… but impressive, boundary-pushing device is priced so far out of reach for most that it isn’t yet the next big thing
n a sweltering summer’s day in London, I sat working in the middle of a snow-covered Yosemite national park surrounded by an array of floating apps and browser windows. Later I stared across a windswept Oregon beach reliving a holiday from years ago, and spent an evening sitting in a speeder on Tatooine watchingThese are the sorts of immersive experiences that Apple’s latest, most expensive gadget offers by blending the real and virtual world, all controlled by your eyes and hands.
The cameras and sensors on the outside map the real world, including objects such as furniture and walls, tracking your position and the motions of your hands. Internal cameras monitor the movements of your eyes for interacting with buttons and objects, while ensuring that the bit you’re looking at is crisp. The headset even has “Optic ID” instead of Face ID for seamlessly unlocking it and authenticating payments by scanning your iris.
The battery lasts for about two to three hours, which is more than long enough since it can easily be charged while being used seated at a desk or on the couch. But the headset is not designed to be easily shared. Even if it does fit guests’ faces, they have to redo the five-minute eye-tracking setup for it to temporarily work.With a Mac’s display in the centre, I laid out various other windows around it with more behind and above me.
The Apple TV app puts you into a virtual cinema where you can choose your row and seat. Disney+ puts you on a couch in Avengers Tower or sitting in the aforementioned speeder on Tatooine. 3D movies in both services look particularly good. Loading up a panorama, it genuinely felt as if I was standing in Death Valley again, enjoying the dramatic colours of the sun setting across open desert. Or sitting in a packed Capital One Arena watching the Washington Capitals ice hockey team. A shot from the top of Seattle’s Space Needle even gave me the same uneasy feeling of heights that I had when I captured it seven years ago.
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