The Apple Vision Pro might be the most expensive mainstream mixed reality headset that money can buy right now, but it could also be the most important. That's according to one game developer, at least.
Despite costing at least $3,499 and currently only being available to buy in a single country, Job Simulator developer Alchemy Labs CEO Andrew Eiche believes that it's key to getting people interested in headsets.
Apple is expected to take the Apple Vision Pro global sooner rather than later and that could well help prove Eiche's point that the spatial computer is "as one of the biggest steps towards mainstream adoption" of such devices.
A big step forward
Eiche was speaking with GamesIndustry.biz when attention turned to Apple's costly first foray into the world of AR and VR devices, and the CEO believes that the Apple Vision Pro has one key thing going for it — the lack of friction.
"I think there's still a lot of things that we have to figure out to get there," Eiche said when discussing the VR gaming industry and the Apple Vision Pro. "But as far as friction [goes], which is one of the biggest things that we fight in XR... It's one of the lowest friction devices," he explained. "You put it on, there's no room setup, it's not yelling at you to draw circles or whatever, it just runs the apps. There's no caveats to it." The CEO also noted that the headset handles its own setup automatically, down to the adjustment of its lenses.
While Eiche is obviously right about the barrier to entry in terms of using the Apple Vision Pro, there is one caveat that is difficult to look past — its price. Thankfully, Apple is thought to be working on a new, cheaper version of the headset but a launch isn't expected to happen any time soon.
