It turns out that, despite covering ground on Big Tech Little Tech episode 28, my co-host and I will continue our Apple Vision Pro discussion in episode 29. This means my notes maintain relevancy for at least another couple of weeks!

We intend to ask a previous guest on the show, Charles Radclyffe, to revisit and provide his thoughts on how Apple's AR headset affects the metaverse universe. Not only does Charles know the ins and outs of current thinking around metaverse technologies, he has an admirable collection of Apple gear. Have you read his LinkedIn series about finding "the perfect Apple laptop"?

So, my podcast notes aren't strictly history. Consider them a sneak peak into my thoughts for the next episode. I will add to them and furnish you with amendments in due course.

Apple Vision Pro

• Vision Pro is expensive at $3,499, which may eventually be more expensive in the UK. For example, the new 15-in MacBook Air is $1,299, but £1,399 in the UK.
• In the 1980s, the giant Motorola 8000X mobile phone cost £3,000.
• I passed by the window of a jewellery shop recently and saw wristwatches and trinkets that cost a lost more and do a lot less than the Vision Pro.
• The TechRadar website says the LG OLED83C24LA is the best 4K TV you can buy, and it costs £3,999.
  
  

• The Vision Pro weighs less than a pound.
• The Meta Quest 2 weighs 1.1lbs.
• The Sony PSVR 2 weighs 1.2lbs.

• Apple has a great feature called SharePlay. It may eventually introduce this to the Vision Pro with a software update.
• I don’t see it as being any more isolating than other tech gadgets, so naysayers may simply be having a field day.
  
  

Features

• The photography side is a real killer feature for me. Everyone loves the giant TV, which I think will be amazing, but this photo memory feature is straight out of Minority Report.
• Each memory includes a spatial audio recording, enhancing the immersion.
• The use case was kids playing in a room. That’s a perfect example. Naysayers talk about how people wouldn’t necessarily do that, but why wouldn’t you slip your goggles on for a moment, just like you’d reach for your phone or camera? I see other memories being graduation moments, and even journalists may start using it to create more enhanced media. Imagine a football team winning a trophy, and a few journalists are creating recordings of that moment with the Vision Pro.
• I can see software updates making it possible to export videos in a new format that can be shared on social media or on websites, or between friends and devices.
  
  

• An Offcom study says eight in 10 3-17-year-olds use messaging apps to send videos or make voice calls. The older they are, the higher the percentage. 53% use WhatsApp, 35% use SnapChat and 32% use FaceTime.
• It uses machine learning to create realistic avatars. Will it render make-up? Is it a step towards existing as a more realistic representation of oneself in a future metaverse scenario?
• I see its future application as being more of an exceptional presentation tool, rather than calls to grandma, many of whom I suspect still don’t know how to use FaceTime on a phone. This feature isn’t for them anyway. It’s interesting that Apple already says you can use FaceTime on the Vision Pro to watch a film with others.
• Guest Mode, as outlined by 9To5Mac, "will let other people interact with an Apple Vision Pro registered to someone else". Vision Pro owners can enable or disable Guest Mode, and create a password so the other person using Vision Pro can access certain apps and settings without Optic ID.
  
  

• This is where people can see a representation of the wearer’s eyes, and the wearer is made aware of someone else’s presence. I hope it's something you can turn on and off, like noise cancellation.
• An alternative, so that people don’t scare the bejeezus out of you while you’re immersed in something, might be a subtle light inside the headset that illuminates when it senses motion.

• I’m curious to see who the early developers might be: Adobe?
• If I was a museum or gallery, or university, or streaming service, I would be all over this like a rash.
• The Disney demo already showed different backdrops for the immersive environment feature. Imagine watching a film that’s been designed to change the backdrop depending on the scene you’re watching.
  
  

• It’s two hours.
• This is clearly something that’s upgradeable. New batteries will just plug in. No need to get a new headset or remove something.
• You can plug this in, so using it on a long flight shouldn’t be a problem.
  
  

My considerations

• What happens if you cry?
• How do prescriptions work for glasses wearers?
• Is the price a starting price, with more memory meaning more cost?
• New accessories market for headband types and colours.
• A Microsoft study from March 2022 said 52% of employees are open to using virtual spaces for meetings and team activities.
• Apple covered categories that mirror a Gartner study from October 2022, which breaks down metaverse opportunities like so:
  •  Gaming
  •  Digital humans
  •  Virtual spaces
  •  Shared experiences
  •  Spatial computing
  •  Tokenised assets.
• Only 2% of investors believe a metaverse is “useless”.
• You don’t say what fun is. Fun is what you notice when it’s happening.