The Apple Vision Pro has arrived, and early adopters are already savoring wearable experiences that showcase the apparently vast potential of the headset.
While the $3,500 price point might put it out of reach of many prospective buyers, some of these mixed reality and spatial computing apps might convince you to dig the loose change out of the couch and start saving. Here are five early mind-blowing Apple Vision Pro experiences.
Tour homes in 3D
Buying a house is a whole thing. Touring houses will eat up a bunch of your time, but still photos alone can only tell so much of the story. Luckily, that’s where the Apple Vision Pro comes in.
Thanks to the new Zillow Immerse app, you can tour virtual versions of houses that are listed for sale, as seen in the video below. It’s unclear just what percentage of listings support the feature for now, but it’s an exciting look into how technology could seriously redefine this laborious process. This could be useful for viewing hotels and resorts before booking, too.
Immersive learning
We’ve seen virtual field trips in classrooms and other VR tours, but the advent of capable mixed reality hardware means a growth in immersive learning experiences that blend lifelike digital graphics with your real-world surroundings. This sort of stuff started on Microsoft’s HoloLens and the Meta Quest Pro, but can step up another notch with the powerful Vision Pro.
Case in point: Imagine interacting with 3D models of a jet engine or other intricate hardware, giving you the ability to learn by doing from anywhere. Or you can use the headset to learn an instrument in a more immersive fashion, such as with this piano app that’s live now, or a guitar instruction concept that’s similar in approach.
Real-time translation and captions
Smartphones have revolutionized travel in many ways, including the ability to translate conversations in real time to overcome the language barrier. Smartwatches can do the same, but mixed-reality headsets offer an even more natural option.
Check out this Vision Pro app Navi, which can serve up real-time translations via little text boxes within your field of view, so you don’t have to look away from your counterpart. It can also deliver captions if you’re both speaking the same language, which could be helpful for those who are hard of hearing or to catch any missed details while chatting.
Cooking upgrades
One of the buzziest Apple Vision Pro use cases we’ve seen bouncing around social media over the last few days is the ability to use the headset to augment your cooking skills.
We’ve seen headsets put video tutorials and recipe instructions in view, and the Apple Vision Pro can do all of that, too. But the most compelling part of this Wall Street Journal demo is seeing how you can place individual timers in your 3D world above a boiling pot or appliance and have it stay there even as you walk around. Struggling to manage multiple timers while cooking a complex dish? No more!
Gamifying chores
Nobody likes doing chores, but we’re all stuck with them. But just as smartphones and fitness gadgets have gamified workouts, eating healthy, and other exhausting (but important) matters, a mixed-reality headset can do the same for the tedious tasks in your life.
Case in point: What if a headset app could not only help you improve the way you clean but also make it more fun in the process? This concept of a vacuuming app shows the potential benefits to both the process and results, and this feels like just the tip of the iceberg of what’s possible with gamifying home tasks.
Decrypt has an Apple Vision Pro in the house, and we’ll share what we discover as we go—especially where spatial computing and Web3 intersect. Stay tuned!
Edited by Ryan Ozawa.
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