A vision of the future?

Applersquos mixedreality headset was recently unveiled at this yearrsquos WWDC event Dubbed the Apple Vision Pro this device is the start of a new category for the company with a brandnew OS which hasnrsquot happened since the Apple WatchAvailability and Price The spatial computer as Apple describes it will be available early next year at a starting price of 3499 R288402 approximately It is certainly eyewateringly pricey that is until you search for comparable alternatives There isnrsquot much out there the closest is Microsoftrsquos HoloLens 2 which costs the same as Vision Pro There are cheaper alternatives but none seem as complete or even as ambitious as Applersquos deviceVision Pro will be available internationally early next year However there is no word on its availability for the Indian market Considering Applersquos newfound love for India we should see it relatively close to launch provided all the paperwork related to a brandnew device category is sorted out in time It is also entirely possible that Apple may not launch the first gen device here at all considering India is a pricesensitive market However that would be a big mistakeDespite the high price we love our gadgets and we tend to spend money based on value this device is priced well for what it is For something like the Vision Pro the percentage of people buying it would be relatively small Still numerically there are enough people in India that will be willing to fork over the 3499 taxes import duty for a chance at owning something like thisInterestingly the device is missing from the homepage of the Indian website which probably means they anticipate the upcoming paperwork will not happen in time We can only hope for the bestThe Tech For such a small device the Vision Pro packs in much tech Letrsquos start with the screens they are a pair of custombuilt MicroOLED screens with 23 million pixels Thatrsquos more than 4K for each eyeYou can insert lenses to correct for any glasses you may have The number of pixels Apple has squeezed into such a tiny space is unbelievable There is also an OLED screen in the front under the glass but it only shows a video of your eyes creating a facsimile of your face if you werenrsquot wearing the headset From the pictures and videos shown the front screen seems very unnecessary mainly because it looks more creepy than rightFor audio the device has a pair of directional speakers that analyses the roomrsquos acoustic properties and adapts the sound to match your space It can track your eye movement with LEDs and an infrared camera and you can select things just by looking at them Not to mention it uses eye tracking to simulate a realistic avatar that maintains all your facial expressions during a Facetime callThe device has more cameras on the outside as well They are used to relay the outside world to your glasses track your head movements and detect your surroundings The headset also has LIDAR which can sense depth allowing VisionPro to overlay its OS on top of the environment accurately Cameras are further used to detect hand movements so you can scroll enlarge and move things around without having to move your hands around like you are in Tom Cruise in Minority ReportInside the device houses an Apple M2 chip and a brand new Rs 1 chip that processes explicitly the input from all the cameras sensors microphones and images with a lag time of under 12 milliseconds which would be undetectable for most of us Vision Pro is made of three sections One is the main unit which does all the technical heavy lifting The second part is a lightblocking section which Apple says can be customised for most head shapes The last part is the woven band at the back that keeps the device secured to your headApplersquos new visionOS ties all of this together The OS uses the sensorsrsquo data to place things in your environment in realtime It places things like shadows under the screens and magically shows people approaching you while you wear the headset There are certain nuances that the software brings to make interaction with the device more naturalIs it a gamechanger It is true that Apple isnrsquot the first to show off mixed reality Microsoft showed theirs off in 2016 Since then they also launched HoloLens 2 as well in 2019 However Vision Pro is still a gamechanger because it is a more fully formed product something Microsoft or even Meta hasnrsquot been able to crack till now During the keynote it was mentioned that Apple had filed nearly 5000 patents for this device which is believable because Apple has been working on this for years giving us a taste of this through their existing product linesFor example Lidar in the iPhones lowpowered computer chips in their Mac lineup and Spatial Audio in the AirPods They have just combined all these technologies into a cohesive device that leverages their software Nothing out there can go toetotoe with the device and it will be a while before anything can be done to change that I would go as far as to say this is a leap forward for AR and VR just as much as the first iPhone was crucial in pushing the smartphone marketShould you consider it It comes down to utility The battery life is a measly two hours which is not even enough to watch Avatar The Way of Water whose runtime is three hours and 12 mins A movie that has been continuously publicised during the promotion of Apple Vision Pro You canrsquot use it as a screen to connect it to your Xbox Series X or PlayStation 5 for example You have to remain within the Apple Ecosystem so for gamers that is a complete nogo So Applersquos comparison of its price to a Home Theatre system was unjustified since that is not a closed ecosystemThis is however the first device and Apple needs the app developers on board first which is why this was announced at the developer conference They need games and apps and proper use cases for people to see the valueApple is still miles ahead of the competition and they have money to burn which means they are in for the long haul You will also notice that this device is called the Vision Pro which means Apple is probably developing a consumercentric device that will cut some corners and make this more affordable I could easily see the external OLED being eliminated and the glass in the visor can be removed as well They could potentially switch the M2 with the M1 for a consumergrade deviceIt is also prohibitively expensive If they want this flying off the shelf a consumer device with the range of Rs 150000 to Rs 200000 has to be created To get there would take at least another year If you are looking for a truly portable device it will probably take at least three generationsThere is also the isolation factor to consider COVID taught us how bad isolation can get Do we really need a device that will potentially kill any need for us to step out of the house How will that affect our mental wellbeing These are questions that only time and research will answerWould I buy one If I could afford it yes because I am a sucker for new tech Unfortunately the Vision Pro is completely out of my budget and I have no other utility for it right now Things that would change my mind would be the ability to stream from a nonApple external video source ie PlayStation PC Settop box and phoneIf I am going to invest that kind of money I want to use it as my screen and my audio for all my existing devices not just for my Apple devices I would also wait to see what they cook up for the consumer version of the device