One of Steve Jobs’ legacies is customer experience perfection – or at least as close to it as Apple can get when actually shipping products. Although Apple may be preparing for an AR or VR-enabled product set, they’re just laying the groundwork for a product that, when it arrives, will have us wondering how we ever lived without it.
Looking at past product releases, Apple is waiting to release their AR/VR headset as they are not worried about being the first to launch. The OG BlackBerry phone with email was released in 2002, five years before the iPhone. Tablet computers have been in existence since 1987, but the world did not realize the usefulness of this device until the release of the iPad in 2010. AR and VR devices have been around for so long that they’re starting to become commonplace, but few of us were brave enough to wear Google Glass in public, the Snap Spectacles have a distinctive shape but lack popularity and While many gaming and corporate training programs work in VR, the headsets aren’t exactly streetwear.
Look: iOS 16 Cheat Sheet: The Complete Guide for 2022 (TechRepublic)
Apple doesn’t seem to care about the clout of being first. They don’t care whether the word metaverse is part of their company’s name or not. Instead, they want to be the best. Because when a truly groundbreaking product that integrates technology with our lives is released, FOMO will drive the market.
Meta’s vision disappointed
Meta’s Horizon Workroom and Zuckerberg’s vision of how we can use VR in our lives was groundbreaking. The Metaverse meeting room they demonstrated at last year’s events was thought-provoking. He showed a vision of the future of work and life. From this perspective, location doesn’t matter—as long as you have Internet access. This is a hopeful and beautiful outlook. But the product itself, the meeting room they showed, was disappointing. It seemed as if someone inside the Wii Fit universe was having a quarterly review meeting. Remember the torso without legs? The jerky movements of the participants? It was a scene that didn’t feel like it went far enough – in fact, it didn’t have legs.
And to some extent, Horizon Workroom seems par for the course for people who spend a lot of time in animated worlds like Minecraft, Roblox, and other avatar-driven experiences that have been a mainstay of the metaverse so far. We rely on graphics to take us to new places because it’s where our imaginations run freest. There is also endless potential for the consumerization of avatars, and NFTs have contributed to the popularity of limited-edition online avatars and avatar accessories – but that’s another article entirely.
Apple will not get stuck in the uncanny valley
The assumption that Mark Wilson makes in his Fast Company article is that Apple is preparing its mobile OS for that AR world, which seems about right. While Meta’s illustrated world is compelling, it’s potentially not as beautiful or useful as the AR world that Wilson envisions from Apple.
Our brains are trained to detect human figures and faces. We recognize the human form in animations and illustrations (and sometimes toast or cinnamon buns), but what comes close to perfection is never going to be the uncanny valley of better-illustrated painted humans and avatars. It is going to integrate humans with the digital landscape, apps and capabilities.
Look: The Metaverse Cheat Sheet: Everything You Need to Know (Free PDF) (TechRepublic)
Don’t hold your breath for Apple’s AR
My guess is that we won’t see any headsets from Apple in 2022. They’ll let metas and other metaverse competitors create their own fully immersive experiences. Facebook had the advantage of being the first mover when MySpace dominated the landscape. It took some intelligence from Tom and led to the creation of one of the most successful social media platforms to date.
But Apple might make the wiser choice by waiting for the right confluence of technologies and learning from the mistakes of Google, Snap, Meta and everyone else. I guess—and very much hope—this wait means they’ll make a beautiful device that people and companies will want to invest in because it makes life a little bit better.
