1. After years of speculation, Apple has unveiled a headset that will place its users between the virtual and real world. Apple CEO Tim Cook announced the headset — called “Vision Pro” — at the company’s annual developers conference in Cupertino, California, on June 5.
2. The device will be capable of switching between virtual reality (VR) and augmented reality (AR) which projects digital imagery while users can still see objects in the real world. “This marks the beginning of a journey that will bring a new dimension to powerful personal technology,” Cook told the crowd.
3. But consumers will have to wait a while to buy it — and it won’t be cheap. Vision Pro will sell for $3,500 once it’s released early next year. The headset will have 12 cameras, six microphones and a variety of sensors that will allow users to control it and various apps with just their eyes and hand movements.
・Have you used a VR headset? If so, how was it? If not, would you like to??
・Have you used any augmented reality apps? Would you recommend them?
4. Apple said the experience won’t cause nausea and headaches like similar headsets in the past. Experts don’t think the Vision Pro will be a big hit right away. That’s largely because of the high cost, but also because most people still can’t see a good reason to wear something on their face for long periods of time.
5. Despite some skepticism, the headset could become another example of Apple releasing game-changing technology even though it wasn’t the first to produce it.
6. However, if the Vision Pro turns out to be a niche product, it would leave Apple in the same position as other major tech companies and startups that have unsuccessfully tried to push such headsets into the mainstream.
(1)Do you expect the Vision Pro to be successful?
(2)If you had $3,500 to spend on technology, what would you get?
7. Wedbush Securities analyst Dan Ives estimated Apple will sell just 150,000 of the headsets during its first year on the market before increasing to 1 million headsets sold during the second year.
8. By comparison, Apple sells more than 200 million of its iPhones a year. But the iPhone wasn’t an immediate hit either, with sales of fewer than 12 million units in its first full year on the market.
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