Meta CEO downplays Apple headset

I’ve wondered how Meta might react, and today we got to hear Zuckerberg’s thoughts on the Apple Vision Pro.

“More importantly, our vision for the metaverse and presence is fundamentally social. It’s about people interacting in new ways and feeling closer in new ways. Our device is also about being active and doing things. By contrast, every demo that they showed was a person sitting on a couch by themself. I mean, that could be the vision of the future of computing, but like, it’s not the one that I want. There’s a real philosophical difference in terms of how we’re approaching this. And seeing what they put out there and how they’re going to compete just made me even more excited and in a lot of ways optimistic that what we’re doing matters and is going to succeed. But it’s going to be a fun journey.”

It’s a great observation, and many of the early reviewers noted that Apple placed them in a seated position to use the device. This is likely because Vision Pro’s software is still under development and not fully baked. After all, Apple went out of its way to make interactions with headset users more social by showing their eyes.

At the core, Meta, and Apple are making these products with very different outcomes in mind. Meta is a social platform, and the Metaverse is a social construct. Apple is looking for a computing platform that continues the journey of computers and phones.

The news this past week on Meta Quest 3 and Apple Vision Pro brings back many points I mentioned in this interview with GameAnalytics back at GDC on why MR is the next frontier for games. Incredibly exciting to see two big players going hard at MR. And, although some seem to not see the hype on Vision Pro, I am confident it equates to very good things for the industry.

Not just because it’s a huge validator, but because of the resources that come along with Apple. There’s the breadth of their OS, software and apps ecosystem (the largest and most diverse army of developers), their financial resources, their manufacturing and distribution reach, their expansive platform for demos within the Apple Stores and much more.

With their focus on productivity and practical day-to-day use cases, Apple has opened people’s eyes to XR’s potential like never before. They succeeded in making XR look more practical and less intimidating. They removed some of the stigma and hesitation that people have held, and that’s what the XR space needs the most. Yes Vision Pro is pricey, and it’s not perfect — but they’re just getting started. Now that the headset has been announced and dev kits will eventually ship to creators, the largest waves of feedback and boundary pushing is just around the corner. Every device starts at a high cost and comes down in price over time as efficiencies are introduced.

It will be a few years before we’re at a tipping point of mass market adoption, but we’re hoping the summit is finally in sight. It’s been a long time coming. At Resolution Games we invested early and heavily in mixed reality gaming. From Blaston to Spatial Ops, it’s been incredible to play such an active part in the development of the space. Demeo is probably our best known experience to deliver MR, and we’d certainly like to bring it to Vision Pro if we can.

#applevisionpro #metaquest3 #meta #apple #mr #mixedreality #vr #virtualreality #xr
Resolution Games