What I thought I wanted from Apple's new Vision Pro before it was announced
I wrote the following in May 2023, before Apple announced Vision Pro in June. Did you think the same as me?
My mum admits that she lacks digital spatial awareness. She cannot fully handle multiple tabs and windows. One at a time is fine, but if she needs to refer to many pages while researching then she is easily frustrated by the navigation between the screens.
In the physical world, she is able to have many sheets of paper splayed out in front of her. Could a larger display ease her digital navigation woes?
I'm aware a small selection of people work entirely in VR using spatially-fixed, large virtual screens. Is this Apple's killer VR headset use case?
I think my mum would feel more comfortable if the headset were 'augmented' with high quality camera passthrough. This would reduce the need for digital spatial awareness (which she struggles with) and it would reduce the mental whiplash felt by putting the headset on and off.
I consider tying virtual screens to fixed physical locations a primary way of reducing cognitive dissonance. Yes, this may result in the occasional 'where did I put X?' moment. But it enables apps to only run in specific-locations.
This essentially makes my desk infinite.
Let's role play. Say my email notifications only show when I step into my home office. News is just one input action away when I wake up. YouTube is just one input action away when I enter my front room. TikTok automatically opens when I sit on the toilet.
Like me, you might be horrified by the idea of being always online. But, for every person who hates this idea, isn't there someone who would pay thousands of dollars for it?
For me, though, the appeal is in changing the desktop computer experience from multiple monitors to apps hovering above my desk and stuck on my wall.
I suspect Apple will do something akin to Stage Manager, which would become usable with a canvas the actual size of my desk and wall.
I hope they restrict window sizes, like they do on iOS. Both app developers and users get predictable resolutions.
For instance, I pin an app at arms length away from me while I'm sat at my desk, if I lean back the app stays where it is. With one input action I can push it to TV size and distance.
All that said, Apple must reduce the friction of putting on and calibrating the headset. It must not take longer than it does to open and unlock my laptop.
Of course, this is all hypothetical. I'd like to try it for myself. Are you rich and kind enough to let me borrow yours?