Apple’s new augmented virtual reality ‘toy’

Apple introduced its first “mixed” reality headset (virtual and augmented), called VisionProa field in which the iPhone manufacturer has been expected to appear for years and which is currently dominated by Meta (Facebook, Instagram, Quest).

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“Blending digital content with the real world will allow us to create new experiences like we’ve never seen before”, Apple CEO saidTim Cook, presenting this “revolutionary new product”which resembles ski goggles.

The new device, which is not wireless, unlike recent models like Quest (Meta) or Vive (HTC), was presented at Apple’s annual developer conference in Cupertino, Calif.

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Users will be able to enter parallel universes (meditative landscapes, personal videos, video games, video conferences, among others) and choose the degree of immersion by means of a button that allows adjusting the augmented reality screen (superimposition of virtual elements on reality) to virtual reality (total immersion). “Vision Pro is a new type of computer that enhances reality by seamlessly blending the real and the digital”summarized Cook.

“Apple expected to launch a product that was more like glasses than a gaming headset”Yory Wurmser, an analyst at Insider Intelligence, recently commented. “But it looks like they’re going to unveil something bigger (and probably more expensive), because they want enthusiasts and engineers to use it and start building an ecosystem of apps.”, before designing lighter and cheaper devices for the publiche added.

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At present, virtual reality is dominated by Meta its brand glasses Quest represented more than 80% of the market at the end of 2022according to Counterpoint, a company in charge of offering point-of-sale and inventory management systems.

Last Thursday, June 1, the head of the group, mark zuckerbergintroduced a new device, the Quest 3, the “first consumer device with high-resolution color mixed reality”which will start selling for $500 in the United States between the months of September and December 2023.

At the end of 2021, Facebook became Meta with the idea of ​​becoming a company in the metaverse, described by Zuckerberg as the future of the Internet, after the web and mobile. But the social media giant’s efforts have so far failed to translate into significant adoption by the general public.

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AFP