Now that Apple’s Vision Pro headsets are widely used, new social standards are in effect.
While strolling through Times Square in New York City, Yam Olisker encountered curious looks and inquiries from passersby. That is possible when you wear a $3,500 piece of technology on your face.
Olisker was donning Apple’s latest creation, the Vision Pro mixed-reality headset, which resembles enormous silver ski goggles. Yes, the Vision Pro stood out even in the busy Times Square, amidst the costumed Spidermen hustling for tips for selfie shots, the naked cowboys, the evangelists shouting Scripture about the end of the world, and the out-of-towners trying to follow clunky guidance apps to the next “The Lion King” play.
A couple of onlookers questioned Olisker how many fingers they were displaying. “They didn’t think that I could see them,” says 19-year-old Olisker, who traveled from Israel to purchase the gadget.
Call it the first-mover’s curse.
Ever since the Vision Pro was on sale, people who were early adopters and took them into the wild have faced ridicule and criticism for hiding half of their faces and concealing their eyes when they might have been, well, gazing at their phones and avoiding eye contact with other people.
One of Apple’s first significant product launches in a long time is the Vision Pro. It can send emails and play movies, just like a phone or laptop, but it also follows your hand and eye movements when you want to write something down or click on an app.
The inquiries from total strangers remind me of the initial release of the iPhone. Without any buttons, how do you type? Alternatively, when AirPods were ubiquitous: Is the individual introspecting?
Apple describes the Vision Pro as revolutionary—its first product that you look through rather than at. The device was first unveiled in June.
Tech investor and entrepreneur Ben Parr claims to have used his Vision Pro while working on an aircraft and in a hotel lobby. He says a dozen individuals have asked to wear it.
“When they see the screen and can see everyone around them, they definitely ooh and ah,” he claims. “Going forward, though, I’ll only let friends do it in general.”
The waiters and bussers at the hot pot restaurant where he recently had dinner with pals inquired as to what was strapped to his face.
Even so, he had a couple nibbles while wearing the Vision Pro. “It is close to the nose, but you can do it,” the Los Angeles resident, 38, explains. Drinks are more difficult: “I would advise anyone wishing to drink while using a Vision Pro to use a straw.”
Wearing his Vision Pro in a packed New York City train, Nikias Molina—who had flown in from Barcelona to purchase the device—typed on a keyboard that only he could see. However, Molina was the in-flight entertainment on his voyage home to Spain, where other passengers were gazing down and didn’t appear to notice or care.
Molina was scared that the man seated next to him would ask to try on his headset because he was asking so many questions.
The YouTuber, 25, claims, “I don’t want to be sharing,” citing concerns about germs and the device’s exorbitant price.
Molina also saw that a flight attendant was staring at him while he attempted to watch the Disney film “Luca” with a headphone over his eyes.
Molina recalls, “She thought I couldn’t see her.” People are merely inquisitive.
Some claim that seeing people in public who appear to be ready to ski down a black diamond at Telluride turns them off.
When Jonah Rothman attended a basketball game at Boston’s TD Garden, he saw that a man in the front row was wearing a Vision Pro. Boston college student Rothman, 19, states, “I would not put a device on my head if I paid for courtside seats.”
Determining the precise purpose of something is a crucial aspect of being an early adopter.
After fastening his new headgear, Dante Lentini set his Tesla Model Y in drive mode. The 21-year-old Lentini is shown driving his Tesla while completely engrossed in the augmented reality features of Apple’s latest gadget in a video that was uploaded on X.
Lentini remembers it as “so, so futuristic and dystopian.” “Seeing it with my own eyes, I couldn’t believe it.”
However, a lot of people expressed anger in response to the footage, claiming that Lentini was most likely inattentive while driving. The video, he later said, was a skit.
“We were reflecting that we had just spent $3,500 on this item. We have to attempt to profit from it,” Lentini argues. “We were thinking, ‘What crazy things could we do with this?’ We’re always looking for things to go viral.”
Even individuals who work in the bleeding edge of technology are still learning how to deal diplomatically with people who are grounded in reality.
Anshel Sag, a 34-year-old IT analyst from San Diego, claims that when he got an idea, his 1-month-old daughter had dozed off on his chest. He continues, “I asked my wife to bring over my headset.”
While his infant slept, he blissfully ignored the sounds of “Avatar: The Way of Water” and watched for roughly thirty minutes.
He has, however, given it some thought but refrained from using his Vision Pro headset in the bedroom. For my partner, it feels a little bit isolating, he explains.
Talia Sag, his wife, says she wouldn’t mind.
“In shows, we don’t always have the same taste,” admits 30-year-old snack-food owner Sag. “He can watch anything he wants to watch, so that would be a nice way to spend time together.”
