Enlarge / These mounted displays near the entrance let visitors touch, but not use, a Vision Pro. (credit: Kyle Orland)

For decades now , potential Apple customers have been able to wander in to any Apple Store and get some instant eyes-on and hands-on experience with most of the company's products. The Apple Vision Pro is an exception to this simple process; the "mixed-reality curious" need to book ahead for a guided, half-hour Vision Pro experience led by an Apple Store employee.

As a long-time veteran of both trade show and retail virtual-reality demos , I was interested to see how Apple would sell the concept of "spatial computing" to members of the public, many of whom have minimal experience with existing VR systems. And as someone who's been following news and hands-on reports of the Vision Pro's unique features for months now, I was eager to get a brief glimpse into what all the fuss was about without plunking down at least $3,499 for a unit of my own.

After going through the guided Vision Pro demo at a nearby Apple Store this week, I came away with mixed feelings about how Apple is positioning its new computer interface to the public. While the short demo contained some definite "oh, wow" moments, the device didn't come with a cohesive story pitching it as Apple's next big general-use computing platform.

Enlarge (credit: Getty Images / Apple / Benj Edwards )

The recent launch of the Apple Vision Pro mixed-reality headset has inspired a number of social media stunts, including a viral video of someone wearing the headset while piloting a Tesla Cybertruck set to self-driving mode. On Monday, this prompted US Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg to issue a warning on social media, reports BBC and The New York Times .

"Reminder—ALL advanced driver assistance systems available today require the human driver to be in control and fully engaged in the driving task at all times," Buttigieg wrote on the social media platform X.

The Apple Vision Pro's mixed-reality features combine elements of stereoscopic VR with camera passthrough so users can see the world around them while they use the device. This has led to people experimenting with wearing the goggles while walking around in public and filming the results for TikTok and YouTube.

Enlarge / Apple's Vision Pro headset. (credit: Samuel Axon)

When it jumps into a new market for the first time, Apple has a long history of releasing intriguing first-generation devices, followed by second- or third-generation revisions that realize the full potential of the original idea. Examples of this phenomenon include the second-generation iPod, which expanded compatibility beyond the Mac; the iPhone 3G refresh that increased cellular data speeds and ushered in the App Store; the 2010 MacBook Air refresh that switched to all-SSD storage and defined the template for the modern laptop; and the long-lived iPad 2 , which did most of the same things as the first iPad but in a much faster and lighter package.

Apple is already working on a next-generation version of its Vision Pro headset to address early complaints about the as-yet-unreleased first-generation model, according to Bloomberg's Mark Gurman. The headset's roughly 1-pound weight has apparently "caused neck strain" among some testers, and Apple allegedly sees the not-yet-finalized optional top strap as an imperfect solution to the problem. Apple also wants to reduce the device's size along with its weight.

Apple is also considering changing the way that prescription lenses are built into the headset. The initial version will use interchangeable Zeiss lenses that attach to the headset magnetically, but next-gen versions could have prescription lenses built-in during manufacturing.

Enlarge / What the Golf? , a popular Apple Arcade game, running in shared 3D space with other visionOS applications. (credit: Unity)

Starting today, some developers can use the popular software Unity to make apps and games for Apple's upcoming Vision Pro headset.

A partnership between Unity and Apple was first announced during Apple's WWDC 2023 keynote last month, in the same segment the Vision Pro and visionOS were introduced. At that time, Apple noted that developers could start making visionOS apps immediately using SwiftUI in a new beta version of the company's Xcode IDE for Macs, but it also promised that Unity would begin supporting Vision Pro this month.

Now it's here—albeit in a slow, limited rollout to developers that sign up for a beta . Unity says it is admitting a wide range of developers into the program gradually over the coming weeks or months but hasn't gone into much detail about the criteria it's using to pick people other than not solely focusing on makers of AAA games.

Enlarge / Product photography of the Google Glass wearable. (credit: Google)

Google's head of operating system and software platforms for augmented and mixed reality devices, Mark Lucovsky, has left the company after months of turmoil for the company's mixed reality projects and staff. He publicly announced his departure in a tweet on Monday:

I have decided to step away from my role at Google, where I was Senior Director of Engineering, responsible for OS and Software Platform for AR and XR devices. The recent changes in AR leadership and Google’s unstable commitment and vision have weighed heavily on my decision.

It's unclear exactly which leadership changes he's referring to, but it seems possible or even likely that he's talking about the recent departure of Clay Bavor, who had led Google's XR work since 2015. Bavor left the company in March of this year.

Google was one of the pioneers of mass-market AR when it piloted Google Glass with developers in 2013, but things have been rocky of late. The company killed Glass, brought it back as an enterprise-only product, then killed it again . Rumors swirled that the tech giant was working on a new AR product called Project Iris , but it was reportedly canceled this year amidst a wave of company layoffs.

Enlarge / A Google video promoted AR's translation potential with these normal-looking consumer AR glasses a year ago, but Google's reportedly quit developing AR specs. (credit: Google/YouTube )

Google has reportedly scrapped plans to release a pair of augmented reality (AR) glasses. The cancellation of the gadget, reportedly codenamed Project Iris, marks the third time the company's supposedly thrown in the towel on AR glasses. The most recent specs were expected to become Google's second foray into consumer tech and feature a more mainstream-friendly appearance than Google Glass.

In January 2022, the rumor mill churned out its first details on Project Iris , thanks to a report from The Verge citing anonymous sources "familiar with the project." Iris was reportedly wireless with external cameras and left heavy graphical processing duties to the cloud.

Last year's report also described prototypes in development as being ski goggle-like, but Business Insider's report Monday claimed that those prototypes were actually for Google's AR partnership with Samsung and Qualcomm to make a mixed reality (MR) platform. Google announced the project alongside minimal details in February 2023.

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  This is Apple’s Vision Pro headset. It looks a bit like a particularly bulky pair of ski goggles, with the materials and design language of Apple’s AirPods Max headphones. [credit: Samuel Axon ]

Today, Apple announced the imminent availability of the visionOS software development kit, which will allow app developers to begin working on apps for the company's upcoming Vision Pro mixed reality headset.

Developers will use frameworks like SwiftUI, RealityKit, and ARKit to make augmented or mixed reality apps while working with tools previously used in Mac and iOS development, like Apple's Xcode IDE, Simulator, and TestFlight.

Tools like these can be used either to develop new spatial apps for Vision Pro or to adapt iPhone or iPad apps to be used as windows within the Vision Pro's interface.

Enlarge / This is Apple’s Vision Pro headset. It looks a bit like a particularly bulky pair of ski goggles, with the materials and design language of Apple’s AirPods Max headphones. (credit: Samuel Axon)

CUPERTINO, Calif.—Going into the Vision Pro demo room at Apple’s WWDC conference, I wasn’t sure what to expect. The keynote presentation, which showed everything from desktop productivity apps to dinosaurs circling a Vision Pro user in space, seemed impressive, but augmented reality promotional videos often do.

They depict a seamless experience in which the elements of digital space merge with the user’s actual surroundings completely. When you actually put on the headset, though, you'll often find that the promotional video was pure aspiration and reality still has some catching up to do.

That was not my experience with Vision Pro. To be clear, it wasn’t perfect. But it’s the first time I’ve tried an AR demo and thought, “Yep, what they showed in the promo video was pretty much how it really works.”

Enlarge / Apple's Vision Pro headset

CUPERTINO, Calif.—After years of speculation, leaks, rumors, setbacks, and rumblings of amazing behind-the-scenes demos, Apple has made its plans for a mixed reality platform and headset public. Vision Pro is "the first Apple Product you look through, not at," Apple's Tim Cook said, a "new AR platform with a new product" that "augments reality by seamlessly blending the real world with the digital world."

"I believe augmented reality is a profound technology. Blending digital content with the real world can unlock new experiences," Cook said.

The headset, which looks like a pair of shiny ski goggles, can be controlled without a handheld controller. It solely uses your eyes, hands, and voice as an interface, and the EyeSight system lets you "control the system simply by looking." Icons and other UI elements react to your gaze, and you use natural gestures with your hands to select them—no need to hold your hands awkwardly in front of you constantly.