Agree with you partially. Ofc there may be tons of use cases we cant really predict initially, and once the technology is there, we start finding different ways to apply this new technology. BUT! VR/AR arent a new thing. We have seen Google Glasses and how the project was virtually dumped because the technology generated more problems than solutions. Even if Apple has the best interface possible, the best hologram display technology, a battery life out of this world, and performance beyond anything else on the market, glasses are something you put on your face in front of you eyes. It is not a watch you can hide under you sleeve or a phone you can put in your pocket.
Can Apple put the iPhone functionality into a slim-framed glasses with invisible screen that you can control with gestures in the air? I think we are still a few years away of having any such technology.
Saying VR/AR isn’t new is like saying the iPhone wasn’t something new. There were many failed attempts at making a smartphone but Apple succeeded in making it ubiquitous because it took the correct approach.
Google Glass failed because Google failed to realize a) the privacy implications b) the fact that smart glasses should be regarded as a fashion accessory first, not a piece of tech that you wear on your face and c) that it wasn’t all that useful because it was just a little screen in your peripheral vision.
Apple understands privacy. Apple Glasses won’t have a camera. They’ve shown that much with their aggressive integration of LiDar into their product line. LiDar provides the necessary data to map the real world without the need for a camera.
Apple understood the fashion point when they created the Apple Watch. It’s not a smartphone that you wear on your wrist. It’s a beautiful fashion accessory that brings technology to your wrist without looking like tech. Apple Glasses will not look like a piece of tech, they’ll be lustworthy accessories that you will
want to wear on your face like you want to wear a cool pair of sunglasses.
And finally, Apple has shown that they understand how AR can be useful by overlaying information on the real world, not just putting a screen on your face.
VR is only a stepping stone towards building out the feature set for AR glasses so that they’re useful when they come out. Like LiDar, Apple has been building the necessary tech for their glasses into other products and now they need the apps. A VR headset will get the developmental ball rolling.
The fact that they’ve spent years in advance building on the idea of AR as a side project on iPhone andiPad before launching a product shows that they know they have one shot at this.
