Mixed reality headsets hit the streets and everything looks like an episode of Black Mirror. The first buyer of the Apple product was greeted as a hero with cheers and applause outside the store, and people have started to interact with the real and virtual world at the same time in places like coffee shops, airplanes, the subway or on the crosswalk.
Excited for the new Black Mirror season. #AppleVisionPro pic.twitter.com/OVoty5aRJD
— Directive Creator 🍌 (@Escapation) February 5, 2024
Apple’s 650-gram headsets take up half your face and have six microphones and twelve cameras. They seem heavy when you think about wearing them for hours, but with the luxury and the number of options they have, for users who love this kind of gadget, they feel light.
Apple’s Vision Pro is not the only mixed reality product, Mark Zuckerberg recently launched the Meta Quest 3 and other similar glasses include the HTC Vive Pro. But revolutionary technology shows us a future that excites some and scares others.
The novelty raises many questions. Will we be wearing headsets like these in the future to complete every activity we do? Is reality as we know it changing?
It is still too early to answer these questions, but technological advances look set to accelerate in the coming decades.
Living between two realms
The immersive capability of these headsets means you can be present in reality while watching photos and videos from the past as if you were reliving those moments in augmented reality. You can also get ahead of work while riding the subway or relax while doing the most amazing deep meditation.
It seems that now you don’t need a bigger cell phone, TV or computer screen. Now you are part of the screen. Nor do you need a mouse, digital pen or special gloves. You just need the headsets while the movements of your eyes, fingers and voice enable the technology, which promises to revolutionize everyday life and work.
You’re probably wondering how you get this wild experience: the technology behind these headsets is passthrough video, meaning the light is blocked while the user sees a projection of the external world through a video playback on internal screens in real time. The immersive experience allows interaction with multiple digital applications, while the user continues to interact with their environment.
Love it or hate it?
A U.S. launch earlier this year, way ahead of the summer, has kept users from thinking about how hot it would be to wear them all day.
But even during the cold winter, some have grown tired of wearing them because of the weight it creates on the face and neck.
However, many buyers would risk the high temperatures and weight just to have the latest technological experience where you can open a photo just by focusing your eyes and making a few subtle movements of your index finger and thumb.
With mixed reality headsets, a screen is no longer separate, you now live through it. These devices promise to turn your world into a giant screen where you see reality and a series of other digital options that, in theory, make your life easier.
Apple’s advertising shows the gadget in offices and homes, but after paying $3500 for this “spatial computing” device (as Apple dubbed it), few want to keep it contained within their four walls, so videos of users on the streets have arrived, though this is not necessarily a positive thing.
Can you use the headsets all day?
Some users are returning Apple devices after testing for a few days due to eyestrain and difficulty using some of the options, as responses to this question on Threads show.
Post by @vicmsongView on Threads
Science has some answers that show mixed reality headsets are not as wonderful as many users expect.
Despite many loving their experiences with this technology, the use of these devices could have some negative implications. Scientists at Stanford University conducted studies and found alarming effects such as motion sickness, feelings of social isolation and visual distortions.
Field tests of behavioral and psychological effects revealed certain drawbacks related to the practicality of the technology during daily use. For example, people reported problems with eating because they underestimated the distances of objects.
“The companies making these headsets want you to wear them all day, but what are the aftereffects and how long do they last?” says author Jeremy Bailenson, Professor in the Stanford School of Humanities and Sciences and founding director of the Virtual Human Interaction Lab (VHIL). “A plausible scenario could be walking down a flight of stairs and you miss a step, or driving a car and you misjudge distances.”
The Stanford researchers recommend users of mixed reality headsets take precautions during use, take time off and avoid prolonged use of the device.
Other warnings
Tesla owners received a warning from Pete Buttigieg, U.S. Secretary for Transportation, on X. While videos of the headsets on the streets have gone viral, some include drivers of autonomous cars wearing Apple headsets with their hands at points in space away from the steering wheel.
Tesla makes it clear that drivers must have control over the vehicle even in autonomous mode. Meanwhile, Apple warns that its headsets are not designed to be used while driving. However, new users must learn about the technology and the responsibilities involved.
It doesn’t look like the world is going to change suddenly in this very moment, the price of these devices doesn’t make them accessible for everyone right now, but we can expect the future to have similar technologies in a more widespread way. Probably mixed reality headsets will come to have a status akin to cell phones or laptops, however, let’s hope that with these new gadgets, face-to-face human interaction will not be lost.
After all many may think they are still in the real world, while they get lost more easily in the virtual one.
Images: Igor Omilaev and Roméo A.