Apple has just released the Vision Pro, a virtual reality headset that heralds a new era of spatial computing. It claims to blend the real and digital worlds, so users can interact in both simultaneously. Apple CEO Tim Cook says this is the company's most ambitious product yet. In fact, it's very tempting but it comes at a high price, and I don't mean money.
Imagined objects and experiences, such as a ball game, an animatronic “Jurrasic Park” dinosaur, a new sofa for the living room, a video of a child's first birthday, a panoramic view of the Grand Canyon, or anything else one can dream of, are displayed virtually in space In front of you, as big or larger than life.
Surround sound is built into the experience so one can enjoy movies, music videos, FaceTime calls, Zoom meetings, or take a meditative break through sight and sound. It puts the capabilities of your computer screen and applications in front of you anywhere, controlled with the tap of a finger, a voice command, or the blink of an eye.
Described as having applications in educational settings, Vision Pro also promises a new way to work, or at least, pretend you do. It takes dictation and displays an on-screen keyboard that's controlled by staring at the letters and tapping your fingers or physically touching the keys in front of you. To get real work done, it needs to be synced with your Mac where the Vision Pro acts as a virtual monitor.
Apple promises it will “change the way people work, collaborate, bring together, reminisce, and be entertained” with its “revolutionary and magical user interface.” Seeing is believing, so here's a guided tour.
Virtual reality has become real
Many at Apple have been impressed with the capabilities of the Vision Pro. It's a huge leap ahead of similar virtual reality (VR) headsets on the market, like the Meta Quest, Vive, and Oculus, in terms of capability and price at $3,500. Competing models range from $250 on the low end to about $1,000 on the high end.
As with all technological developments, it is likely to spread after newer versions appear at lower prices. Bloomberg reported that Apple expects to sell 900,000 units in its first year, compared to more than 200 million iPhones it sells.
Despite Apple's huge investment in developing the Apple Vision Pro – about 500 patents – and the revolutionary technology contained within it, it is a new tech gadget that will primarily appeal to early adopters, unlike other Apple innovations, such as the iPhone and Apple Watch, have made a difference. real in people's lives.
Playing with our minds
Apple Vision Pro effectively places an artificial interface between the user and the real world. It filters what comes in and engages three of our five senses: sight, sound and touch through the pinching motion of a finger.
God gave us our senses so that we could interact in the natural world he created. Vision Pro completely disables that. Cook calls it augmented reality, where our biological boundaries are augmented by computer-generated information and input.
While Cook has expressed concern about the isolating capabilities of virtual reality (VR) headsets, he overcomes them by changing the descriptor to augmented reality (AR). “[AR] It gives the ability for each of us to sit and be present, talking to each other, but also have other things – visually – for each of us to see. “Maybe this is something we’re talking about, maybe it’s someone else here who isn’t here but can be made to appear present.”
Apple and many of its corporate partners envision the entire family being equipped with individual headphones so they can relax together in the living room after dinner with dad doing business, mom shopping, and kids listening to their favorite games, movies, or videos. But that's not how it's going to work. They will each retreat into their separate realities.
Several studies have found that technology has increased personal isolation, leading to stress, depression, and anxiety. These negative feelings tend to feed on themselves and make people withdraw more.
In Japan it is called HikikomoriAnd severe social withdrawal, and the Japanese Cabinet Office reports that about 1.5 million of its citizens suffer from it, especially young people, the demographic of early adopter gamers and technology enthusiasts that Apple is undoubtedly targeting.
The National Institutes of Health warns that Hikikomori The trend is spreading aided and abetted by technology. It could also take the form of an “introversion economy,” as described by Alison Schrager of the Manhattan Institute, characterized by young people going out and participating less socially. It has created an epidemic of loneliness. Harvard University reported that about 36% of Americans, including 61% of young people, suffer from “serious loneliness.”
Of all the other tech devices out there, the Apple Vision Pro is the most isolated in that no one sees what you see or experiences what you experience. Even when you're on a FaceTime or Zoom call, AI-generated characters interact during the call, not your real personality.
On a cultural, social and spiritual level, we are getting closer to realizing what the late biologist E.O. Wilson: “The real problem for humanity is this: we have Paleolithic sentiments, medieval institutions, and divine technology. It is very dangerous, and is now approaching a general crisis point.”
The Apple Vision Pro is a sign of how quickly “God in the Machine” AI is advancing. It's a small step toward merging the human mind with the digital computing power controlled by technology, entertainment, and corporate tycoons. The Vision Pro is like the forbidden fruit in the Garden of Eden that was pleasing to the eye and desired to “make man wise.”
Slip into a secret AI
Apple is marketing the Vision Pro as a spatial computing device, not as integrating AI into our lives, making AI-generated virtual reality seem harmless and fun. It opens a back door for artificial intelligence and corporate powers to gain more control, as Aldous Huxley warned in his 1932 dystopian novel. Brave new world“People will love being oppressed, and they will love technologies that destroy their ability to think.”
It's no exaggeration to say there's a risk in the Apple Vision Pro. It is like a gateway drug used by drug pushers to attract people and build on the growing demand for their addictive products. Researchers have already identified the harmful effects of social media addiction. How addictive can a virtual reality device like the Apple Vision Pro be that manipulates our senses in the same way as LSD?
Michael Gartenberg, a former Apple marketing executive, told Bloomberg that this technology may be “one of the greatest technological failures ever.” The company had faced some failures before that. But Apple has packed so many bells and whistles into it and partnered with such powerful companies that many consumers won't resist, so our sleepwalk toward an AI-dominated future is accelerating.
Pamela Danziger is a market researcher who specializes in studying consumer behavior and motivation. She is the author of ten books, and shares her insights as a senior contributor to Forbes.com. As a Christian, she is one of the founders of Faith Underground. She holds an MLS from the University of Maryland and a BA in English Literature from Penn State.
