# Apple Vision Pro review: A Look at the Extended Reality (XR) Device
In 2000, Paradox Press published “Reinventing Comics: How Imagination and Technology Are Revolutionizing an Art Form,” a book written by Scott McCloud that followed his seminal 1993 work, “Understanding Comics: The Invisible Art.” The latter explored the history and visual language of sequential art, while the former found the medium at a crossroads due to new technologies that threatened to upend print media.
Scott McCloud coined the influential term “infinite canvas,” which refers to the concept of telling a comic story that can be displayed on any monitor simply by moving across its surface inch by inch. Over the past eight months, the term has been rekindled by Apple with the launch of their new $3,500 headset, Vision Pro. This headset creates an infinite canvas for apps, scaling beyond the boundaries of a traditional display, introducing a fully three-dimensional user interface controlled by the user’s eyes, hands, and voice.
The Vision Pro’s “spatial computing” aims to go beyond the traditional monitor. This product serves as a reaction to the smartphone’s multitasking problem, offering an infinite desktop that has the potential to revolutionize multitasking in the future. The core of spatial computing lies in its ability to make multitasking more efficient and is potentially the future of the Mac.
The Vision Pro unit operates both as a standalone computing device and an extension of the Mac, offering users the ability to pair a Magic Keyboard and Trackpad, thus reducing the need for a MacBook for certain tasks. It also serves as a 4K Mac virtual display and facilitates a multi-monitor setup through a virtual version.
The company also emphasized that the primary modes of interaction with the Vision Pro interface are through eye, hand, and voice commands, offering a more organic approach than traditional controllers. However, hand tracking requires an external light source, presenting a potential drawback for users in certain settings.
One of the standout features of the Vision Pro is its “passthrough” technology, which uses front-facing cameras to capture an image of the world around the user in real-time. While the passthrough is impressive, it presents some limitations, such as distortion and a 12-millisecond latency, which could cause discomfort for users.
The Vision Pro also offers “Environments,” providing users with immersive 3D spatial landscapes, such as the moon, Yosemite, and the edge of a Hawaiian volcano, leading to a genuinely serene experience. Apple announced that the device would launch with over 600 optimized apps and games, setting the stage for the future development of content for the unique XR form factor.
Despite its promising features, the Vision Pro has received mixed reviews, with reports of limited battery life and issues related to simulator sickness. While it represents a significant step forward in extended reality technology, it still requires various improvements to reach its full potential.
Looking ahead, Apple’s focus on enterprise applications for the Vision Pro, such as performing surgery in AR or visualizing a 3D map of a wildfire, could prove to be a more lucrative market. As the first wave of consumer extended reality, the Vision Pro represents an important first step, and continuous progress and updates are crucial to its success.
In conclusion, while the Vision Pro offers glimpses of truly transformative brilliance, it also reveals areas for improvement. With initiatives focused on refining its features and expanding its ecosystem, Apple’s extended reality endeavor is still in its early stages, laying the
