Apple needs to sell a VR headset to people who hate VR headsets

Apple's new headset walks a fine line between isolation and intrusion.

- DAVID PRICE

Apple's announcement of the Vision Pro mixed-reality headset at the Worldwide Developers Conference 2023 was an impressive affair in many ways, from the slick design and obvious tech chops of the device itself to the high production values of the video showing them off. But the best performance of the night may have been the presenters' intricate dance to avoid the ghosts of past failures.

That's because, as usual, Apple is not the first to this market (at least in the broad sense-Vision Pro is breaking new ground in terms of some specifics). Google tried to make augmented reality a thing back in 2013 and finally gave up on its Glass project earlier this year.

Facebook is desperately trying to make the metaverse a thing and has succeeded only in making its CEO a laughing stock. And while HTC, HP, and others are no doubt making money from virtual reality headsets (fave.co/308d9oN), none has yet pushed into the mainstream or built a convincing case that VR is a cool technology for cool people.

Apple is clearly aware of that history, and it was striking how careful the company was to avoid the pitfalls that ensnared previous competitors. Google Glass owners, for example, were insulted and sometimes physically attacked by passersby who objected to being filmed without their consent, so the Vision Pro presenters did their best to avoid the merest hint of surveillance culture. The spatial video feature was illustrated with a user in their own home filming happy and cooperating members of their own family (it's odd, incidentally, how indoors the whole demonstration was); it was carefully pointed out that Vision Pro uses the outward screen to signal when a video is being shot, so you wouldn't be able to do so secretly.

The message was simple: Vision Pro is wholesome. Nobody would use this for illicit or sinister purposes. You can see the person's eyes! Everything is fine.