A new IT revolution is underway. This is in any case the hope of Apple, which will launch its Vision Pro headset in the United States on February 2, with pre-orders opening on January 19, the company announced on Monday. As it revealed last June, its “mixed reality” headset, which mixes virtual and real, will come at a high price, starting at $3,499 for the version with 256 GB of storage.
And France? It’s unknown at this time, with availability “later” this year in an unspecified list of countries. Apple also revealed the price of Zeiss optical inserts, which will cost $99 for farsighted people and $149 for nearsighted people.
“Spatial computing”
“The era of spatial computing has arrived,” promises Tim Cook. The Vision Pro is an “all-in-one” headset, which does not need a computer to operate. However, it must be plugged into the mains, on a Mac or an included external battery which allows, according to Apple, a battery life of two hours.
Technically, the device is closer to a virtual reality headset than to augmented reality. The user cannot directly see his external environment through a transparency effect: Apple uses a magic trick, with a real-time recreation of the surrounding world by video, which allows for example to move without bumping or to display graphics on the living room coffee table. And to avoid being completely anti-social, an outward-facing screen allows you to simulate a display of the user’s eyes, with an effect you’d expect to judge in person.