Is Vision Pro the Future of Computing, or a Dystopian Mind Prison?

Is Apple's Vision Pro really the future of computing, or is it just a (really, really) fancy virtual reality (VR) headset?

Spoiler: It's both. The first iteration of Apple's new "spatial computing" device is a technical marvel, something that only Apple could make. It's so far ahead of the competition it's not even a competition anymore. But it is also still a hot and clunky pair of blackout goggles you strap to your head. In a way, it's a public prototype. The real version of Vision Pro is a pair of glasses that does all this and more. But even so, is this how we want computing to evolve?

"At a high level, it's underwhelming, but when you get into the details, it's very impressive. Which is odd," app designer Graham Bower told Lifewire via direct message. "It's not a 'product' in the way Apple usually releases them. It's more a possibility."

Spatial Computing

Apple's product-launch narratives are as much about what they leave out as what they put in. The Vision Pro is clearly a super-fancy VR headset, but Apple never placed it as such. Instead, it's a new computing platform, one that overlays a computer world onto 3D video of the real world around you, one which is technically astonishing. And yet you can still work on Excel spreadsheets. 

If anyone is qualified to invent a new computing paradigm, it's Apple. It made the first computer with a mouse (Mac), the first clamshell-shaped laptop (the PowerBook), and the first multitouch computer (iPhone). It also makes the only smartwatch worth using. 

But Spatial Computing isn't just a new way to interact with a computer. It fundamentally changes the nature of computers and the world around us. 

Vision Pro = Isolation

When was the last time you left home without your phone? The sense of disconnection is surprisingly deep, a kind of separation anxiety for a gadget. Except that, it's not for a gadget. It's for the sense of connection it brings and the ease of quickly distracting ourselves. And that's just a screen we keep in our pockets. 

Now imagine you are accustomed to the Vision Pro or a future version built into a pair of glasses. Everything is augmented. You see apps, remote friends, and all kinds of overlays all the time. That's a very different idea of computing. 

"A lot of people have waited a long time for this product. But it's still one step forward on the road to VR. And it's going to take until the end of this decade for the industry to fully catch up to the grand vision for this tech," Sterling Crispin, who worked on Vision Pro for Apple, said on Twitter

But while our phones feel like they connect us to the world, the Vision Pro seems to isolate us. The most common reaction I have read online is that it seems creepy. Creepy for Apple's demo dad to wear this thing and do actual work while he's supposed to be making toast for his daughter.

"I also think that the actual things people use this headset for will be things they do alone. As soon as you're interacting with someone in person, the headset is coming off. Wearing this thing at a kid's birthday party will be seen as borderline psychotic behavior," Apple watcher Matt Birchler said on his Birchtree blog. 

Apple has clearly done a lot to mitigate this, from the 3D eye display on the front to the automatic detection and revealing of people in front of the wearer, but still. This is an isolating device, even as it tries to mix the real world with the virtual. Or perhaps it will be more like the phone. 

"It is much more likely that users of this new immersive technology will look at how their lives, which often include a great deal of communication with others, will be enhanced when it is convenient, rather than replacing existing relationships with other people," Emma Ridderstad, CEO and co-founder of AR/VR company Warpin Reality, told Lifewire via email. 

AR at this level could be a transformative technology. It could make our interactions with computers and each other seamless and ambient. But it could also speed our escape into Apple's vision of the metaverse, an insular space that we populated only with things we like and which are corporate-controlled, like living in your own personal big-brand shopping mall.

Look at how people wander the street already, staring into their phones, wearing AirPods, barely aware of their surroundings, and imagine that, only with goggles. 

Or it could just end up being a way to make iPad apps float in space in front of you, a gimmicky monitor that you can wear. In which case, why not just use a Mac?