Apple Vision Pro may be taking a backseat while the M4 iPad Pro has its day in the sun, but that doesn’t mean there aren’t big things brewing for the premium mixed reality headset. GamesIndustry.biz has interviewed Owlchemy Labs CEO Andrew Eiche about their experience bringing Job Simulator and Vacation Simulator to Apple Vision Pro, and their perspective on its role in the world is clear.
Andrew Eiche on the viability of Apple Vision Pro:
“I see it as one of the biggest steps towards mainstream adoption. I think there’s still a lot of things that we have to figure out to get there. But as far as friction [goes], which is one of the biggest things that we fight in XR… It’s one of the lowest friction devices. You put it on, there’s no room setup, it’s not yelling at you to draw circles or whatever, it just runs the apps. There’s no caveats to it.
“And I think that, thinking strategically, that’s really important to have a headset that you could just put on, it auto adjusts the lenses, it logs you in, it does everything.”
Eiche also argues that it’s more important to consider if mixed reality development is on the right path to mainstream adoption rather than if we’ve arrived there yet.
“For many of us it’s there, but it’s not there for the mainstream yet. But we’re starting to see chipping away at that broader problem. So, I think, as developers and enthusiasts, you always want your eye on mainstream adoption but we need to be less worried about ‘Are we there yet?’ and more worried about ‘Are we on a path to get there?’
He also likens the arrival of ChatGPT as something that “everyone just f***ing gets” as if it arrived overnight, but in reality AI development has been going on for 50 years.
Eiche goes on to say that “we’re just so used to not watching technology evolve, because it happens behind [the scenes] and then it gets productised and sent out as this great thing… And I think VR is one of the few cases where we’ve been so openly involved in watching every single step that we’re like, ‘But I love it, it should be here now!’ And it’s like… just wait!”
All in all, the head of the studio behind some of the most popular VR games sees a lot of upside with the existence of Apple Vision Pro as it exists today. You can read the full piece here.
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