Apple Vision Pro Demo– Go Try It

Has anyone else done an Apple Vision Pro demo? I definitely recommend checking it out if you live near an Apple store. It took me about a minute on Friday afternoon to make an appointment for yesterday afternoon. I got there right on time, and someone quickly came out to scan my face, then sit and chat with me about the product for a few minutes while they prepped the product in the back. He told me a bit about their training and his favorite aspects of the device, then explained the basic controls (eye tracking, pinch to tap, pinch and drag to zoom, etc., and noted that the demo would follow a script.

My only prior VR experience was testing a Vive in an MS store a few years ago so I was pretty excited to see how things have progressed. I found it a bit heavy, but comfortable for the most part. Picking up the navigation and controls was very intuitive. The image, sound, and immersion was stunning; I exclaimed and chuckled a few times at how good it was.

The entertainment/photo/video stuff really stole the show. The spatial video from Alicia Keys studio was literally startling. I was not prepared to have her three feet in front of me. Ditto for a rock climbing and tight rope video. Watching a soccer match from just above the goal was thrilling, as was watching baseball from behind first base. I really hope Apple does something cool with MLS soon as a proof of concept and can quickly get other leagues on board. Super Mario Bros movie in 3D was also neat, but I am not sure if an entire viewing of something like Avatar 2 in 3D and high frame rate might not be too overwhelming. I would LOVE to have this thing on a plane.

Spatial photos and immersive panoramas were also great, but not as novel or interesting as spatial video; that demo was outstanding, but as in the launch video I have to wonder about how bizarre it would be to capture these videos right up in someone’s face, let alone using the headset. One thing I noticed with videos was that the camera was stationary or had very limited movement in all of the experiences. I’m curious how it would look with normal motion if you’re capturing video while walking. Either way, I think AVP might be the best way to view all of the photos and videos I’ve shot over the years.

I’m not sure what to make of the productivity possibilities. You just don’t get enough time to mess around with windowing or setting up your normal workflow. You basically get enough time to open a few apps, arrange the windows and resize them. I didn’t even see the keyboard or try dictation. Maybe if I had time, I could have asked to do some more with it. I am really curious to see what Apple announces for Vision OS at WWDC in June, and what developers come up with over the next year.

One thing this has absolutely convinced me to do is to buy a used Meta Quest 2 or 3 to play around with. I would definitely miss the instant integration with all of my Apple stuff, but I am still intrigued by the potential for video and for games. Maybe if Apple can come up with a non-Pro version for a third of the price I could be swayed.