February 17th, 2024
By Minseo Kim
On February 2, Apple's MR headset "Vision Pro" was released in the U.S. It is a product that those who have been impressed with scenes using headsets in the movie "Ready Player One" unfolding a virtual world and controlling it with only hand gestures may fall in love with. In Korea, pre-sales begin on the official website at 10 p.m. on the 19th.
MR (Mixed Reality) includes both Augmented Reality (AR), which expresses virtual information based on reality and Augmented Virtuality (AV), which shows real information in a virtual environment. Here, VR is a virtual world composed of 3D, and you can experience a complete virtual world that blocks the view of your surroundings using a headset. AR shows virtual objects added to the real world, typically described in Pokémon GO games. On the other hand, MR allows for a much richer experience than VR or AR because the real and virtual worlds are smoothly connected.
Then, what can you do with Vision Pro? As soon as you wear it, iPhone apps appear in the real world. It is possible to display several fixed virtual screens or fill the 360-degree screen. When making a video call, you can also communicate with a 3D image modeled after yourself. It is easy to communicate by looking outside while wearing Vision Pro, and others can also see the user's eyes. There is no need for a controller, so operating a device only with eyes and hand movements is also considered different from VR.
Meanwhile, Netflix, Spotify, and YouTube, which are expected to be the main platforms for Vision Pro, have said they have no intention of developing an app exclusively for Vision Pro. Regardless of the performance of Vision Pro, it is expected that sales will be small, so the need to create a dedicated app is low. Another disadvantage is that it costs $5,000 if additional features are added from $3,500, and the maximum battery life is two hours.
Experts say that it will be difficult for Vision Pro to gain popularity right away like the iPhone, which sells hundreds of millions of units a year. However, the use of MR headsets can improve the results of high-quality learning and education for surgeons, engineers, aircraft technicians, etc. There is also an expectation that the VR and AR markets, which have recently declined in popularity, will revive. If attention is paid to Apple's brand effect, other companies can also release new devices competitively, boosting the market as a result.
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