Apple Vision Pro Is Not The Way Forward
Apple’s newest product, the Apple Vision Pro, is yet another attempt to encourage blending the physical world with the digital space, testing the extent to which we can reconcile the two. Apple Vision Pro is a spacial computer in the form of goggles that “blends digital content and apps into your physical space.” While a pretty impressive development, this is not what people need. We need to interact with our physical space, not escape from it. Because such full immersion into the digital world goes against our human nature and also because of the cost barrier, I anticipate a modest market demand.
To begin with, people have an intrinsic need to be a part of an in-person community and this need is not properly satisfied by computers. We have seen that during COVID lockdowns when anxiety, depression, and suicide rate skyrocketed. We had Zoom, FaceTime, and many other platforms that could “virtually connect” us with others and still, that was not enough. According to the American Psychological Association, being lonely can make a person physically ill and severely depressed. Even people who are more introverted rely on their family or other group membership when they need help. The advent of social media sought to decrease loneliness through hyper-connectivity. Yet, the number of followers/friends people have on platforms such as Instagram are known to only offer an illusion of connectivity. In reality, the person behind the profile picture remains somewhat obscured unless she gets out in the real world.
Also, the human body reacts negatively to the extended use of devices. For example, “cybersickness” is used to describe symptoms that occur when one’s senses become disoriented due to scrolling on a phone or using an augmented reality headset. These symptoms can include nausea, dizziness, eyestrain and headaches. The simple fact is that people don’t feel well when they are too connected to their devices. This is not what our bodies were built for. Listening to loud music with earbuds can ruin people’s hearing, typing at a computer for too long messes with people’s posture and artificial light interrupts people’s natural sleep cycles. To be healthy, a product like Apple Vision Pro that seeks to further tie human beings to the digital world would first need to solve this biological incompatibility, and current medical technology is not that far advanced yet.
Another barrier against a widespread use of Apple Vision Pro and similar products is the cost which could divide the world into two camps- individuals who can afford to disconnect from the real world to the extent that Apple Vision Pro promotes and those who cannot afford it, thus being forced to live real life. This is not merely a developed-developing world divide. Think about Spotify and the number of people in the US who cannot afford its $10.99/month ad-free listening feature. At the end of the day, there will always be people who will be unable to immerse themselves into the digital world and perhaps that will turn out to be better for them.
All in all, society doesn't seem to buy the hype around Apple Vision Pro and that makes sense. Some comedy videos surfaced of well-dressed oblivious people donning headsets and waving their hands nonsensically in the air as they walked through the streets. Reviewers commented that the headset is too isolating and that the design is impractical as the heavy headset weighs down the face. Time will tell if medicine advances to the point where we can neutralize the effects of melding the mind with machines, but I believe the physical world represents a unique gift from God that is impossible to properly integrate or recreate through a miro-OLED screen.
