There has been a lot of buzz surrounding AR technology after Apple’s Vision Pro announcement. However, we know that VR has faced a lot of difficulties when it comes to going mainstream, and it turns out, AR shares a lot of them too. Here are three challenges that VR/AR wearables need to overcome if they want to carve out a sizeable audience, especially in creative industries.
Welcome to the era of spatial computing with Apple Vision Pro. You’ve never seen anything like this before! pic.twitter.com/PEIxKNpXBs
— Tim Cook (@tim_cook) June 5, 2023
Latency & Live Services
Since Apple’s Vision Pro seems to focus on real-time work and leisure enhancement, it brings up an issue that can exist with VR headsets. With VR, users may experience latency issues, particularly when using live services. When applied to AR, this could become even more grating since it’s not just a virtual environment, it’s holding you up in real life. If you’re creating digital art using AR, input lag can be the difference between a good brush stroke or a mistake.
Fortunately, we have a lot of precedent in developing live and real-time reactive services. Streaming and real-time data transfer are pretty robust with most internet plans, so this is something that will be stamped out in due time. Live services that have been around for years, such as the Betfair live casino, manage live blackjack and roulette lobbies with real hosts, streamed to a wide audience, with no issues on the presenter’s or the user’s end. Services like that, among others, have perfected live content and real-time interactions. If AR is going to take off, it’ll need to reach that level and provide a seamless experience, and there won’t be as much leniency because it’ll interfere with real-life activities and hobbies.
Exclusivities & Lack of Compatibility
Next and most importantly, we need to talk about compatibility. Apple has made a bold move towards leading the VR/AR industry but, if that happens, users’ creative pursuits might be hampered by a lack of interoperability. Apple allows pre-approved apps and prioritises Apple-branded ones, as opposed to Android which has the Play Store and allows a much wider selection of software.
What we don’t want is a landscape where every VR/AR platform is exclusive, using proprietary apps and limiting the interaction and sharing of projects made using them. This is something that has happened to VR to an extent, which has been criticised by Gabe Newell, as reported by The Gamer.
It’s not a great method to grow an industry and certainly not a good way to promote artistic endeavours, if they’re locked behind expensive hardware purchases and difficult to share to other non-compatible users. While every developer and artist has a right to claim what they have made, typically when profit is involved, the exchange of ideas and inspirations is the very lifeblood of creativity. It may be limited if AR/VR is limited to the tribes of Apple and Meta, with no crossover between them.
Some Practical Concerns
Finally, we have the more basic concerns that you may be familiar with. These include, for example, the weight of wearing a heavy block strapped to your face and the discomfort that comes with that. The Vision Pro has tried to solve this by moving the battery out of the goggles themselves, allowing it to be carried in a pocket or a satchel elsewhere on your person. The battery has been covered by Trusted Reviews here. It takes a lot of stress out of the neck, that’s for sure, but only time will tell if it’s a winning solution.
In terms of creativity, making VR/AR hardware lighter makes it less distracting from the task at hand which can improve performances and projects. Many also oppose wearable technology because of style concerns, which also factor into AR implementation if they expect people to wear them in public.
