The real Vision Pro opportunity
2023-08-22 10:43:00 +0700 by Mark Smith
I've been meaning to write a blog post about the Vision Pro for several weeks now. It keeps getting relegated on my various todo lists in favour of other more pressing items. I was reminded of this by a Dave Rupert piece that explores why his initial Vision Pro entusiasm is now wanning.
I'm still kind of excited about the device, but I was always somewhat puzzled by the expectation that this is going to be a mainstream device. A device that folks not on a plane are going to be using to to watch movies and have video conferences. This just seems plain ridiculus to me, especially given the price.
I think we are on the cusp of many industries being revolutionized by AI, LLMs, cloud computing, cheap sensors and there is going to be a need for powerful visualisation tools. For these types of industries the price isn't an issue. Traditionally these areas of the econony have not been 'cool'.
Perhaps the opportunity with the Vision Pro isn't with consumer apps, but with industrial apps. Sectors like construction, interior design, synthetic biology, materials science, big pharma, supply chain management and many others, have money to spend and a need to process large amounts of data in new ways. I see the Vision Pro less as a way to watch movies and more like a welding mask, a speciality device that you use in specific parts of your workflow to accomplish previously impossible data analysis and manipulation tasks.
Remember there's this other product called the Mac Pro that was introduced quite recently. Top of the line, very powerful. Also very expensive. I bet it would look quite nice as a package with the Vision Pro. They are going to have to figure out some way to make it more attractive given that even high end visual effects artists are happy just using their Mac Books.