- Exclusive
- Technology
- Virtual reality
How Apple chief Tim Cook wants you to use the new Vision Pro mixed-reality headset
By Trevor Long
Apple hopes its mixed-reality Vision Pro headset will help convince the public to pick up a new style of computing, and give the iPhone-maker a chance to make its mark in the post-mobile phone era.
It’s Apple’s new big thing, its first big bet in almost eight years – since it launched the Apple Watch – and it goes on sale in Australia on Friday.
The Vision Pro – a pair of space-age ski goggles that serves as a lightweight computer attached to your face – may be a first-generation product, but Apple boss Tim Cook is excited by its potential.
Apple CEO Tim Cook at the company’s Worldwide Developers Conference in Cupertino, California, last month.Credit: Bloomberg
Cook says spatial computing could fundamentally change our relationship with computers and how we use them to interact with the world.
“Just like the Mac ushered in personal computing, and the iPhone ushered in the modern mobile computer, the Vision Pro is ushering in spatial computing,” he said.
But “spatial computing”, Cook acknowledges, is at best still a concept to most.
“Spatial computing is a big idea that you can see here and interact with your digital content right in your physical space,” he said.
Apple’s Vision Pro was announced in June last year and went on sale in the United States in February. Since then, Cook has been encouraged by the strong take-up of the device from developers, as well as what the Vision Pro offers to the business community.
“I’ve been pleasantly surprised at the number of use cases in enterprise because that population typically moves at a slower pace. And I like what I see there,” he said.
“Over half of the Fortune 100 have now bought Vision Pro and are using it for this wide variety of cases.
“I’m seeing things like design collaboration. I’m seeing things like field service, helping people repair things that they’re not repairing on an everyday basis. I’m seeing education, I’m seeing surgeons use it for pre-op. I’m just seeing this extraordinary number of cases, and generally, companies move much slower, and I couldn’t be more pleased than what I’m seeing.”
Apple Vision Pro mixed-reality headsets.Credit: Bloomberg
When products such as the iPad launched, it took some time for business and education to follow the strong consumer trend towards the devices. But Cook reckons it could well be the opposite with Vision Pro.
With Australia in mind, Cook is quick to point out some Australian app developers working on Vision Pro, including Melbourne 3D augmented-reality modelling app Jigspace.
“They’re doing some incredible work. They were one of the original app developers, so they got in really early,” he said.
‘Over half of the Fortune 100 have now bought Vision Pro and are using it for this wide variety of cases.’
Tim Cook, Apple chief
“You can see and understand things like a Formula One car. You can see things like a jet engine and take it apart. This is an incredible way to learn and understand, and something you can’t really do on a flat 2D screen.”
Jigspace co-founder Zac Duff has been watching the direction of Apple with this style of product for more than a decade.
“They [Apple] announced an AR [augmented-reality] kit in 2017, and that was like the software development kit that used the single RGB camera [which captures visible light and colour information] to do convincing tracking, and you could put 3D into the world,” Duff said.
“That was the first time that they said, ‘This is what’s coming next.’
“But before that, you can look back at their acquisitions all the way back to almost 2011-12. They started doing stuff around Vision Pro, like biometric tracking and reading for eyes. They started doing computer vision 2015, they acquired Mateo, that became the basis of AR kit. So you could kind of see this progression of acquisitions and then the announcements that led to it.”
Thinking back to the 2017 launch of the software interface Apple calls an “AR kit”, Duff said: “We just knew from that point, we want to be right at the front of this because something has to be launched. Apple doesn’t do something like this unless they’ve got 10 years behind it and 10 years in front of it.”
Duff was humbled – yet bullish – to have Apple’s boss mention his company by name.
“To be recognised is awesome but … we know what we do is world-class. And I think it’s one of those things that we have no problems at all saying that world-class companies are built in Australia, in bleeding-edge technology.”
Other potential boom areas for Apple with the Vision Pro are entertainment and gaming.
“It delivers stunning entertainment, and it’s really tough to go back to the flat screen after you experience it to be honest,” Cook said.
Another Australian company to get a callout from one of the most powerful men in technology is Halfbrick studios – the maker of Fruit Ninja.
“Super Fruit Ninja was also one of the original games on Vision Pro, so as you know, the developer community in Australia is very vibrant, very creative, and we couldn’t be happier than to bring the product there and open it up to even more developers,” Cook said.
Halfbrick released the addictive smartphone game, Fruit Ninja, in 2010, and its founder and chief, Shainiel Deo, says hearing this from Cook is hard to believe.
“I still have to pinch myself because … we came from really humble beginnings, and we had to sort of scrape and sort of save and fight our way to the top. And to finally get there, it’s still hard to believe.
“To know that we’re held with such high esteem and that our name is thrown around in, I guess, the upper echelons of these companies, even today, I still can’t believe it, but I’m super thankful for the opportunities that we get.”
While plenty of people are doubting the Apple Vision Pro’s potential, Cook finds support among his developer community.
Deo describes the first year or so as “just baby steps”.
“Anytime you see these revolutionary bits of hardware come out, it’s like a blank canvas, and the extent of that canvas is unknown … It’s up to guys like me and fellow developers to sort of explore that and see what we can do. And I think it takes time,” Deo said.
So, will the Vision Pro be a hit as it launches in Australia? Deo says we might need to be patient.
“I think over the next year or two, we’re going to start to see some of those killer apps that come out, that really define why you need to have this hardware and why it’s going to become an important part of our lives.”
Fruit Ninja is an Australian-made smartphone game favourite. Credit:
Early reviews from the United States had high hopes for the headset, but there were plenty of questions about where the Vision Pro fits into our lives.
I told Cook that while I thought the Vision Pro was the most remarkable bit of technology I had ever used, I didn’t know why we needed it. His recommendation to Australians who buy the Vision Pro: be curious.
“I would be curious and try a bunch of different things,” Cook says. “I would watch some of my favourite content, whether it’s Apple TV-plus, but you may be looking at, ah, some of the other great content out there.
“I hope that you’re looking at some of the immersive video that we’re providing and experiencing that because there will be more of that coming along the way.”
He advises users to try doing normal things, such as browsing the internet or emailing, to find out whether it’s for you.
“I hope that if you’re using a Mac, you use it as a virtual display because the idea of having this virtual display is huge.”
Apple Vision Pro goes on sale on Friday in Australia with a price starting at $5999.
Trevor Long travelled to Cupertino as a guest of Apple.
The Business Briefing newsletter delivers major stories, exclusive coverage and expert opinion. Sign up to get it every weekday morning.