Apple’s vision of a virtual future
Apple's headset release pushes back against full-on VR and doubles down on the metaverse’s seemingly precarious future. With funding for the metaverse falling from $2 billion to $586.7 million in 2023, has Apple carved a strong niche among early adopters? While the metaverse is focused on immersive worlds arguably better suited for gamers, Apple’s launch videos are full of office-based imagery and people at home watching content on augmented cinema screens as big as their rooms. The brand’s partnerships with big hitters like Disney ensure they’ve got the content to back those claims up. The decision to create a headset that allows people to remain grounded in their own reality better represents the relationship between humans and tech. People were – and still are – sceptical of the idea of being completely removed from their physical reality. As such, a focus on creating digital overlays for real-world places and the use of spatial audio and spatial augmentation allows people to feel they’re in control of Apple’s headset, not the other way around. With one study finding that 77% of Americans believe the metaverse has the potential to cause serious harm to society, and 47% think addiction issues will be rife, Apple’s AR approach offers an alternative to the fully immersive nature of current metaverse tech and hardware.
While Apple's headset will be subject to some ridicule – not least because the starting price is $3,499 – it's not too hard to remember how AirPods were widely derided when they were revealed, and now they're inescapable. Apple’s Vision Pro could change the way that people think about VR and AR tech, allowing seamless integration of the digital world into the physical – causing brands and businesses globally to rethink what digital engagement with their customers looks like as it unfolds in the real world rather than a synthetic digital universe.
