During 2023 WWDC, the most anticipated is the MR headset, and it finally arrived as promised.
The appearance is better than expected, and the hardware configuration meets expectations.
In general, Vision Pro is somewhat similar to ski goggles, but it is much thinner than expected. The front is clad with a large mirror, supported by an aluminum frame, worn and held in place by a knitted headband.
Metal, glass and fabric complement each other, and the texture radiates from the inside out.
The two slightly bulging parts on the outside of the aluminum frame are where the Vision Pro’s speakers are located. After an ingenious structural design, it can realize the presentation of spatial audio when worn.
There is also a button with the same material as the frame on the upper edge of Vision Pro, which can shoot 3D video after pressing.
The mirrored panel on the front, which Apple calls EyeSight, presents a flowing soft colored light effect when you immerse yourself in the VR world. Through the physical knob on the body, you can adjust the perspective of EyeSight.
The fuselage is equipped with 12 cameras, 5 sensors, and 6 microphones, most of which are hidden under the front mirror and around the eyes inside the fuselage.
The screen material is Micro OLED, and the resolution per eye is 4K. For myopia users, Apple chose to cooperate with Zeiss to create a customized optical insert, which can be magnetically attached to the lens.
Perhaps considering the wearing comfort, the Vision Pro body is not equipped with a battery. Use a wired cable, plug in or connect to an adapted battery. The single battery life is 2 hours, and the battery can be put in the trouser pocket when using it.
M2+R1+VisionOS, build supercomputer and space computing unit
Apple configured the M2+R1 dual-core architecture for Vision Pro, and also created the first operating system visionOS designed for space computing.
First of all, Vision Pro can be regarded as a host computer worn on the head. The office and entertainment functions on MacBook can be applied to Vision Pro.
The M2 chip is mainly responsible for high-performance computing power output, while controlling the heat and quietness of Vision Pro when it is running.
The new R1 chip is mainly designed for real-time sensor processing tasks.
Based on the technology accumulation of macOS, iOS and iPadOS, visionOS endows the system with low-latency requirements for spatial computing.
The new real-time execution engine can take on high-performance tasks, and the dynamic foveated rendering pipeline can ensure that every frame has the most optimized image quality where the eyes are looking. The first dedicated multi-app 3D engine enables different apps to run simultaneously in a single emulator.
The actual experience is that all applications and interfaces will be projected in front of the eyes, and the elements in the interface are portrayed realistically, and there are even shadows and dynamic expressions in the subtleties.
Compared with VR headsets, Vision Pro has a larger field of view. Although Apple did not disclose the specific field of view parameters at the meeting, it can be seen from the demonstration that multiple interfaces can appear in front of you at the same time, covering almost the entire field of view. Even with panoramas taken with an iPhone, Vision Pro captures an extremely wide field of view.