You have to be a real techie to love Apple’s Vision Pro.
First, you can barely move your head while using a virtual reality headset and have to start all over again.
And your eyes and hands are doing almost all the work.
I was among the hundreds of people who lined up before sunrise on Friday outside Apple’s New York flagship store on Manhattan’s Fifth Avenue for the launch of the company’s futuristic $3,500 gizmo.
Once inside the crowded showroom, I signed up for a Vision Pro demonstration (open only to those 13 and older). For this demonstration, we had to fill out a detailed vision questionnaire considering that we cannot wear glasses with the headset.
People who wear glasses need to have their power measured with special third-party equipment and use optical inserts in the headset to adjust their vision.
When I finally put on the VR headset, I had to go through facial recognition and hand recognition before entering the system, and connect a series of dots by staring at a dot and tapping my thumb and forefinger three times.
From here on, I did almost everything with my eyes and fingers.
If I wanted to go to the menu, I just looked at the icon and tapped my index finger and thumb together to open it.
The same goes for photo folders.
Pinch your fingers to move or resize the image in front of you.
Every move I made was captured by the device’s dozens of cameras and five sensors.
Most of the time, you need to keep your head straight and only move your eyes, otherwise you will have to reset the headset, which can take up to several minutes.
Next, price is also an issue. The Vision Pro costs $3,500, which is about five weeks’ salary for someone making minimum wage in New York City.
And it’s also heavy. The headset is relatively heavy at 20 ounces, and the longer I strapped the gadget to my face and used it stationary, the bulkier it felt.
But one of the few times I was able to move around was in panoramic view mode, which gave me more freedom.
As part of the demo, Alicia Keys’ performance was shown in a panoramic view, very realistic and up close.
I could see her sing on one side and then turn around and see her backing performers.
The sound was just as impressive as the sharp visuals, and it felt like I was actually watching a concert.
Other immersive clips shown during the demo included footage of a man playing soccer, a surfer riding a wave, and blowing out birthday candles on a cake.
At one point, I jumped in my chair as the rhino appeared to charge straight at me.
