Apple has just released Vision Pro, a virtual-reality headset that ushers in a new era of spatial computing. It claims to blend the real and digital worlds, so users can interact in both simultaneously. Apple CEO Tim Cook says it is the company’s most ambitious product to date. Indeed, it is powerfully seductive but comes at a high price, and I don’t mean monetarily.
Imagined objects and experiences, like a ball game, an animated “Jurrasic Park” dinosaur, a new sofa for the living room, a video of a baby’s first birthday, a panoramic view of the Grand Canyon, or anything else one can dream of, are projected virtually in space in front of you, as big as or bigger than life.
Surround sound is embedded into the experience so one can enjoy movies, music videos, FaceTime calls, Zoom meetings, or take a meditative mindfulness break through sight and sound. It puts the capabilities of the computer screen and its apps before you anywhere and is controlled with a click of the fingers, voice command, or the blink of an eye.
Vision Pro is touted as having applications in educational settings and also promises a new way to work or, at least, pretend you’re doing so. It takes dictation and displays an on-screen keyboard controlled by staring at the letters and pinching your fingers or virtually touching the keys in front of you. To get real work done, it must be synced with a Mac device where Vision Pro acts as
