Why Apple’s Vision Pro is the Next iPhone (Analysis)

I'm dabbled with some similar devices this is a computer this is totally different from what people are thinking about by now you've probably heard of Apple's new device The Vision Pro mixed reality headset the device has really divided the internet some people think it looks Goofy and stupid while the early impressions of those who have actually used it couldn't be more glowing it's intuitive rapid and responsive has a crisper image than any headset out there and feels like magic like I don't I normally don't call Tech things sort of magical or surreal like this but this was even for a pre-release product kind of unbelievable how well it does moving around the windows I had messages pulled up FaceTime Safari is so easy you just look at the bottom bar you grab it you move it you can move it in the x or y space the Z space and it works so well so I was actually very surprised by the intuitiveness of it it's always an amazing time when Apple released a new product but um the Apple Vision Pro is the truth the technology is there my mind is blown I would live here that alone oh my goodness that was I need the Emoji mind blown as this is what you see from me right we'll see exactly how this was achieved later in the episode but the fact is Apple really thinks that this is the next step in Computing just like the iPhone was and when you think about it iPhones are no longer interesting and how can they be there's only so much you can do with a flat rectangular slab it would seem like Computing in three dimensions as opposed to two is the way of the future but hang on the thing is virtual reality and augmented reality aren't new technologies and Apple's device is heavy and expensive so will it actually revolutionize the technology landscape again or is it still too early and why is this so expensive in the first place we'll dive into what this product really is all about you were watching cool Fusion TV [Music] division Pro isn't a traditional VR headset or ar headset it's actually both and can fluidly move between the two states you can use your fingers eyes and voice for basic tasks a keyboard and mouse for productivity or a controller for gaming according to Apple it should be smooth enough and powerful enough to overcome the main problem of motion sickness some viewers watching this may say what's the point just go outside and touch grass I understand but this episode is purely an analysis on the insane technical Achievements not social commentary let's take a look at what makes this product so different if those who have tried the device are right this is the first headset to my knowledge that excels both in AR and VR at a high level at its core this is its unique selling point two of the more popular devices the metaquest and psvr are gaming and VR focused they have touches of AR where you can see your environment but it's either very grainy or even just in black and white augmented reality devices on the other hand like vivario xr3 or Microsoft's hololens 2 are focused on industry and productivity and most can't even do VR at all so Apple doing both of these well at the same time is very difficult an engineering feat an expensive feat at 3 500 but once you see what goes into the device the price makes a bit more sense thank you to make all of this work was not easy from a design perspective Apple went nuts in the technical Innovation side of things they went on a hiring spree over the past few years recruiting experts in VR and AR companies an outright buying some of these companies in some cases even as far back as 2017. and after 5 000 patents that technical knowledge paid off The Vision Pro is to the iPhone as what the iPhone was to the desktop computer that is a new way of working with computers every time Apple does this the rest of the industry follows Apple usually aren't the ones to invent the technology but they're great at perfecting it this is what I mean in the 1980s Apple saw a problem with computers typing commands to make the computer do what you wanted was too hard for people so the solution why not just point and click directly at what you want this idea was borrowed from Xerox Park in the 2000s Apple saw another problem a versatile small portable computer is too hard to use with buttons and a d-pad so the solution why not just use your fingers directly Apple got this technology from a company called fingerworks and now in the 2010s Apple saw another problem VR and AI headsets can be hard to use the interface is inaccurate and sometimes confusing menus are slow to navigate and controllers are clunky the solution navigate with your body specifically the parts of your body that communicate your eyes hands and mouth a user can look at where they want to navigate and a simple pinch of the fingers selects and a pinch and a flick Scrolls move anything you want anywhere in three dimensions if that's all too much you can simply just talk to the computer these technologies have all existed before but have never been put together and executed well enough and by now you can see the pattern Apple sits back and waits till other tech companies make the first moves then they swoop in and do it better another way of thinking about the Vision Pro is kind of like a 3D iPhone it might sound odd but if you think about it Apple did say that all iPad and iOS apps or at least hundreds of thousands of those apps will work with the headset so technically if that's true that is like an iPhone in 3D it seems like apple is trying to get towards an ecosystem where all apps will work in some way on all devices in the case of the headset interface elements float with shadows and can be expanded and moved at will but I was really impressed with the responsiveness again this was better than any headset I've seen with just your hands if I wanted to scroll through something like a safari window I literally in air would touch my fingers together and drag the window and it would scroll nearly in real time I would like throw it around like toss it catch it toss it the other way and start scrolling through things with my finger and I was super impressed with that too and if you want you can even be transported to a large virtual environment and make the TV truly as large as you like an interesting touch here is blending AR and VR using a crown mechanism much like the Apple watch spin the digital Crown one way and you'll see more of the real world spin it the other and you see less press on the button and you get taken to the home screen and it again really works like that use a controlled immersion isn't something I've seen before and it's another thing that sets this headset apart also if users have a Macbook all they need to do is look at it and the MacBook screen begins to float into the air and you can continue your work there in 3D space you can view photos videos have multiple windows open do documents video editing even view 3D messages and basically do all the competing tasks you would otherwise do but in a 3D environment to make the device feel more human when you're in an AR space a person on the outside interacting with a user can see a simulated version of their eyes from an outward facing screen and from the perspective of a user people that come into your view fizzle through the 3D environment and can interact with you early users do say that this does work as well as the demo but the external eyes on the headset are a tad creepy users can take 3D photos and videos if they wish and I think that's kind of dumb but others might fairly disagree and I think that's fine Apple managed to cram 23 million pixels into two screens so sharp that it's the equivalent of a micro LED 4K TV for each eye and the people who have used it have all said the same thing it's sharp and even small text is crisp enough for web browsing and the clarity of save a safari Tower you're reading an article is so good the words are super crisp and I honestly felt more excited about the productivity elements to it than even the entertainment the screens have 5 000 nits of peak brightness and that's a lot the metaquest 2 for example maxes out at about 100 nits of brightness and Sony's psvr about 265 nits so 5000 nits is crazy according to display analyst Ross young this 5000 nits of peak brightness isn't going to Blind users but rather provide Superior contrast brighter colors and better highlights than any of the other displays out there today while the M2 does all the heavy lifting the R1 chip makes sure that it all feels realistic the chip is capable of driving imagery at a latency of 12 milliseconds or less that's eight times faster than the blink of an eye this should stop motion sickness a huge barrier to most XR systems today one of the best implemented features is the eye tracking the most impressive thing about this headset the most impressive thing is the eye tracking I'm not even kidding this this eye tracking is sick move your eyes around the UI it would immediately highlight and select exactly what you're looking at no matter how small the target was or what you're looking at cruising you're sailing through everything by just looking at things and it feels like telepathic you just look at something and select it to get the eye tracking and hand movement so precise Apple utilized LED illumination and internal cameras to track eye movements down to a t according to Sterling Crispin who was a neurotechnology prototyping researcher within Apple's internal technology Development Group The Vision Pro is a culmination of the whole industry morphed into a single product he worked on Tech that could predict if a user was going to click on something before they actually did Apple used AI algorithms to do this the R1 chip processes input from 12 cameras 6 microphones and five sensors that can see forward downwards sidewards in visual light infrared and lidar okay so it's not perfect The Vision Pro does have some drawbacks for one it's too heavy to be comfortable for long periods of time and it's not like you're going to be using it for long because it's only got a two hour battery life the power is supplied by a battery brick which goes in the pocket and is connected by a wire this short battery life is probably an indication of how intensely the chips are working under the hood and that's saying something because apple is obsessed with efficiency it is helpful that it can be plugged into a wall but what it doesn't help is the fact that it's expensive three thousand five hundred dollars so the question that a lot of people ask is why is it so expensive does Apple plan on ripping everyone off well not exactly this technology wasn't easy to design build or produce according to leaks the bill of materials cost of just the components was around one thousand five hundred dollars so even if Apple sold this device at cost it would still be three times more expensive than the meta Quest or psvr 2 and we can't Overlook the r d costs there are multiple custom Technologies in the device a custom R1 chip new display technology and a completely new cooling system this would cost Apple tens or even hundreds of billions of dollars to develop and produce also for very important context the basic Microsoft hololens 2 costs three thousand five hundred dollars and the industrial Edition costs around five thousand dollars for Apple's case the pricing is going to be a hard sell for consumers especially in this economic climate but the good news is the cost is sure to come down with future non-pro models ultimately Apple's Vision Pro and its subsequent headsets are going to be drastically less popular than the iPhone but what it will do is popularize a new way of computing so in that regard it will be the next iPhone in spirit only the human computer interaction is what I said Apple would crack when I first talked about Apple's future AI headset three years ago in my opinion a great user interface experience and good apps should be a solid enough foundation and apple could start seeing units really move by its third iteration pending macroeconomic factors of course now I could be totally wrong and even at a lower price people may need some convincing to put on a headset regularly it really is a time where all of that future technology that we dreamed of as kids is starting to come into existence it's just wild as cool as all of this is purely from a technical sense I can't help but wonder what happens in the future if headsets like this improve in size and weight is it going to contribute to the loneliness problem it could be a less prevalent but still existing new form of smartphone addiction it's way too early to tell but it's still something I just thought about so let me know your thoughts if you want to see extended thoughts on this check out the latest episode of the through the web podcast where we express our opinions in more detail okay so thanks for watching my name is Togo and you've been watching cold fusion and I'll catch you again soon for the next episode cheers guys have a good one [Music] [Music] cold fusion it's new thinking

Channel: ColdFusion

Views: 738,984

Keywords: Coldfusion, TV, Dagogo, Altraide, Technology, Apple, Google, Samsung, Facebook, Tesla

Id: l5qU2Yrq_mc

Length: 13min 55sec (835 seconds)

Published: Wed Jun 07 2023

Reddit Comments

[u/Stefan_S_from_H]

The title is a bit misleading. The comparison is not on device level, but on how they are both breakthrough devices.

[u/lachyBalboa]

How much were the first gen iPhones and iPads, adjusted for inflation? The starter price on the Vision seems steep (considering the insane tech it’s not surprising though). Surely it will get cheaper over time?

Here’s the thing though, down the line having one of these could replace your 4K TV, computer desktop displays, maybe even your tablet or computer to some extent depending on power and software support.

No way I could afford the first model Vision Pro at that price. In years to come, maybe when there’s a mid-range Vision, Vision SE or what have you, I’d be very tempted.

[u/OVO647]

No iPhone costs 3500 lower the price than maybe possible