Apple announces new mixed reality goggles, Apple Vision

Apple WWDC

Apples annual developer conference returned yesterday with a slew of new announcements, many of which have become the expected routine from Apple. New versions of iOS, iPad OS, MacBooks and Watch OS. All pretty incremental, but it’s Apple so there are some subtly impressive new features. Finally we’ll have FaceTime on AppleTV, a fun new overlay feature for all of us stuck on Zoom & Teams calls all day long, and a feature to share contact info when close to another iPhone (which reminds me of the old Bump app from the early days of the iPhone. See everything they announced here.

So where was all the AI? In typical Apple fashion, it’s hidden away behind thoughtfully designed experiences. The new journal app uses on device machine learning to enable suggestions from your own content, and the new AirPods use ML to create seemingly intelligent, dynamic changes in spatial audio which reacts to your environment. This is exactly how technology should be and how it will continue to develop, in the background, enabling rich experiences that improve our lives without the technology being right in our faces.

Which brings us to… one more thing…

Apple Vision. I’ll admit up front that I have mixed feelings about this mixed reality device and that I’ve never been a big fan of technology headsets. I don’t even like wearing sunglasses for very long, so I might be a little biased from the start. Is the technology impressive? Absolutely! The idea of it sounds great. A 4k screen with immersive surround sound anywhere you go sounds fantastic, at least it does on paper.

Again, Apple has worked their magic with thoughtfully designed features, such as ‘dimming’ the glasses when you’re in an immersive experience and showing your eyes when you’re in mixed reality mode and are able to interact with the people and real world around you. Sight, voice commands and hand gestures are all designed to create a natural feeling experience, though I have to wonder how natural it could feel while wearing high-tech ski goggles. I also have to wonder about the incentive for Apple to release this now, especially given the lack of success with Microsoft’s HoloLens and Meta’s… (ahem) Metaverse.

Do I think that mixed reality has a future in our world? Yes I do. I don’t believe that it’s the end-all device that these companies make it out to be. I’m sure that Apple has created a great device experience and visually its most aesthetically pleasing headset I’ve seen. However, it’s still a giant pair of goggles on your face, and there’s no hiding behind that tech.

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