The Future of Vision Pro

[Brandon42]

I see the potential for Vision Pro. Right now it feels like the first iPhone. Quite expensive and probably limited functionality in the first release. I personally adopted an iPhone when the iPhone 3G came out. It is easy to forget that the first iPhone didn’t even have 3G connectivity or true apps and that the iPhone 3G couldn’t even take video. My point is that the Vision Pro has potential just as the original iPhone had potential. Some uses I have thought of that could exist in the current hardware or the Vision Pro v2 include:

- Color blindness correction. There are custom glasses that can correct color blindness but they are expensive and odd looking. I could see using a Vision Pro to adjust real world colors so they are perceived properly.
- Enhanced attention. The potential here is apparent to anyone who has seen the video where you count the passes of a basketball and you are so focused on that task that you miss the guy in an ape suit walking through the middle of the video.
- Home construction and DIY work. Imagine if you could see into your walls just because pictures were taken while your house was under construction. Or just look at a light fixture and pull up the information on which circuit breaker controls it.
- Precision measuring tasks. I have a laser cutter/engraver. The most tedious part of using it is placing and aligning the item to be processed. Accurate placement data from Vision Pro sensors could make such tasks instant and hands off. Or imagine hanging a painting without needing a level. Or placing the perfectly centered “Happy Birthday” frosting message on a cake.
- Infrared camera. With a few extra sensors (and probably licensing some patents) you could see temperatures. Same idea with night vision.
- Gardening. Real time plant identification. Already exists on the iPhone but AR would take it to another level.

I don’t think we will end up wearing a Vision Pro every waking minute and I think some uses will turn out to be fads but I do feel the potential is there just for us to end up with a powerful set of tools.

 

[Mr. Dee]

First iPhone lacked so much functionality that we take for granted today, but it was still way superior in comparison to its competitors at the time.

- Couldn't change the home screen wallpaper
- No copy and paste
- No third party apps, Steve Jobs recommended web apps as an alternative
- Edge (2G) only network
- No front facing camera
- Couldn't record video
- 4/8 GBs of storage
- No multi-tasking
- No GPS

Most of these deficiencies were resolved with software and hardware by the iPhone 3G.

The Vision Pro seems like a well thought out device even for version 1 but I am sure like Steve Jobs said when asked about future iPhones, we are planning the next one, the one after that and we are thinking about the one even after that.

I wouldn't be surprised if Apple is already working on rev 2 and 3 in parallel, with concepts for version 4 in planning. Physics is definitely Apple's enemy here. But I hope with innovation in materials, science, engineering, chemistries, we will have a product that will one day make a list like just did about the first iPhone.

 

[Kierkegaarden]

This doesn’t feel like the first iPhone to me. The iPhone was remarkable in 2007, but it was still limited in large part because of the lack of an App Store. Vision Pro will have an App Store on day one and sounds like it will have current connectivity technologies. It has the ability to take 3D photos and videos, which isn’t available yet on the iPhone (but I’m sure will be at some point). It connects to a Mac (and probably iPad), so it will function as a flexible mobile monitor. I don’t see limitations.

Aside from an infrared sensor, what you describe are good use cases that could be unlocked through apps.