Apple Vision Pro priced at 25,000 yuan released, ushering in the next generation of human-computer interaction?

Apple Vision Pro released at 25,000 yuan. Next-gen human-computer interaction?

2 hours – this was the total length of the live broadcast of the keynote of the 2023 Apple Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC), with 4.839 million views on YouTube alone. The keynote began at 1:00 a.m. Beijing time on June 6th, and many tech bloggers live-streamed the event.

Apple CEO Tim Cook kicked off the event by teasing a series of new software and hardware products, including the MacBook Air 15-inch and iOS 17. The first hour and a half of the event was filled with unremarkable product upgrades, until the 1 hour and 23 minute mark, when the audience’s drowsiness was dispelled.

The Apple Vision Pro headset was officially unveiled, an iOS-specific app that displays in space in front of the wearer’s eyes. The most unique feature is that the headset has no controller and can be operated by eye, sound, or hand gestures. It supports iris unlocking and can even scan out your digital avatar.

Cook defined the Apple Vision Pro as a new type of computer that displays spatial computing capabilities. This revolutionary product is what Cook sees as “changing the way people communicate, collaborate, work, and entertain.” It also comes with a “deadly” price tag, with an initial price of $3,499, which is equivalent to 25,000 yuan and is slated to be released in the United States early next year. Are you ready to save up for the Vision Pro?

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No controller, control the interface with your eyes/voice/hand gestures

It is not a VR headset or a simple AR glasses. Apple defines Vision Pro as a “new type of computer” that enhances reality by seamlessly integrating the real world with the digital world.

Simply put, when you put on this (only) VR-like Vision Pro, the familiar iOS apps can appear in front of you with a size larger than that of a real person, and “super large font” apps seem to emerge in the physical space where you are located.

When wearing Vision Pro, users are no longer limited by the display screens of mobile phones or computers when interacting with applications. In other words, the space in front of you is your screen, and it becomes the bottom plate for displaying photos, movies, and game screens. It can also be presented around you through SBlockingtial Audio. When you use it to make FaceTime video calls or open video conferencing software, the person in the display box appears to be in the same room as you.

Video call with Vision Pro

All applications can be unfolded and stacked on the space “canvas”, and even the interface of different applications can be unfolded in the same space. You only need to turn your head to see it. If you receive a 3D image in your message, you can also pull it out of the message interface and play with it in space.

If a user is processing multiple tasks in physical space

This image is very similar to the holographic computer that often appears in science fiction movies, but instead, we need to wear the slightly bulky Vision Pro. When you think that the function of displaying an ultra-large space on the screen is available in some VR headsets on the market, Vision Pro quickly shows the side of “people have me without me”.

There is no common operation handle for VR headsets. When using Vision Pro to operate the app in front of the face, users can control the interface of Vision Pro with the “most natural and intuitive tools”, including eyes, voice, and gestures.

When operating the application with eye movements, the chart will be highlighted

In addition to the absence of a handle, the fixed headband of Vision Pro’s fabric material and the battery pack commonly seen in VR devices are also missing. The direct benefit is that it doesn’t hurt your head when you wear it lying down. Vision Pro is powered by a power cord and a mobile charger, with a maximum battery life of 2 hours.

Like many VR devices, people wearing Vision Pro can also see people and objects outside the headset. The difference is that when someone appears nearby, the other person can see the wearer’s eyes from the external screen of Vision Pro. This innovative feature is called Eye Sight.

One of the functions of Eye Sight is to use the display eyes to convey the wearer’s status to the outside world. When the user is immersed in Vision Pro, the external screen will send a clear signal to the people around you that you cannot see them. Once someone appears, it will show the wearer’s eyes to the other person to solve the problem of communication with the outside world.

Once upon a time, the touchpad on the Mac changed people’s habits of using a mouse, and the iPhone replaced the phone keys with a screen. Now, Vision Pro is defined as a “new computer” and it may also replace Mac and iPhone. Cook believes that Mac demonstrates the ability of personal computing, iPhone demonstrates the ability of mobile computing, and Vision Pro will demonstrate spatial computing. It will change the way humans communicate, collaborate, work, and entertain.

M2 and R1 dual chip configuration priced at 25,000 yuan

To achieve performance similar to a personal computer, the Apple Vision Pro requires powerful computing performance. In addition, as a wearable real-time display device, it also needs a real-time sensing system. To provide an immersive 3D audiovisual effect, it also requires display technology.

It is reported that the Vision Pro uses a MicroOLED screen with 23 million pixels, combined with a tri-element lens that makes the display screen ubiquitous, and can ultimately present videos at a resolution of 4K and output a wide color gamut and high dynamic picture. The ability of Vision Pro to control the interface with the eyes comes from high-performance eye-tracking technology completed by a high-speed camera.

23 million pixel screen

A high-precision and advanced hardware configuration also requires high-performance chips to process data. In addition to using the Apple M2 chip to ensure silent and low-temperature operation, Vision Pro also runs a specially designed R1 chip in parallel for processing real-time sensor tasks-it handles data input tasks from 12 cameras, 5 sensors, and 6 microphones and can stream new image data to the display in 12 milliseconds. This speed, which is 8 times faster than blinking, solves the problem of dynamic picture discomfort caused by the delay from the sensor to the display.

M2 and R1 dual chips on the body

If you think that the EyeSight external screen of Vision Pro’s just relies on a perspective mirror, then you are wrong. In fact, this is the 3D transparent effect formed by the double convex lens of Micro OLED projecting the correct viewing angle of the wearer’s eyes to the outside.

Viewers who stay up late to watch live broadcasts complained when they saw actors wearing Vision Pro to make FaceTime calls, “The person you’re video chatting with sees you wearing a headset and staring at two screens, which looks a bit silly.”

Soon, this idea was refuted by Apple’s subsequent demonstration. Vision Pro has used machine learning. After the user registers quickly with the front sensor, the system will use an advanced encoder to decode the neural network and then dynamically match your facial and hand movements with a large amount of training data to create a digital avatar for you. When you video chat with someone while wearing Vision Pro, they will see your digital avatar instead of the headset person blinking with “electronic eyes”.

In addition, Vision Pro is equipped with Zeiss magnetic prescription lenses, which are inserted for nearsighted people. In addition to these high-precision hardware stacks, Vision Pro also has a VisionOS operating system designed specifically for spatial computing, making it a new member of Apple’s iOS family.

In short, Apple seems to have thought of and solved all the inconveniences you can think of about head-mounted displays. The only downside exposed from the demonstration may be the cable that connects Vision Pro and the power bank, which can be seen from the front angle of wearing. But compared with the powerful augmented reality function, this is also a small flaw.

As for the price of this redefined, epoch-making new type of computer, Apple has also disclosed it: $3,499. Currently, it is about 25,000 yuan. From the price to the display function, Vision Pro is a “king of hardware” even among the current XR hardware. Whether the functions are really as shown in the demonstration remains to be seen when it is officially released.

There is still more than half a year to save money for it. Apple disclosed that Vision Pro will be launched in the United States early next year.

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