One other person was experiencing a demo at the same time.
Fit and Finish
Sam showed me what the buttons do – a button for the see-through mode, and a “digital crown” like the Apple watch. She also showed me the exact way to place the Vision Pro on my head. Thumb under the nosepiece, and four fingers on the top. Don’t touch the front! I asked what would happen if I did – would it just look ugly? She said yeah, it wouldn’t look good, but otherwise probably nothing. I followed her advice and put the unit on my head. I used the right-hand dial to tighen the unit as close as possible to my liking. Note that, because of the Zeiss inserts, I did not need my glasses on for the demo.
Once the Vision Pro was on my noggin’ I realized how heavy it is. I have a Quest 3 at home. This unit clearly felt heavier. It wasn’t uncomfortable, but it did feel like I had a decent size computer on my head, which of course I did. Sam suggested I move the strap around a bit. After somem finagling, I figured this was as good as it was going to get. It didn’t feel like it was going to fall off. It just felt front-heavy, like the top-heavy feeling I get when my bourbon-belly body is on rollerblades. I did a search, and the Quest 3 is around 515 grams, while the Vision Pro is around 532.
Moving my fingers around I also found the digital crown to be too small. I would use this control device later, and I have to tell you, it needs to be bigger. When you can’t see something, and you want to do small movements with it, and it’s already small, it’s frustrating. Yes, it’s cool, and it fits with the Apple ecosystem, but this needed to be adjusted.
Now, the quality of the materials is top-notch. The strap was incredibly comfortable and disappeared as I used the product. Everything looks clean and precisely engineered. Even the carrying case looks like a high-end The North Face affair. The heaviness did not disappear, however.
The Demo
I should have mentioned earlier that Sam explained she could see everything I was seeing. She had an iPad wirelessly streaming the feed from the Vision Pro. She also had an iPhone that appeared to have the demo script. It was clear Apple wants this demo staged and not free-form. When I would pinch and zoom or move a window before being prompted, Sam would gently verbally nudge me with “Please wait for me.” Sorry, Sam!
First things first was the setup mode. The Vision Pro walked me through mapping my touching and vision. The vision part was interesting – I had to look at each dot on the screen and then pinch my fingers together to “tap” it. Moving my eyes, not necessarily my head, would move an invisible pointer. At the center of my vision – what I’m looking at – becomes what’s selected. It was also incredibly clear and vibrant – so whatever the Zeiss and vision calibration did, it did it well.
The experience is also fascinating from a UI and UX perspective. The center stays focused while items in my “peripheral” vision go out of focus when I move my head, coming into slightly better focus when I stop. In practice, this worked very well. However, the selecting and tapping part was not 100%. I’d say 3 out of 10 times – 30% – when I tried tapping something, the Vision Pro wouldn’t register the tap. Perhaps my hand was under the demo table and I didn’t realize it – but moving my hand closer to the device or further in front of me seemed to solve the issue. I also had to ensure I didn’t lose focus on what I wanted to tap, or I would “miss” or tap the wrong item. After some time using this, I’m sure it would become natural. For the most part it was – but it was clear after 30 minutes Apple has some tweaking to do in its UX, and I can see why this is a scripted demo. But still, damn, it’s amazing.
Once setup was complete, the Apple logo appeared, and I was greeted with the Home Screen. Yes, it looks like the typical iOS home screen layout, just in front of you with your surroundings in semi-transparent fashion in the background. You can tune out your surroundings by rotating the digital crown. I was only allowed to use on of the virtual backgrounds. Sam wouldn’t let me play with others, and she could clearly see via her iPad if I broke the rules. What I did experience, though, was a calming lakeside landscape. It even started raining while I was “there” and that was quite cool, and would have been calming had I not been in the middle of an Apple store. The speakers were loud enough for me to hear the raindrops, but I wasn’t there for that experience. Before you ask – no, I didn’t get a chance to set up the see-through mode that shows my eyes. That’s not part of the demo.
There are three basic gestures on the Vision Pro: Tap, Tap and Drag, and Pinch/Pull to Zoom. The first two are single-hand gestures performed with your dominant hand. The latter requires both hands, and gives you the feeling you’re in [insert Sci-Fi movie here] and manipulating virtual screens in the clear space in front of you. Yeah, it’s pretty cool. Another verbal wrist slap from Sam for me getting ahead of the game.
Demo 1 – Photos
The first demo was launching the classic Apple Photos app. There were many to choose from. Some were “flat” while others had the 3D depth old 3D Android phones were capable of many years ago. Remember the HTC Evo 3D? The flat photo was, well, a photo, and I could zoom in and out as expected. It was perfectly clear, and the colors were sharp and realistic. The 3D photo had true depth, and was shot on an iPhone 15 Pro. Both the 15 Pro and Pro Max support creating 3D and immersive content for the Vision Pro. Apple’s pushing those devices as content creation catalysts, understandbly. Because it was a scripted store demo, I didn’t ask for additional details like format support and technical details. My understanding is other 3D formats are supported, so you’re not limited to just Apple ecosystem solutions.
Demo 2 – Videos
Now for the fun part – video. There was no demo of a flat video here, and that’s fine. Who cares? Every headset does it. You’re not spending $3,500+ for a simple movie theater. There were two demos – one 3D video that wasn’t immersive, meaning it didn’t surround you, and another immersive sports video. The 3D video was cool – a family blowing out the candles on a cake. The frame rate seemed low, maybe 30fps, and reminded me of 3D video from those old 3D Android phones I talked about. It was neat that it was “large” in front of me, but it wasn’t mind-blowing due to having seen it before. Now, I’d like to know if the Quest 3 can do the same. Sam did not appreciate that I played the video more than once. To be fair, she had a lot of patience with me – thank you Sam!
The real treat was the immersive video compilation. It had many immersive videos, all being narrated by someone telling me how great “living the action” is. One was shot with a 360 degree (I think) camera placed on a soccer goal and I could see the game and the ball being kicked into the net. Another was a mountain landscape and I was watching the climber. Another was shot behind first base during a double play. You get the point – incredible action sequences to make you feel like you are there. And it did. It was exhilarating. I recall Sam explaining it was all 8K video. I asked if the screens themselves were 8K, but she wasn’t sure. The detail was phenomenal. Absolutely stunning.
Is there a new market here?
My first thought was Apple TV Plus – what if they started offering this type of content? Is that where it’s headed? I don’t know if it’s viable. Many of you may remember the many, many, MANY failures of trying to bring 3D into the home. Projectors, TVs, special glasses – and the fact 30% of human beings can’t watch 3D content without getting nauseous – it never worked. But they also didn’t have the content, other than more expensive 3D versions of Blu-ray discs. Could Apple stream this type of content? Could they convince people to wear these headsets while watching events such as concerts? I’m not convinced about sports, as I can’t see a bunch of people wearing headsets and drinking beer… Now that I’d like to see. If people generally look funny in VR, that would be a hoot. My point is, Apple certainly has the market position and technologies to make something happen here. What, I’m not yet sure… And Meta may be willing to play ball. If the monopoly regulators have their way, it may be a perfect match…
Demo 3 – Web Browsing and Compatible Apps
The last demo was showing that I could browse the web (Safari, yay?) and run “compatible apps” from the App Store. Meh. It’s iOS, so no surprises here. Cool, but no compelling killer app. The demo app Sam wanted me to run was a cooking app. I won’t be wearing a $3,500 + tax headset near the stove.
The Missing Demo
The Vision Pro content demos were impressive, to be sure. But where was the killer app to sell me on this $3,500 device? Sam kept telling me how this was a “Spatial Computing” device. But never did I see an example of spatial computing. I saw spatial consuming but not spatial creating. I would love to see the results of a survey of the 250,000 purchasers of this product explaining why… and what their income bracket is.
Final Thoughts
I took the Vision Pro off my head and handed it back to Sam. I did this the proper way… thumb under the nosepiece and four fingers on top. I thanked her for the experience and agreed it was quite impressive. I asked how many of these they sold each day. She couldn’t say, other than some people come in and simply buy one outright, no demo needed. It wouldn’t have been fair to ask her why – she’s just selling the unit, and knows fervent Apple fans with an Apple Credit Card are often willing to buy more Apple products (I jest).
But after the demo, I had no incentive to purchase the unit. There was nothing about it, at least during this entertaining 30 minute demo, that left a compelling reason on the table. Certainly not one that made me go “Gosh, I wish my Quest 3 did that!” I do need to determine if the Quest 3, at 1/6 the price, can do 3D video (UPDATE: It does!). But the Vision Pro demo was all about content consumption, and the Quest 3 does effectively the same thing in spades. Oh, and I can play VR games made specifically for its platform (noticeably absent from the Apple demo, but also understandable given the time constraints).
I also left with the feeling of possibility. What the Vision Pro represents, and what could come from such technology, finally, in the content consumption space. And maybe, eventually, in the content creation space, if Apple’s professional applications arm releases whatever they’ve got cooking. Who cares what you call it – spatial computing, VR, or otherwise – if you build something truly compelling.
Either way, the demo was worth it, I got my technologist buzz and my analyst gears working, and still have $3,500 to spend on something else.
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