I have seen the future. Spatial computing is almost here. It felt like when I tried my first e-paper reader in 2007. You could see the potential, but you couldn’t miss the warts. The massive difference is that my first e-paper reader was a wild bet from a small company, and this is being backed by Apple.

Coincidentally, Apple applied for the first head mounted patent in 2007, the same year the ill fated ILiad e-reader hit the markets. This is no overnight gimmick. This is the first production release from a product roadmap that is at least 17 years in the making!

It Just Works

The main thing is that the Apple Vision just works. Yes, it is heavy. Yes, it has a battery pack. Yes, you can’t really walk around with it. But it works.

The quality of the images, the interaction, the OS; all of it is there. If you imagine the first iPhone to the current versions, the basics are all there. The touch interaction was there from day one. The rest has been massive iterations in the software and step changes in the hardware.

The basics of spatial computing are all there.

Rough Spots

That is not to say that there were not rough spots.

It is HEAVY. You need to be sitting and probably some neck support any prolonged usage. It will be great on plans, maybe not so much at a desk.

In a dim room, the camera that creates the illusion that you can see through the googles is the same experience as looking through an iPhone in a dim room. The camera lags as it tries to deal with low light. This means turning your head around will experience a lag.

OS Changes

With the hardware being ready for primetime, the OS is mostly geared towards immersive consumption of media. The experience really shined if all you wanted was to have giant and immersive windows full of 3D imagery.

I am looking for that Johnny Mnemonic immersive workspace. For this, the future versions of the OS need to deal with:

Better Typing Experience

The keyboard is basically non-functional. Don’t imagine you can touch type much less use multiple fingers. Looking at a key and pinching a finger for a peck is not realistic.

Scroll Wheel

Selection and clicking is all done with a pinch. If you are navigating a large play list or set of photos, pinching and pulling is cumbersome. They need to let you use your second had for some sort of scroll wheel.

Desktop Management

The desktop involves pushing and pulling windows to and away from you. It is like the original Microsoft Windows manager, where you spend most of your time manually sizing and moving windows. If you wanted to use this as a work space, they will need a better window management and selection option.

It takes too long to move to a new window and bring it to you and push other windows out of the way.