The Apple Vision Pro: Apple’s Gamble on High-End Virtual Reality (and Why I Want One)

Brian Tong wearing the Apple Vision Pro (a still capture from his Apple Vision Pro unboxing video)

As I mentioned in passing in my last blogpost, I am eager to get my hot little hands on the latest Holy Grail in the world of virtual reality/augmented reality/mixed reality/extended reality (VR/AR/MR/XR): the Apple Vision Pro wireless headset, which began shipping to American consumers on February 2nd, 2024.

Alas, there is no word yet on when we non-Americans will be able to order this device, although at least one VR YouTuber, Brian Tong, has heard (via his unofficial, internal sources) that Apple is planning to expand access to the U.K. and Canada next, perhaps shortly before or during the 2024 Apple Worldwide Developers Conference, which is usually held the first or second week of June.

Brian’s YouTube channel has been full of many helpful videos about the Apple Vision Pro, including this unboxing video of a pre-release version, where he unpacked the various components in the Apple Vision Pro package like a giddy schoolkid on Christmas morning:

In an interesting move, Apple refers to this device as spatial computing, avoiding any mention of virtual reality, mixed reality, or any of the other terms which have usually been tossed around while talking about other headsets. Also, I find it quite telling that nowhere will you find mention of the now-often-maligned concept of the metaverse, especially after being embraced by numerous crypto/NFT projects which went nowhere, plus Facebook’s much-ballyhooed rebrand into Meta landing with a bit of a dull thud and a shrug among consumers. As fellow metaverse blogger Wagner James Au wrote on his blog last week:

With Meta’s latest earnings report published this week, we find out the company has now burned invested $42 billion on building the Metaverse, with little to show for that: Its metaverse platform Horizon Worlds has less than an estimated 500,000 monthly active users, while sales of its Quest VR headset line (a metaverse peripheral) remain steadfastly small.

While Wagner is certainly more pessimistic about virtual reality than I am, it’s clear that VR headsets are not exactly flying off shelves, especially when compared to the blockbuster sales of cellphones, tablets, and gaming consoles. Andrew Williams of Forbes reported last October:

Meta has sold more than 20 million headsets to date, 18 million of which were the Meta Quest 2.

The Quest 3’s predecessor was highly successful, considering VR isn’t really a mainstream proposition in the way standard game consoles are. But the market has not expanded in the way Meta clearly hoped.

Back in May, the Washington Post reported a significant proportion of Quest users were letting the headset gather dust after just a few weeks.

The somewhat tepid success of most VR/AR/MR/XR/metaverse ventures to date are clearly reasons why Apple has focused, in its usual savvy marketing campaign, on the fact that the Apple Vision Pro is intended to be a wearable personal computer (essentially, an iPad for your face). Apple has announced in a Feb. 1st news release that over 600 new apps built specifically for the Vision Pro were available to American consumers at launch, plus “more than 1 million compatible apps available on the App Store to deliver a wide array of breakthrough experiences.”

The Vision Pro the first completely new category of device launched by Apple since the Apple Watch in 2015, and many people (myself included) have been keen to see what Apple, with its history of launching well-designed products, would come up with. As I often say on my blog, A rising tide lifts all boats, and Apple’s entry into this market has the potential to shake things up quite a bit, especially since they have taken pretty much the opposite tack from Meta, by focusing on an expensive, ultra-high-end device as their first product.

And yes, I do mean expensive. On the U.S. Apple Vision Pro website, the three main models of the Vision Pro are for sale:

  • 256 GB of storage (starting at US$3,499);
  • 512 GB (starting at US$3,699); and
  • 1 TB (terabyte, or 1,024 GB; starting at US$3,899).

So the one-terabyte Apple Vision Pro of my fondest dreams and darkest desires comes out to $5,259.17 in Canadian dollars—and that’s before sales taxes!

Many mainstream media and tech news reviewers prepared print and video reviews of the Apple Vision Pro, using pre-release review units provided by the company. These reviews were embargoed until the official release of the headset in early February, when they landed in a big media splash (Apple has deep pockets to spend on advertising, and has always done excellent marketing for their products).

Brian Tong, the YouTuber whom I mentioned earlier, has put out a very user-friendly, comprehensive one-hour review video:

Nilay Patel of The Verge put out the following half-hour video as part of its extensive print review of the Apple Vision Pro, which did not shy away from talking about what he saw as some problems with the device, describing it succinctly as “magic…until it’s not.”

Joanna Stern of the Wall Street Journal (archived version) took a slightly more unusual, whimsical approach to her review of the Apple Vision Pro. Joanna wore the review unit for a full day, even taking it to out to a ski chalet and wearing it out on skis, on a closed-off bunny hill! (Something definitely not recommended, by the way; DO NOT DO THIS.) Here’s her ten-minute video, which also shows her wearing the Vision Pro while preparing a recipe, and even setting up multiple timers hovering over the different pots on her stovetop:

And yes, one of the many features of the Apple Vision Pro is that you can set up displays anywhere, as demonstrated by in this mind-bending one-minute YouTube video by Himels Tech, as he walks around his house showing off his set-up:

There are many other reviews out there, but these four video reviews between them cover pretty much all the bases, so if you watch all of them, you’re up to speed!

The eye-watering price is not the only hurdle to be overcome by whoever wants to possess one of these Holy Grail devices! Unlike every other VR headset I have purchased, I will not be able to wear my glasses underneath the face-fitting, ski-goggle-like design. So I have two options: to get soft contact lenses (which I have not worn for a couple of decades), or to buy magnetically-attached prescription lens inserts from Apple’s partner, Zeiss. According to an Apple Support article:

To purchase ZEISS Optical Inserts for Apple Vision Pro, you need a legible comprehensive prescription. Here’s the information your comprehensive prescription should contain:

Your distance correction and near correction needs, indicated separately but on the same prescription sheet. This is known as the full manifest refraction. 

An expiration date, which should not be expired.

Your date of birth, your full name, and your prescriber’s license number and signature.

Intermediate distance, task distance, or computer distance should not be part of that prescription, and contact lens prescriptions are not accepted. If you’re not sure if your prescription is comprehensive, consult an eye care provider and reference the description in this article.

ZEISS Optical Inserts are available for the vast majority of corrections, including for customers who normally use progressive or bifocal lenses. A very small percentage of people have a prism value added to their glasses prescription. At this time, ZEISS cannot manufacture ZEISS Optical Inserts based on a prescription containing prism value. If you have a prism value, it is labeled on your prescription and noted separately from sphere, cylinder, axis, and ADD values. If you’re not sure if your prescription includes prism, consult with an eye care provider.

Depending on your prescription, your vision needs might not be met through ZEISS Optical Inserts.

Annoyingly, there doesn’t seem to be any publicly-available chart to give the ranges of presecription lenses which they will support, instead asking you to fill out a form with your prescription details, and promising that they’ll get back to you as quickly as possible:

So it looks as though I am going to have to go see my eye doctor first, then submit my prescription, then cross my fingers that they will support my combination of nearsightedness and astigmatism (not to mention my need for progressive lenses!). Honestly, it all sounds rather discouraging and disheartening.

But perhaps my apprehension about the Vision Pro not working for my elderly eyes is misplaced, because even blind people are finding the device to be useful! Check out this mind-blowing YouTube Shorts video by James Rath, who tests out some of the accessibility features and settings, James says that he can actually see more clearly with the Vision Pro, than without! This device could open up a whole new use case for the visually impaired.

So, yes, I am very eager to get my hands on an Apple Vision Pro sometime this year! I don’t want to wait; I want to experience this envelope-pushing product as soon as possible. I haven’t been this excited about a headset since the Oculus Rift back in 2016. So please stay tuned as I report on my odyssey to acquire the new Holy Grail of spatial computing!

Google’s Gemini Versus OpenAI’s ChatGPT: A Comparison of Two Generative AI Tools

HOUSEKEEPING NOTICE: Yes, I know this blogpost is somewhat off-topic for a blog about “news and views on social VR, virtual worlds, and the metaverse,” but hey, my blog, my rules. 😉

Also, this is the first of what I suspect will be many blogposts about the Apple Vision Pro spatial computing headset, which I am eager to get my hands on as soon as I can! Accordingly, I have created a new blogpost category, called Apple Vision Pro. I have a second blog post on that project, which I hope to publish very soon. (This device is not yet available in Canada, and we still don’t know when it will go on sale here.)

With my recent focus on Second Life these past few months, you can expect to see a return to more varied topics on the RyanSchultz.com blog from here on in, including but not limited to the latest crop of new VR headsets and metaverse platforms. For example, you might not know that I have received a Meta Quest 3 VR headset as a test/evaluation unit for the virtual reality lab project at my university, and I have been working on a review of that device, but I’m afraid it’s not done yet!

Thank you for your continued patience as I try to find some sort of balance between my full-time paying job (which pays the bills!), this blog (which does not!), and the rest of my life (Auntie Ryan is 60 now, and she needs her beauty sleep… 😜).

Yesterday, Google announced that their generative AI tool, called Google Bard, had been renamed to Gemini, and was now finally available in Canada (The Globe and Mail newspaper provides some background on why there was a delay). So, I signed up, and immediately put it to task, asking both it and OpenAI’s ChatGPT the same question, to compare responses and see how their answers would differ.

The cost of both these generative AI services is approximately the same, at US$20 per month. I subscribed to Gemini Advanced, which gives users access to Ultra 1.0, Google’s largest and most advanced AI model, as one of the benefits of a new Google One AI Premium plan (I was already a Google One user for cloud storage, so this was an upgrade). I get to try out Gemini Advanced for two months on a free trial period, before my credit card is charged.

For my first search, I used both ChatGPT and Gemini to answer a question that I have been thinking about over the past few days:

I am planning to purchase a MacBook Pro laptop to replace my Windows desktop computer. I plan on using the MacBook Pro laptop alone, and with an Apple Vision Pro spatial computing headset when they become available for sale in Canada. What things so I need to keep in mind when I am moving from a Windows environment to a Mac environment?

(Please note, this is a question about my work setup, not my home setup…I’m planning on keeping my high-end Windows 11 PC and Valve Index VR headset!)

OpenAI’s ChatGPT

I wanted to use the latest and most advanced model of ChatGPT, ChatGPT4, which includes web browsing, advanced data analysis, and integration with the DALL-E image generation app. Unfortunately, today ChatGPT4 was not cooperating, forcing me to verify my humanness every time I submitted my query, then giving me the following error message when it did go through:

I got this message every time I tried to use ChatGPT4, perhaps because the system is overloaded?
Then, I kept getting the following error: “Our systems have detected unusual activity from your system. Please try again later.”

So, after several attempts, I gave up, and switched to ChatGPT3.5, which bills itself as “our fastest model, great for most everyday tasks.” (I should note that I use ChatGPT with the free Superpower ChatGPT plug-in for Firefox, which allows me create folders, save chats, etc.)

Here’s the response from ChatGPT3.5:

Moving from a Windows environment to a Mac environment can be a smooth transition, but there are several things to keep in mind to ensure a seamless switch:

  1. User Interface Differences: macOS and Windows have different user interfaces and keyboard shortcuts. Spend some time familiarizing yourself with macOS, including the menu bar, Finder, and the Dock.
  2. Software Compatibility: Check if the software you currently use on Windows has macOS equivalents or if there are alternative options available. Many popular software applications have versions for both platforms, but some may be exclusive to Windows.
  3. File Compatibility: Ensure that your important files are compatible with macOS. Most common file types like documents, images, and videos are interchangeable, but specialized formats or proprietary software files may require conversion or specific software on macOS.
  4. Cloud Services Integration: If you use cloud services like Google Drive, Dropbox, or OneDrive, make sure they have macOS applications or web interfaces. This ensures seamless access to your files across platforms.
  5. Learning macOS Basics: Take advantage of online tutorials, guides, and resources to learn macOS basics, such as navigating the file system, using built-in apps like Safari, Mail, and Calendar, and understanding system preferences.
  6. Security Differences: While both macOS and Windows have built-in security features, they operate differently. Familiarize yourself with macOS security settings and best practices to keep your system secure.
  7. Backup Strategy: Set up a backup strategy using Time Machine or a third-party backup solution to ensure your data is protected. macOS has built-in backup software called Time Machine, which makes it easy to back up and restore your files.
  8. Hardware Compatibility: Ensure that any external devices you use, such as printers, scanners, or external hard drives, are compatible with macOS. Most modern peripherals have macOS drivers available, but it’s always good to check before making the switch.
  9. Apple Ecosystem Integration: Since you plan on using an Apple Vision Pro spatial computing headset, explore how it integrates with macOS and any specific requirements or software needed for compatibility.
  10. Community Support: Join online forums, communities, or user groups dedicated to macOS to get help, tips, and advice from experienced users.

By considering these factors and taking the time to adjust to macOS, you can smoothly transition from a Windows environment to a Mac environment and make the most of your new MacBook Pro.

Now, compare this with the response I received from Gemini:

Absolutely! Switching from Windows to macOS can be exciting, and even smoother with the potential use of an Apple Vision Pro headset. Here’s a breakdown of key things to consider for a successful transition:

The Basics

  • Learning Curve: Expect a bit of a learning curve. The interface and overall philosophy differ slightly between macOS and Windows.

Be patient, give yourself time to adjust, and utilize resources like Apple Support for guidance. Keyboard Shortcuts: Get acquainted with Mac shortcuts. The Command key (⌘) replaces the Windows Ctrl key for many core shortcuts (e.g., Copy = ⌘+C, Paste = ⌘+V). “Right-Click”: Macs have a few ‘right-click’ methods: Ctrl-click, two-finger click on a trackpad, or clicking the right-side of an Apple mouse. Finder: This is the Mac equivalent of Windows Explorer. It’s your primary tool for navigating files and folders.

Ecosystem & Software

  • Apple Ecosystem: Macs shine within the Apple ecosystem (iPhone, iPad, etc.). Features like AirDrop (seamless file transfer) and Handoff (continue tasks across devices) integrate beautifully.
  • Software Compatibility: Most major software has Mac versions (Office, Adobe Suite, etc.). But always double-check if you rely on specialized Windows apps – you might need to find Mac alternatives or explore remote desktop solutions.
  • iCloud: Apple’s cloud storage is deeply integrated with macOS. It’s great for backups, syncing files across devices, and photo/document storage.

Hardware & Connectivity

  • Ports: MacBook Pros primarily feature Thunderbolt/USB-C ports. Get USB-C adapters if you have peripherals that use older USB-A or HDMI connections.
  • Touchscreen: While Macs don’t generally have touchscreens, many gestures become intuitive on the trackpad. The Apple Vision Pro may introduce a significantly different touchscreen-based interaction model with macOS.

Preparing for Apple Vision Pro

  • System Requirements: Be sure to check the requirements for running Apple Vision Pro. It’ll likely need a powerful MacBook Pro model for optimal performance.
  • Spatial Computing Workflow: Concepts like using apps “around you” in space or hand gestures will be part of spatial computing. Begin thinking about how these interactions will change your usual workflow.
  • Developer Resources: If you’re interested in developing for Apple Vision Pro, keep an eye out for Apple’s SDKs (Software Development Kits) and development resources.

Useful Resources

Additional Tips

  • Data Migration: Apple’s Migration Assistant can help transfer files and settings from your PC.

Trial Period: If possible, try a friend’s Mac or spend some time with one at an Apple Store to get a feel for the environment before purchase.

Let me know if you’d like a deeper dive into any of these areas or have more specific questions!

One difference which I noticed immediately is that Gemini integrated Google Search results into its answer. When it did this, it highlighted the text, and provided a link to click through to the Google Search result referred to (see the red arrows in the diagram below):

Interestingly, in one case, there was a link, but no Google Search result! (And, since the Apple Vision Pro has its own CPU and GPU, I would think that you could use any MacBook Pro model without issue.)

And, as you can see in the full response I quoted from Gemini, it even went so far as to give me a direct link to an Apple support document on how to transition from Windows to macOS! (Plus, another Google Search result, a second Apple support document talking about Apple’s Migration Assistant, a potentially useful service which I did not know about.)

Comparing the ChatGPT3.5 and Gemini responses, I found the former to be much more general and less helpful overall, than the latter. This reference librarian also dislikes how ChatGPT just spits out an answer, without telling me the sources of the information.

Also, Gemini had a feature I had never seen before in ChatGPT: the ability to see successive interim drafts of its answer! For a follow-up question, I noticed a Show drafts link which, when clicked on, allowing you to switch between three drafts of the answer to see how they differ from each other.

Anyway, for this question at least, I am going to award Gemini the win (which might not be fair, as I wasn’t able to use ChatGPT4, which might have been a fairer head-to-head comparison). Then again, if ChatGPT is struggling with performance issues due to too many users, maybe that’s a serious problem that OpenAI (backed by Microsoft) needs to address. It’s definitely a factor to take into consideration when comparing the two services (and yes, eventually Gemini, too, could become overloaded).

I will continue to kick the tires on both Gemini and ChatGPT3.5/ChatGPT4 over the next few months, and then I will probably decide to cancel one of the two subscriptions, since I honestly cannot see myself shelling out US$40 a month for two services that essentially duplicate each other. Stay tuned!

My Presentation on Virtual World Building in Second Life (Delivered to a University Course on Virtual World Building and Design)

As I mentioned, shortly after my sixtieth birthday, I gave a one-hour presentation on Second Life, in Second Life, to a graduate class in virtual world building and design, currently being taught at my university (first blogpost; second blogpost).

I am happy to report that my presentation was very well received by the students! It was followed by a “field trip” to a separate building region to practice some old-world prim building for an hour, and I was quite impressed by what the students were able to come up with in such a short period of time. (And no, you don’t get to see any of it; I have set up the short-term rental so that only students taking this class can access it, build on it, and yes, even terraform it, to their hearts’ delight!)

Here is my PowerPoint slide presentation from my Second Life lecture given the evening of January 31st, 2024, minus the final slide where I gave the students all the different ways that they could get a hold of me! (Sorry, blog readers, all you get is the comments section on this blog post! I’m gonna have my hands full supporting an entire class; I don’t have time to support all of you, too!)

Just click on the download button to save a copy to your hard drive, to view in your version of PowerPoint (or export to Google Slides or whatever you do use to view slides):

Building-Virtual-Worlds-Presentation-on-Second-Life-6-Feb-2024Download

After consulting with the two professors teaching the course, we have decided to extend the rental on the building region for the class to the end of this term, so that any students who wish to complete a 3D building assignment for the course can do so in Second Life. (Note that students are exploring many different virtual world platforms, both 2D and 3D, including some in virtual reality, although the latter is limited by technical constraints, i.e. the number of VR headsets available to use.)

So my role for this graduate-level course is not yet complete! In addition to delivering a lecture on Second Life, and a demonstration of how to use the in-world building tools, I will now also be the Second Life resource person for the class until mid-April, as the students apply what they are learning in this virtual world design class to an in-world building project!

I have told the class that, if I do not know the answer to their questions and problems, I should be able to find somebody who can answer with authority. So don’t be too terribly surprised if I do reach out with questions about, say, how to beat optimize a mesh model created in Blender for uploading to Second Life—because yes, in my presentation I do cover both the old-fashioned prim-building and the more modern mesh way of creating content (as detail-free and hand-wavy as the latter is!). Trust and believe, I had to do a bit of research myself to write that particular part of my presentation, since I am more of a freebie fashionista than a content creator.

I did set up a comparison of some older, prim-built furniture (to the right in the pictures below) with more modern mesh model furniture (to the left), so students can inspect them and compare the land impact of them.

For example, the grey-and-red metal swivel desk chair on the right (in front of the big grey desk) has a land impact of 39 (?!), whereas the wooden chair in front of the desk on the left has a land impact of only 2, while containing much greater and finer detail than the prim-built version. And so on, with all the other pieces. What better way to demonstrate the impact that mesh content creation has had on the grid than to show both old and new items, so students can directly compare?

I also put out a circa-2003 house side-by-side with a circa-2023 house, so the students could see how far that art of domicile building has come in 20 years!

So, anyway, back to the graduate class. I expect a few panicky moments when I will definitely be reaching out to the true Second Life experts, all of you, my faithful readers, to help me get through these next few months—especially on the finer points of modern mesh modeling and uploading! (Pray for me.)

Editorial: Turning 60

It wasn’t until I received an early-morning text message from my brother in Alberta that I remembered: holy shit! This morning at 6:00 a.m., I officially turned sixty years old.

I consider myself a fortunate man on this milestone birthday: not only do I have power, water, sewer, and broadband, a roof over my head, food on my table, and a nice new car to drive (all paid for by my full-time job as a science/agriculture librarian), I also get to work on a virtual reality lab project for my university library system (more on that below), and I even get to lecture about my beloved Second Life to a university class!

I mean, c’mon now. Having been through rough and even truly horrible times in the past, I am now wise enough to realize—and appreciate—when the good times do happen. Enjoy them while you can, because they are often fleeting! My single piece of wisdom to impart to all of you reading this is: Appreciate. The. Moment.

As I mentioned in a previous blogpost, I have been invited to give a lecture on Second Life for a graduate-level virtual worlds building and design course being taught this semester at my university, co-taught by a computer science professor and an interior design professor. I have been quite busy trying to put the finishing touches on my presentation, which I will be delivering in Second Life to the students, all of whom will be represented by Second Life avatars.

Doing a test run of my presentation
My professional librarian avatar, named Notecard Writer, dates back to 2007 (and if you think that I actually look like this at age 60, I have a bridge in Brooklyn to sell you! 😉 )

For the course, I have rented an entire Homestead region (256 square metres), with full build and terraform rights, where the students can practice their virtual world building. The rental is currently only for three weeks, but it can be extended if any students wish to work on a building project in Second Life for the course.

Here’s a sneak preview of the region; it came pre-landscaped by the landlord, and much of it I have kept as-is, but I have also worked to terraform a large, flat space for building projects (located in the foreground of this picture). I do have a small area where I will demonstrate just how much content creation has changed in Second Life over the 20 years of its history, with examples of houses and furniture from basic prim building to highly detailed mesh models! 

Some Second Life land with full build and terraform rights, for the use of the students taking the Virtual World Building class I am lecturing (and yes, I made the spiky peak to the far right; I haven’t had an opportunity to play around with the Second Life terraforming tools in such a long time!)

As for the virtual reality lab project, the project is moving ahead slowly but surely. I am one member of a committee of people working to move the project forward (my role is to specify VR and AR hardware and software for the lab, to support the use of VR/AR/MR/XR for faculty, staff, and students in their teaching, learning, and research). At the moment, we’re focused on room renovations to the chosen space for the lab: walls, floors, lighting fixtures, etc.

Depending on when the Department of Computer Science sets up their VR lab (I’ve heard that they are ordering a bunch of Meta Quest 3s), the Libraries’ XR Lab will be either the second or third such lab on campus, after the School of Nursing, which is now regularly using VR to train student nurses (more info here in a Mastodon post I made about that project).

So, at the ripe old age of sixty, my passionate hobbies (virtual worlds, and virtual reality) are actually intersecting with my paying job! I know how lucky I am to have these opportunities, and I do not take them for granted.

Now, I have to go—I’ve got two different Libraries training sessions to deliver today, one this morning and another this afternoon—but I just wanted to write this blogpost to let you all know that I’m still here, still blogging, and once my work for this course I am involved with winds down, I will once again be writing “News and Views on Social VR, Virtual Worlds, and the Metaverse,” as the tagline for my blog states. And not just about Second Life, but all the metaverse platforms I can find!

Here’s to another sixty trips* around the sun! Woohoo! (Well, okay…maybe 20? 30?? 40?!?? 😜)

Photo by NIPYATA! on Unsplash

*Actually, it’s sixty-one trips around the sun, so far!