Meta’s investments in the VR space did not deliver the results it had hoped, with an operating loss of $31 billion. However, Apple’s recent announcement of Vision Pro in June is expected to revitalize the market.
“I and the entire industry have been waiting for Apple for 10 years,” said Rolf Illenberger, CEO of VRDirect, which provides the company’s software solutions for building your own VR projects. Among its customers are Porsche and T-Mobile.
The Apple Vision Pro is what Apple has branded as a spatial computer, allowing users to see their surroundings clearly and project apps as if they appear in physical space.
Currently, “several companies are participating in the virtual and augmented reality space, including Meta, Apple, and HTC. . . (And) Lenovo,’ Illenberger said. Hypergrid business.
Financial website Insider Monkey ranks Apple, Inc. as number one among the largest VR/AR companies with a market capitalization of $2.8 trillion. But Apple hasn’t actually released any AR or VR products yet. Meta ranked sixth with a market capitalization of $787 billion.
According to Illenberger, VR will soon become mainstream as Apple prepares to launch Vision Pro.
“So I think Apple has now joined the group of companies that are pushing this technology forward. It’s clear that this is the next big thing. And it’s also clear that these companies will continue to invest billions of dollars in this technology, not only in terms of technology, but also in how the market adopts this technology.”
One of the major obstacles the Apple Vision Pro will face is its $3,500 price, which may disappoint many consumers.
“You have to look at the whole metaverse, the technology, VR and AR — it’s still a technology, it’s a very nascent technology,” Illenberger said of the accessibility of VR technology. “I would argue that they are not yet at the stage of being a b2c mass market at this point. Explore Apple headsets and price ranges, and explore other VR available. headset. “We are not currently talking about a device that is tailored for a mass-market customer.”
In a separate interview with Laptop, Illenberg emphasized that the initial goal for the first Vision Pro model was to generate buzz about the product, not sell it.
“A fair comparison might be HDTV (e.g. 2006 or 2007). The motivation behind announcing Vision Pro now was to stimulate and foster the ecosystem of app developers and content creators to invest in the new device. The devices started appearing a few months ago. So Vision Pro has already been a huge success for Apple.”
Meta officially launched Meta Quest 3 at the Meta Connect event last month. Meta is also experimenting with Flamera, a VR headset that utilizes a new passthrough technology to eliminate external feed distortion and artifacts.