Only the most avid early adopters will likely feel compelled to rush out and buy a Vision Pro at its initial $3,500 price tag, but it’s definitely a user-friendly attempt to introduce the idea of immersive viewing to the public, and it will eventually come down in price. So far, the killer apps for the thing, besides watching movies and TV series, appear to be sports and concerts.
The more pertinent questions aren’t so much whether you need one now (you don’t), but the extent to which it’s a taste of what’s to come (it is); and as a movie and TV critic, what would seem to benefit most from the medium…
In an early review for CNN Underscored, Mike Andronico pegged movies as the killer app for Vision Pro, calling watching films using the headset “the most engrossing entertainment experience I’ve tried on one of these things … optimized to make you feel like you’re in your own personal theater.”
During a demonstration of the Vision Pro, the short nature/adventure films Apple has produced for the device definitely stood out, from feeling like rhinos (or dinosaurs) were inches away from you to the dizzying vertigo of looking over highliner Faith Dickey’s shoulder as she tightrope-walked over a 3,000-foot-high fjord in Norway.
The market for that, though, would appear to be far more limited than what Vision Pro can do in terms of sports or concerts: Putting you in the front row, or right behind the goalie with 180-degree view, during a soccer game or a performance by Alicia Keys; taking you to the rim along with NBA stars; and panning the locker room as a team celebrates a championship.
Just in terms of return on investment, given the cost for sports tickets or concerts, Vision Pro’s sky-high price tag suddenly seems at least a little less outlandish.
Support MacDailyNews at no extra cost to you by using this link to shop at Amazon.
MacDailyNews Take: We’ve been hearing about concerts since before we knew the device’s name, but Apple has yet to make a big push there.
Little birdie: One selling point of Apple's mixed-reality headset will be attending live and recorded concerts remotely. Buy a ticket, for significantly less than in-person, & the headset will "as much as possible, be like being there – with extras like changing seat positions." pic.twitter.com/GV0B5b5gP6
— MacDailyNews (@MacDailyNews) May 18, 2023
As for live sports:
NBA Commissioner Adam Silver in July 2023 said the league is working with Apple to bring a tech-enhanced NBA viewing experience to its $3,499 Vision Pro virtual reality headset.
During an exclusive chat with The New York Post at Allen & Co.’s annual “summer camp for billionaires,” the hoops honcho hinted that fast breaks and slam dunks could be part of a reimagined courtside experience on Apple’s hotly anticipated device.
“We’re working very closely with Apple,” Silver said when asked about the NBA’s plans for the Vision Pro, which is due for release in early 2024.
Immersive sports content was also highlighted in Apple’s WWDC keynote in early June. During that launch event, Disney CEO Bob Iger played a video that said, “You could do more than just watch sports. You could be at the game without leaving your home. – MacDailyNews, July 20, 2023
See also:
• Apple headset said to offer remote concert attendance – May 18, 2023
• Tim Bajarin: One of Apple Vision Pro’s killer apps likely to be ‘immersive sports’ – July 20, 2023
Please help support MacDailyNews. Click or tap here to support our independent tech blog. Thank you!
Support MacDailyNews at no extra cost to you by using this link to shop at Amazon.
NBA and NHL, as early adopters/partners, make great sense. James Dolan is CEO of Madison Square Garden Entertainment Corporation. He owns the Knicks and the Rangers. Both play in Madison Square Garden. Big-name musicians also play there. I recommend partnering with him. A bonus is he also operates the MSG Sphere in Las Vegas, a cutting-edge concert venue.
A relationship between MSG Entertainment and Apple would benefit both by building a comprehensive knowledge base that, over time, could help propel Apple Vision Pro into the consumer space. Other industries might see the benefits of early experimentation and negotiate similar deals.
There’s no Quickie Nirvana here. Rather, it will be a long slog. Think Different.😎
A big push into concerts and live sports will come when the platform is ready to go mainstream. For now, it’s for developers and a very small group of early adopters.
When you see a Taylor Swift concert and a Travis Kelce game live streamed for the Apple Vision (not-pro), that’s the signal for everyone to go out and get one.
Patience. That day will come.
The “killer app” idea needs to die. You get a much better angle for sports on TV, the best concert videos are cinematic productions from multiple vantage points. The whole appeal of a game or concert is BEING THERE not simulating it. There will be some market for this but it’s not going to be a primary reason people buy the AVP.
If there was to be a killer app for VR devices, I would imagine it would be live/recorded 360° POV videos. The draw is to experience what the streamer is seeing and hearing with the bonus of looking around outside of the normal field of vision. The ‘person’ could also be replaced with a drone for vids of places you normally couldn’t go.