Kvetching the Apple Vision Pro pitch

(Initial, tweeted reactions to the Apple Vision Pro rollout ... )

This has been one small step for Apple, one decent-sized leap for augmented reality. And this is the inevitable thread of my initial thoughts about this week’s Apple Vision Pro launch …

First, kudos to Apple for leaning into AR over VR. Let this be the first of many final nails in the coffin of the metaverses & cyberspaces created by tech bros who keep seeking to isolate & disembody beings who fundamentally don’t want to be isolated or disembodied.

That said, the reporting of the launch reveals widespread misunderstandings of VR/AR definitions & differences. This will require some massive, *public* #medialiteracy pedagogy. Tech journalists should clip out this acronym key & tape it to their laptops:

Hopefully, that education effort will be rooted in forward-thinking media-studies scholarship focusing on: 1. the already-existing mixed realities of digital life & 2. how *tired* the historically flat screen interface is. In a “spatial operating system,” all reality (R) is now a screen (S)!

(Diagram in my dissertation taken from Lentini)

Because the imagery accompanying the initial marketing for this is depressingly unimaginative. All it shows is virtual screens. The ill-advised pitch: step away from your screens, put on these goggles … and look at more screens. #nothanks

I’ve seen nothing yet that shows AR imagery or digital objects that blend into & work with the proportional physical spaces. It’s certainly not worth sweating up a snorkel mask for 2 hours just to watch more trad TV.

For example: What’s “immersive” about this image? ...

Dude's sitting on a couch, watching TV. Another day in the life. Only difference is, he's wearing a diving mask.

I get it, the apps haven’t been built yet. Here’s hoping they’re more creative and showcase some thinking, well, within the box, i.e. real 3D! (See my previous critiques of performing holograms’ timid & earthbound designs.)

Also kind of amazing how much of the imagery from this launch seems to show features remarkably similar to Google Glass. (Except its far-more wearable design!) That project rightly will #haunt AR as it keeps emerging.

Then again, this delineation matters:

Importantly, maybe crucially: Apple Vision pro apparently can’t be worn with Rx glasses. Those of us with four eyes will have to buy an extra pair: custom inserts (which Macworld already reports aren’t exact). This will greatly limit shareability. (And, hey, HoloLens doesn’t have this limitation!)

Coda: Anyone want my 1st-gen HTC Vive? #free