The Apple Vision Pro headset has been released for online pre-orders in the US while in-store purchase is set for February 2. Though India is not on the release roadmap yet, here’s everything you need to know about the spatial computing headset from Apple.

What is Apple Vision Pro?

It’s a spatial computing headset that was announced by Apple at WWDC in 2023. The mixed-reality headset allows users to switch between full virtual reality and augmented reality.

Vision Pro operates independently, so you don’t need to pair it with another device, which in turn allows a good degree of independence. The user needs to log in with his or her Apple ID and once you’re wearing it, you’ll be interacting with visionOS, Apple’s new spatial operating system. The new OS has the flavour of iOS, making it easily relatable.

What can you do with it?

VisionOS features a brand-new three-dimensional user interface controlled entirely by a user’s eyes, hands, and voice

It’s early days for Vision Pro but if we are to discuss this in simple terms, the device offers the ability to watch films, revisit memories through the Photos app, play games and work.

Work or productivity is perhaps the most important aspect. With visionOS, you can have a desktop-like experience anywhere you go. You may wonder why it is important to work in a virtual environment. There are several productivity tasks that are done in virtual environments. Imagine a design problem popping up with a car brand in London. Instead of flying in engineers, they can handle several issues through the headset. Or an emergency medical case. Here too certain issues can be addressed without having to fly in a specialist from another part of the world. This especially helps if the issue is urgent. Then there are collaborative projects in which inputs are made by team members from around the world. There are numerous use cases that Apple Vision Pro can tackle.

You can connect a wireless keyboard and mouse to the Vision Pro if you want to get work done... if that’s what makes you feel comfortable. Otherwise, you can use the input system on the OS. There’s a three-dimensional interface and input system that you control with the eyes, hands and voice. If you are looking at an object/icon, the machine knows what you are looking at, allowing you the ability to tap it with your fingers to select or flicking a wrist to scroll. Siri can also be used to control the device.

The OS has been designed for visual computing and Apple is depending on its large pool of app developers to make meaningful apps for the device. Several months ago, Apple announced that the visionOS software development kit was available to members of the Apple Developer Programme and in July 2023 the company opened developer labs at its Cupertino, California headquarters, as well as in London, Munich, Shanghai, Singapore, and Tokyo.

VisionOS introduces an all-new platform for developers to create amazing app experiences. And with the App Store on Apple Vision Pro, it’s easy for users to discover new apps or access hundreds of thousands of familiar iPhone and iPad apps at a larger-than-life scale

There is an App Store to access all the familiar apps that are compatible with the iPhone and the iPad, besides new apps that are exclusive to Apple Vision Pro. In the press release announcing the pre-order availability Apple said: “Since visionOS leverages existing developer frameworks, more than one million familiar apps across iOS and iPadOS are available on Apple Vision Pro and automatically work with the new input system.”

The device can also act as a gateway to several games. Users will be able to play many Apple Arcade games and there are also a number of well-known Apple apps at launch, such as Safari, Messages, and FaceTime.

What can you do around video conferencing?

It’s a particularly interesting area as Vision Pro will allow you to take advantage of the power of FaceTime. Being in a digital room, you will be able to see everyone you are talking to in life-size tiles. The participant’s voice will also come from the direction of their tile because of Spatial Audio.

What happens if you are talking to someone who also has an Apple Vision Pro? The device can show participants in a ‘Persona’ or a digital representation of the user created using Apple’s advanced machine-learning techniques, meaning the Persona will reflect your appearance besides face and hand movements in real-time.

How does it change entertainment?

Spatial photos and videos transport users back to a special moment in time

Apple has been coming up with plenty of original shows for its streaming arm, Apple TV+, which is especially strong with sci-fi and psychological thrillers, besides sporting content. All these can form the fulcrum of TV viewing on Vision Pro.

There is a Cinema Environment in which you can watch shows and movies “at the frame rate and aspect ratio the filmmaker intended with immersive Spatial Audio”. It also supports 3D movies including Avatar: Way of the Water. In fact, there will be more than 150 3D titles users will be able to access.

Disney CEO Bob Iger joined Apple on stage in June last year to showcase what’s possible. In a video demo, he showed movies, TV shows, and sports on Vision Pro.

Apple Immersive Video can place the user inside the action with 180-degree, three-dimensional 8K recordings captured with Spatial Audio.

Will you be lonely wearing the headset?

It depends on whom you ask. The headset is meant for all kinds of activities and nobody is going to wear it for four-five hours at a stretch. To ensure there is no sense of isolation, there are a few features. First, EyeSight, which is Apple’s outer display that appears to show your own eyes to others like the headset is see-through. If you walk into a room in which somebody is wearing the headset, you can look at the person’s “almost-real” eyes. And if you — the user — want you can let the people or the scene before you “come through” to give you a sense of reality.

EyeSight tech on the Apple VisionPro

How about hand-eye coordination?

There is a mix of eye tracking and small-gesture hand tracking to make the VisionPro work. Gestures, combined with quick eye movements to focus on buttons or other things to click and drag, can make this a compelling device. There are no controllers and going by early reviews, you won’t miss it. The Digital Crown on the Vision Pro headset, which dials virtual environments in and out of your vision, also adjusts volume.