When You Wanted a Smarter Siri and All You Got was a Vision (Pro)
Hey, Microsoft -- where's your Azure Kinect now?
Apple Computer did not take my advice and introduce a new version of Siri at Monday’s keynote to kick the 2023 version of the Worldwide Developers Conference.
Vision Pro and Spatial Computing: Cooler Than I Thought it Would Be
What the company showed us is the power of advanced technology and design skills. Yet without even a mention of “AI” they communicated a pretty good vision of what these technologies and techniques can enable with what’s me and mine: Spatial Computing. This is Apple’s new category, taking what Meta tried to introduce with Metaverse last year. Spatial computing lets the user extend from existing applications of photography, video capture, audio capture and browser-based content. Engaging with content is multi-sensory combining eye-tracking and physical hand gestures to load a web page, browse images or move through a pile of emails. Many of these capabilities are present in the Meta Oculus headset. They’re hampered by the need for handheld controllers and an opaque cover on the headset. Yes, the user can “see” the physical space around them, but any other human in that same space is essentially engaging with somebody who looks and acts as if blindfolded.
While we were introduced to the Vision Pro headset, the visionOS and new tools such as Reality Composer, we were also shown how Apple completes its futurescape with entertainment partners such as Disney and Unity game developers. (Side note: aren’t we all Reality Composers?)
Category Creation vs Category Refinement
Apple didn’t invent the desktop computer with the Mac. It didn’t invent the smartphone with the iPhone. And it didn’t invent AR, VR or headsets. Heck, it didn’t even invent the term “spatial computing.” What it’s done with Vision Pro and spatial computing is redefine an existing category or categories to match their vision. Yes, it’s a proprietary vision but one that doesn’t “feel” that way to a customer. And that whole proprietary approach is one Apple shareholders consistently like. (Sidenote: you might forget but there was a time when some folks who said the proprietary route of controlling hardware and OS software made no sense for Apple.)
I’m betting that by the end of summer, spatial computing will likely be we all describe capabilities that used be described as AR, VR and mixed reality.
How does this happen? Patience. And a set of capabilities it lacked when people balked at the proprietary focus, balked at the creation of the “walled garden.” Apple controls hardware, software, manufacturing and defined a blend of proprietary and commercial distribution of its products. The patience is what enables lots of teams to drive serious innovation that serves Apple: like the 5,000 patents Apple exec Mike Rockwell said the company filed during the development of Vision Pro and visionOS.
Patience is exemplified by how it communicates a product vision. They show how a user’s communications apps, their media and content apps, and their productivity tools come to your Vision Pro in vibrant and very immersive ways.
What Matters?
o This is really a development platform: All those Apple app developers are going to be stampeding to get one of these units to either develop whole new experiences and/or update/redesign their existing apps. At $3,499 (with availability “early next year,” according to the company) only a few of your truly tech-centric friends will be getting one. That’s Ok because we need to see the apps before we get too excited. I think, to some degree, this lack of compelling apps or use cases is what’s souring some on the Meta alternative.
o Siri – or some virtual agent – is going to be required: As powerful as the hand gestures and eye-tracking are on the device, deeper navigation capabilities for taking users beyond simple access of content or creating emails is required. Apple made sure all use-case videos were of people indoors. Extending use out into the physical world will be where AirPods become important. If my engagement can be a conversation between me and Siri (or whatever Apple ends up calling it), and I’m not required to glance at a screen of any kind, we’re getting closer to the concept of a digital concierge.
o Yes, it’s a Walled Garden (alternately “velvet handcuffs): But it looks like it’s going to be very roomy and comfortable.
o What if my app isn’t a top-tier media consumption app or a game? Your dev team probably won’t need to jump on Vision Pro and its dev tools right away. However, your UX and UI teams should be starting to white-board how the customer’s experience can be enhanced or reimagined when the installed base of Vision Pros grows and the product evolves beyond ski-goggle-like towards something more like eyeglasses. (Given that Apple worked with Zeiss to enable the device’s lenses to be ground to a user’s eye prescription, I imagine a deal with Luxottica or an entity like them is obvious.)
o Who Benefits First: Media/entertainment entities, and their app developers, will be first in line. (And more than a few U.S. Department of Defense representatives are also lining, I expect.) Designers, architects, heavy and specialty machinery manufacturers, mechanical and electrical engineers are likely to follow. These are the same roles I expected would jump on Meta’s metaverse when I watched the hour-plus Mark Zuckerberg hero video. I really thought manufacturers, developers would flock to it as a compelling way to demonstrate complex mechanical systems, a new manufacturing robots etc. without having to go to the expense of moving these systems around to trade shows, customer sites and other logistical roadblocks. Still waiting to see if that happens with Meta’s products.
The Future is Ambient and Anticipatory
Apple’s laid out a multi-year roadmap for itself, its developer network and content partners. For those companies and brands with a mobile app, start developing use cases that focus on enabling app interactions without a multi-touch display and are driven by audio or gesture input. You probably already have some of those ideas from previous roadmap sessions. You have some time.
For Apple’s competitors, however, I think this summer’s going to be a bit hectic explaining why their alternatives haven’t gained traction or when their competitor will be ready.