Although the Vision Pro is not the first smart glasses to be announced in the market, Apple’s entry into this industry will be a watershed moment that will lead to increased confidence in this type of product, and this has been proven by the reaction of the public around the world, who interacted with the Vision Pro via social media platforms, although the date of its market launch is not before the beginning of 2024.
Types of smart glasses
There are many smart glasses in the market which fall into 4 different categories as follows:
Ordinary smart glasses, which offer a few simple digital benefits.
Virtual reality glasses known as Virtual Reality and abbreviated as VR.
Augmented reality glasses, abbreviated AR.
Mixed Reality Glasses known as Mixed Reality and abbreviated as MR.
The difference between VR, AR and MR
For many, VR glasses, AR and MR mixed reality may seem similar, but the truth is that they are not. VR glasses completely isolate the user from the outside world in order to “transfer” them to a new digitally created environment, while Augmented Reality (AR) brings the digital world to the user’s location, making them feel he is in a place that combines reality and imagination.As for the MR Mixed Reality Glasses, it offers a mixture between augmented reality, virtual reality and real reality, because it adds to the scene in front of the user, scenes or people, objects or tools.
The most powerful and difficult technology
From a technical point of view, AR glasses are the most difficult to implement and design, because no party has yet introduced glasses that embody the true meaning of this technology. Although many companies have announced the AR glasses launch, usage experience has shown that these glasses are close. To experience MR mixed reality more than to experience AR augmented reality.
Although many people think that Apple’s Vision Pro glasses belong to the AR augmented reality category, this is not true, because they belong to the MR mixed reality category, which, as we have indicated, offers a mix between augmented reality, virtual reality, and real reality, and that’s what Apple alluded to in its press releases related to the Vision Pro, calling it glasses that seamlessly mix digital content with the physical world.
It was not a popular success
Smart glasses in their various categories have been in the market for more than 20 years, but they have not been successful with the public due to their primitiveness and high price, and lack of user acceptance due to difficulty using them. the situation has started to improve over the past ten years with the entry of large companies such as Google and Microsoft in addition to this industry.For third parties, these companies have introduced relatively acceptable glasses such as the ODG R-7, Kopin SOLOS, Google Glass Enterprise Edition, Everysight Raptor, Epson MOVERIO BT-300 and HoloLens.
The role of “Meta” in the industry
The scene in the smart glasses industry can be said to have improved slightly after the entry of Meta, which is followed by Facebook and Instagram, into this sector and its introduction in recent years of many Oculus glasses for virtual reality. VR, and parent Facebook’s company has been steadily making quantum leaps in this area, with the launch in 2022 of “Quest Pro” glasses for virtual reality, and this has allowed “Meta” to expand its control over sales in this area, he announced a few days ago. there is also its intention to launch the Quest 3 glasses in the fall of 2023, indicating that these glasses will work according to VR technology and Hybrid MR reality, which means that they are similar to the Apple Vision Pro glasses from a point technically, but it’s cheaper than that, as the Quest 3 goggles start at $500, while the Vision Pro starts at $3,500.
According to market research firm Statista, the number of users of AR, VR and MR devices is still very low worldwide, as it is expected to reach around 120 million users by the end of 2023, of which 90% use VR. While expectations indicate that the market for AR, VR and MR devices will continue to grow, bringing the number of users of these devices to around 240 million users in 2027.
Information technology engineer Muhammad Shami said in an interview with Sky News Arabia Economy that before delving into the changes that Apple’s entry into the eyewear industry will bring everyone should be aware that this market is suffering from a state of confusion caused by people’s inability to determine the difference between AR, MR and VR, as some companies have exploited this issue to give their smart glasses products incorrect technical descriptions.
He pointed out that this industry has always suffered from stagnation due to the loss of user attraction elements, as the number of smartphone users reaches more than 5 trillion globally, the number of users of AR, MR and VR devices is still close to 100 million, where a large number of companies are vying for those.
The scenario will repeat itself
Shami believes that Apple’s entry into the smart glasses industry will lead to a paradigm shift in this industry, as the company is very adept at turning technical tools into symbols desired by the public despite their high price tag.
“When Apple launched its smartwatch years ago, there were many other smartwatches on the market, but the Apple Watch created a different impact on the public, and that’s what helped the company to be at the top of the smartwatch industry today,” said Shami, who expected it to happen again. The scenario over the next few years, where Apple will replace Meta for smart glasses market leadership.
According to Shami, the Vision Pro won’t be a big money-maker right away, as it will take a long time to get there, considering that “it’s too early to compare Apple Glasses, technically, with other glasses , since we are talking about a product that has not yet reached the market, and therefore we must wait for the date of its availability in the hands of users to build on what is necessary.
Apple will make the difference
For his part, technology analyst Rayan Mortada said, in an interview with “Sky News Arabia Economy”, that Apple’s entry into the smart glasses market will lead to increased confidence in this type of product, and will increase competition and enthusiasm, indicating that Apple has always used its brand, and its huge marketing budget, to explain to consumers why they need the new gadgets, hence the entry of the iPhone maker into the world of smart glasses, which will revive this sector which is currently suffering from sluggishness and the inability to achieve significant growth.
Mortada adds that Apple rarely invents anything new, and instead it takes ideas in the marketplace and refines them in ways that make them more appealing to consumers, and that’s precisely what happened. passed with Vision Pro, which belongs to the category of MR , that is to say mixed reality.
He pointed out that Apple has avoided, so far, to clearly define the category to which its glasses belong, because it has, as usual, used the method of suggestion, as being of the mixed reality category. , and also resorted to phrases that suggest to users that they are facing unprecedented technology, and that is not true. MR is not an unprecedented technology.
According to Mortada, with Vision Pro we may have reached super smart glasses, there is currently nothing comparable to this, provided we make sure of it when it launches, pointing out that Apple glasses will be the main due to the transfer of this industry, which in 2022 reached 5.6 billion dollars. , only from a small and weak market to a huge market, and it is expected that the next version of Vision Pro will be more advanced in various aspects.
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