By Michael Neidhöfer, CEO ZREALITY GmbH
Apple has clearly expressed its vision for the future of technology with the Apple Vision Pro: Mixed Reality will replace smartphones in the long term, and we will all interact and communicate with apps using hands, gestures and voice. As a company , which has been in the virtual and augmented reality market for more than 8 years, we appreciate this innovation very much, although we also see the challenges that lie ahead.
Admittedly, the design of the Apple Vision Pro, which resembles ski goggles, is definitely not everyone’s cup of tea. This will not reach the mass market for years, until the form factor of such glasses resembles that of sunglasses. But the killer app for the Apple Vision Pro is already clear to us today: it offers a promising new platform for enterprise apps!
The use of mixed reality (MR) and virtual reality (VR) in business applications is not a new phenomenon. Many companies, including ZREALITY’s customers, are already using such technologies in areas such as sales, marketing, training and employee communication. These applications are already saving companies millions and millions of euros through efficiency gains and generating more revenue than before.
With the improvement of technology, such as that offered by Apple Vision Pro, the user experience and thus the usefulness of these apps can be significantly increased. Eliminating controllers can make it easier to get started with an XR application, an improved pass-through mode can enable better immersion in AR applications, and improved sensor technology can make surveying spaces more accurate.
But of course, there are also challenges. The Apple Vision Pro’s battery life of two hours is quite low for enterprise use and the price of 3,500 Euros compared to similar rival products. The question also remains whether Apple’s ecosystem imposes certain restrictions for enterprise use and whether the device can be easily integrated into the existing IT infrastructure.
Despite all these hurdles, we welcome the launch of the Apple Vision Pro. It shows that the potential of XR technology is recognized and increases the visibility of the benefits and applications that already exist.
At ZREALITY, we are already preparing for the Apple Vision Pro. Our Grids platform stands for interoperability with different devices and platforms. For our customers’ applications, Apple Vision Pro will be available without additional development effort. This saves time and costs and reduces time to market. Because at the end of the day, it’s the business applications that you can already use today , the ones that are the benefit of this exciting new Apple technology.