According to news on October 1, Apple released the virtual reality headset VisionPro in June this year, announcing its entry into the virtual reality field. This also adds a lot of color to Meta's virtual reality-themed Connect conference this year. According to CNBC, at Meta’s annual Connect conference this week, one word was on everyone’s lips: Apple.
Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg enthusiastically introduced the company's latest virtual reality headset, Quest 3, which starts at $499 and will start shipping in October. At the meeting, Meta also introduced the growth trend of the virtual reality app store QuestStore, emphasizing that the app store has generated US$2 billion in revenue since its launch in 2019, which is higher than the US$1.5 billion the company announced at the conference last year.
The biggest difference between this year's Connect conference and last year's is that Apple is about to enter the virtual reality market, giving attendees a clearer understanding of the future development of this industry.
In June this year, Apple announced that the mixed reality headset VisionPro will be launched next year, priced at a jaw-dropping US$3,499. Although this is Apple's first foray into virtual reality, the company's long-standing dominance of high-end consumer devices and strong reputation in the hardware field have brought unprecedented buzz to Meta's industry events.
The industry predicts that virtual reality and mixed reality will remain niche markets in the next few years. But more than a dozen attendees this week agreed that the tone is changing among developers and VR companies alike regarding the potential of the expanding industry.
Tom Symonds, CEO of British virtual reality company Immersion, said: "Apple's entry into this market will definitely arouse people's curiosity." "Apple has always been able to seamlessly combine hardware and software."
Before Apple released Vision Pro, the entire virtual reality industry was going through an identity crisis, with venture capitalists withdrawing investment and the popularity of the Metaverse and related cryptocurrency projects declining. Meanwhile, Meta is losing billions of dollars every quarter as it builds its virtual world and vision of the metaverse, but Zuckerberg shows no signs of slowing down, frustrating many investors who only see rising costs.
Although Apple's headset won't go on sale for several months, and it's unclear how many people will want to buy it or have the ability to buy it, Apple's addition brings more legitimacy to Meta's efforts in the virtual reality industry.
At this week's Connect conference, in addition to showing off its latest headset, Meta also launched the latest Ray-Ban smart glasses developed in partnership with Essilor Luxottica. The new glasses will go on sale on October 17, starting at $299. It connects to a smartphone and uses Meta's artificial intelligence software to allow users to identify landmarks or translate signs when looking at various objects.
Promoting effect
Aneesh Kulkarni, chief technology officer of virtual reality training company Strivr, said it would be a "huge loss of confidence" if Meta stopped investing heavily and no longer trying to push the virtual reality market forward.
Kulkarni said, "Meta is pushing it, but who has the money to push it?"
He added that while $2 billion in App Store revenue "may not sound like a lot compared to the Apple Store," it's still a huge and important number. Due to the popularity of iPhone and iPad applications, Apple has a huge market, with Apple App Store revenue reaching US$1.1 trillion in 2022.
Josette Seitz, a mixed reality developer at social influence company Baltu Technologies, said Apple may have an advantage in attracting businesses that already use Apple devices such as iPads for operations. She said it's conceivable that for a company whose field workers currently use iPads for inspections or other tasks, it would be easier to transition to the more immersive Vision Pro because of the devices' greater interoperability.
Seitz said that given VisionPro's high price, it may be more of an enterprise-oriented product. In any case, it is important for more companies to enter this market.
"There shouldn't be just one company," Seitz said. "We can't let this market be cornered."
Gaspar Ferreiro, a developer at virtual reality company Coal Car Studios, called the Vision Pro's price "crazy" and said Apple was taking a "big gamble."
"Businesses will absolutely take the risk," Ferrero said. He believes that because of Apple's past reputation, some companies will invest heavily in Apple devices.
Meta faces challenges of its own. Despite being in the game a few years before Apple, Meta has been working hard to bring virtual reality into the mainstream market, and with a lower starting price than the Quest 2, Ferrero isn't sure the Quest 3 will be enough to win over new customers who aren't industry insiders or developers.
"The average consumer may be faced with a dilemma, do I want to spend an extra $200 on a new device?" Ferrero said.
Compared with the old Quest2, one of the biggest improvements of Quest3 is the so-called "transmission" function, which can convert the user's front field of view into a colorful digital format, allowing computer vision technology to cover the entire real world. Facts have proved that when using Quest2 to observe the real surrounding environment, it is very blurry and colorless, but when using Quest3, it is much clearer and the experience should be better.
For developers, Ferrero said, this means they have the ability to develop more engaging content and visual experiences that blend the real and digital worlds.
Jeffrey Morin, CEO of fitness services company Litesport, said the price of the Quest 3 was "out of my comfort zone of buying Christmas gifts for my kids."
But he also believes that improving transmission capabilities is very valuable and is crucial for his upcoming mixed reality app XponentialFitness, which allows users to exercise with a digital avatar of a personal trainer in their living room.
When talking about cooperation with Apple, Morin said that with the development of the product, the price of VisionPro may drop to between US$1,000 and US$1,500 in the future, and LitesportVR will also look for ways to develop related applications. The price of the original VisionPro was too high, and users needed to carry the battery pack with them, which caused extra trouble for users when exercising.
Morin said Apple's advantage is that it has a large customer base that is "more likely to pay for subscription services," which is a recurring revenue stream. In Morin's experience, most Quest users are gamers who are more accustomed to purchasing apps in one go.
Morin said that even though Apple's headsets aren't available yet, he's noticed an increase in users of Litesports' VR fitness app since its release, highlighting how excited the entire VR community is.
"They turned on the headset and said, let me see what's out there again," Morin said.
Ultimately, Apple's move into virtual reality proves that the technology is more than just a Facebook side project.
“It doesn’t feel like Mark’s little toy anymore,” Maureen said. "It's everyone's now."