The future is not today.
My thoughts on #AppleVisionPro 

The #AVP is a magical device, an astonishing engineering marvel, yet I don't feel a desire to use or develop for it.

In this article I'll offer my perspective on why that is, as a person who has dedicated his life to the research and development of this technology.

Why is everyone blown away?, how has Apple apparently succeeded to seduce people into #XR?

I believe it's due to the magical first impression that the following things produce in conjunction.

- Eye tracking controls
- Premium experience / Expensive components
- A functional spatial computer

However, too many compromises were made in pursuit of "Magic".

The seduction of Eye Tracking:

Eye tracking is not a new technology, The #XR industry has had plenty of time to research and experiment with it, yet nobody until now has actually implemented it as an input mechanic. So why is that?....

The first time you work with eye tracking it feels like magic, but not long after you start noticing its shortcomings.

- It's rather imprecise, Apple has design guidelines to minimize this, but at the end of the day it's no good for basic things that don't adhere to them, like browsing the web

- It's a mechanic that results in eye strain when used for extended periods of time, with unknown health side effects.

- Unintentional activation is an issue that cannot be 100% resolved until the dawn of BCI. And yes, I pressed that buy button when I meant to press cancel.

- It's an input mechanic with limitations, it cannot replace a motion controller and it is not fun for games.

I believe Apple's first priority was to create a magical, seductive device... they succeeded... But at a great cost. This should not be the only input mechanic, the current mix of eye tracking with hand tracking is terrible. I challenge you to open up Jig-Space, load the F1 car, disassemble a couple of pieces and then try to reassemble it, it won't be easy if at all possible.

Premium experience / Expensive components:

When you first fire up a movie in Vision Pro it's hard not to be mind blown, it's so good, most people except perhaps those that experienced #Varjo had no idea things could look this way.

We all felt the same way when 4K TVs came out, mind blowing but they were like $10k, hardly anybody rushed to buy them, there was little content to watch anyway. The same is true with the Apple Vision display, do not buy it unless you have good reason to or a thick wallet.

It's also a beautiful experience, frosted glass UI, pristine hand occlusion, real multi-tasking, an outward facing display... but that comes at a very high processing power cost. This is why they are using full blown computer chips, and this is why it's so heavy and requires a huge external battery.

A functional spatial computer:

First of all, this is not the first spatial computer. It is however the first functional one, where you can actually work and do all kinds of things, as long as you are already part of the Apple ecosystem of course.

#Hololens had actual windows built-in, but the processing power was so meager you couldn't really make use of it.

#MagicLeap 1 had the power, and a vision for its Lumin OS, however they never had the chance to fulfill its potential and perhaps they never could have.

#Quest is a spatial computer but it's not as feature rich as Apple Vision, yet.

#AVP is a functional spatial computer, but not a great one. Too many compromises were made in the name of magic.

It is a pretty awful #VR headset, you never feel immersed because you can't walk around your space to look at things, there's no guardian so VR content fades away the moment you take one step. You also can't play any VR games, and there's quite a few of them that would love to be part of this but can't due to eye tracking.

iPhone AR apps are incompatible with this device, what a slap to the face to their loyal developers.  Apple should address this.

It's not perfect, but it's still an awesome device. Why am I saying that the future is not today?

Until now #MixedReality headsets have been advertised as something that you use occasionally, and I love that. With the dawn of Apple Vision the narrative is shifting towards it being a "spatial computer" that can be used for extended periods of time and even replace the technology you already know and love.

Will the average person want to actually spend long periods of time and replace their technology?
The answer is no and the reason is simple: The vast majority of people don’t want to live their lives behind a VR screen.

I have demoed see-through devices to hundreds of people of all kinds, the huge majority are willing to embrace this technology since it simply augments the real world they already live in. Passthrough... not so much, it's cool but in measure they aren't about to give up real life for it.

Passthrough #AR is for occasional use.  For general purpose spatial computing and mass adoption we need see-through displays.

In addition to that, this headset is so passive, it almost demands that you sit down to use it. I want to walk around, wave my hands around, exercise with it and live an active lifestyle. I personally don’t like that and have fears of where that road ends.

Apple gives us a vision of the future, but that day is not here yet, and most importantly they haven’t won the race. 
I’m happy to see them join our ranks, and happy to see a renewed enthusiasm for this technology despite my critical view of the device.
Javier Davalos