Apple Vision Pro: Virtual reality takes the world by storm again | Babelia

Last week, videos of people showing off the Vision Pro, Apple’s new virtual reality headset, spread like wildfire across the internet (the world, that is). The excitement over the viral phenomenon is understandable: Apple is an influence machine, and the videos are truly revolutionary. It truly feels like we are on the verge of a technological revolution. All news programs these days were opened with glasses.

The truth is that it doesn’t really matter.

Before Apple, there were companies that were involved in virtual reality. HTC, Sony, apparently Meta (proof of how involved a company like Facebook is in the Metaverse is its name change). And the truth is that none of them did particularly well. To put this into context, Meta’s virtual reality division lost $42 billion between 2020 and 2024. More precisely, when the company reported its results for the last quarter of 2023 a week ago, they were sincerely happy that they “only” lost $4.5 billion in this division.

Obviously, only a company like Meta, which is one of the ten most valuable in the world, or now Apple, which should not expect a massive influx of public towards $3500 glasses, can afford this. Overall, Apple should be given some revolutionary will, but not so much in terms of its technology, but in terms of the philosophy of its new device.

And, generally speaking, in fact, the Apple company’s commitment is connected not so much with virtual reality, but with mixed reality. That is, Apple’s philosophy is at odds with the philosophy of the Meta and other previous glasses, which were essentially based on teleporting us into a virtual universe while we sat at home. Apple wants to make us walk, go outside, interact with the world wearing glasses designed to anabolize reality; Now the idea isn’t so much that you’re having a work meeting from your couch, but that you walk up to a restaurant and a pop-up window appears next to the door with ratings, deals, or the menu for that restaurant.

And after these talks about video games, we can’t stop paying attention to the virtual universe. We’ve already complained here about Valve, which, while pursuing a very conscious and somewhat class-based strategy, does not want its Half-life: Alix, the best 3D video game ever made, interacts with the rest of the world. But Alix Besides, the truth is that virtual reality has given us some pleasant surprises lately.

More precisely two. Wrath of Asgarth II And Assassin’s Creed Nexus. The first, released at the wrong time in December, could have been one of the best games of the year if Meta’s distribution and press had been bigger and better. It’s really good: a medieval fantasy adventure full of magic, with a solid plot, astonishing length and depth, which itself ranks as one of the best ever produced for the technology. Second, translation into three dimensions of the Universe. Assassin’s Creed, is a wonderful recreation of the sensations experienced by the heroes of the saga. It’s short but very intense and perfect in many ways, from the combat to Parkour, going through the recreation of spaces and cities. Without a doubt, this is the way forward for the space (video games), which functions as the canary in the mine of the entire digital world. What succeeds here will ultimately succeed on the street.

VR headsets need improvement as a product, it’s true. They should completely avoid dizziness, reduce their weight and the discomfort it causes in the eyes and nasal septum. They should be more autonomous, more functional. In a word, they should be comfortable, which is not the case today. Yes, they have to do a lot, but anyone who tries them will immediately realize the transformative potential they contain. Anyone who tries them will be convinced within a few seconds that where the glasses are pointed is ultimately where everything we talk about here is directed.

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