Mixing realities

While smartphones have come to dominate the personal computing device market, big tech has made a new push into mixed reality, with all the major players jumping on the bandwagon.

In February, Apple launched its first new product in nine years — the Apple Vision Pro, a mixed-reality headset priced at R62,212.

Apple made a point of not calling it a headset and said that it does not use “augmented reality (AR), virtual reality (VR), extended reality (XR), or mixed reality (MR)” but rather spatial computing.

Virtual reality is a simulated 3D experience where users can interact with their surroundings. In contrast, augmented reality allows the user’s field of view to remain in the physical environment while adding digital overlays.

Mixed reality combines these two, allowing users to interact with the physical environment and digital content to create a fully immersive experience.

Spatial computing, on the other hand, is where a computer can interact with the user’s physical surroundings in real time, which is pretty much the definition of mixed reality.

The device’s primary selling points were entertainment, specifically the “ultimate personal theatre” it offered, and the ability for users to relive memories.

It also had an external screen that displayed a constantly updated representation of the user’s eyes.

In September, Meta Platforms, the owner of Facebook and WhatsApp, debuted its first pair of augmented-reality glasses, Orion.

However, these were only prototypes, and they would be used internally at Meta to test and improve the product.

By this point, Meta had released three generations of virtual reality headsets, the latest being the Meta Quest VR 3 headset, and had spent nearly a decade developing the technology necessary for the glasses.

This is because Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg believed they were a step in the direction of a hands-free alternative to the smartphone.

The glasses’ lenses can display text messages, video calls, and even YouTube videos onto the user’s field of vision. An accompanying wristband detects nerve stimulation, and cameras built into the frames track eye movement.

Then, in December, Google and Samsung teamed up to enter the mixed-reality market by unveiling an XR headset accompanied by an operating system.

The operating system is a version of Google’s Android for extended reality, a range of virtual- and augmented reality technologies.

This will allow companies to design their own extended reality devices while utilising the latest artificial intelligence advances.

The hope is to replicate Google’s success with the original version of Android, which is used by most major smartphones.

“The Apple Vision Pro is an amazing device, but it’s one device,” Google’s President of its Android ecosystem, Sameer Samat, said.

“We see a range of devices that will solve different problems in the ecosystem.”

Samat believes the Android operating system could power various devices for several purposes, such as watching videos, performing surgery, and gaming.

Samsung also provided a sneak peek of its headset, code-named Project Moohan, derived from the Korean word for infinite.

The device somewhat resembles the Apple Vision Pro, with its curved front, built-in speakers, and high-resolution displays.

“The major difference from the Apple Vision Pro is that the Samsung device feels lighter and more comfortable to wear for extended periods,” a Bloomberg report noted.

“It also features a large cushion for the back of a user’s head, plus an adjustable plastic piece that goes around the head. The field of view also appears larger than on the Vision Pro, allowing a user to see more content at once.”