Apple has finally lived up to expectations by presenting, during WWDC 2023, the “Vision Pro”, a mixed reality headset that is presented as revolutionary. If since the announcement all the press has talked about it in these terms, this is not the case of the company, among which all the spokespersons for this conference brilliantly avoided the term.
The “Vision Pro” is thus a “space computer,” Apple claims.
impeccable communication
Meta, for example, has always presented its Meta Quest as a “VR headset”, at least that’s the description on the company’s official website. Sony’s PS VR is also a “virtual reality headset”, the same as HTC Vive or PICO.
In an interview with ABC News, Tim Cook, head of Apple, introduces the “Vision Pro” as the first platform capable of offering spatial computing.
Apple’s philosophy
A communication and marketing strategy that, in short, does not differ so much from the principles previously used by the brand. The iPhone was never really promoted as a “smartphone,” even though it has all the specs, and likewise the Macbook, whether it’s Air or Pro, is often pitted against “Windows PCs.”
It is therefore not surprising that when Apple introduces its first innovative product in many years, the company withdraws from an existing market. Each Apple product has its own identity, and the brand works to pit them against what seems to be uniform competition.
Virtual reality, or mixed reality, is not the only term that Apple has shunned: the brand has ignored artificial intelligence or even the metaverse, offering a product probably intended for professionals and above all for a price much higher than the half.
Perhaps it is also to avoid the ridicule caused by a rapid craze for a vague concept, the metaverse, now linked to the Meta brand and its virtual reality headsets.
A product that will have to convince
It is also very careful that Apple has kept the fine distance between virtual and augmented reality: without offering meetings in virtual rooms with legless avatars, but equally promising a faithful transcription of reality and a product based on “touch”.
Still, despite being a product presented with all the aesthetics we know from Apple, the Vision Pro will have to really prove its worth to justify a price tag of $3,500.
Source: BFM TV
