Apple Vision Pro Available in the U.S. On February 2, Pre-Orders Begin Next Week

I'm having trouble seeing how this Vision Pro is gonna be better than existing tools for blind folks. My iPhone already lets me do everything I need - call people, use apps, read stuff online. All for way cheaper than $3,500!

The Vision Pro sounds kinda interesting but it doesn't seem designed for wearing around town and doing regular stuff. And I ain't gonna wear some bulky headset all day anyway. My iPhone fits right in my pocket.

I'm sure Apple put effort into making the Vision Pro accessible but VoiceOver on my iPhone and Mac already work great. Don't see why I'd pay crazy money for something that does the same stuff but less efficiently for a blind user.

Maybe the Vision Pro will be cool for sighted users. But for now, I'll stick to my iPhone and Mac. They are way more convenient and cheaper for a blind person like me.

If anyone gets a Vision Pro, let us know if it's actually better than an iPhone or Mac for anything. I'm kinda skeptical it's worth that insane price tag. But hey, maybe I'm wrong. Just doesn't seem that useful to me.

I totally agree with @Blind I Am.

Agree. $3000 or more for what. If it was able to use Siri to describe what is around you and describe photos similar to Be my AI that might be a game changer. Maybe some day it might happen. Not.

I would love to get my hands on one, to see how voice over would navigate and how it would act to someone totally blind. I could see virtual reality games becoming accessible possibly. Of course the three gran price tag puts a major damper on it. Even though I will until I upgrade, be jealous of watch owners who can click their fingers to answer a call. Not that a double tap is hard to do just, I'm one series lower, come on guys. I'll watch the sites I visit to see how it's launched.

Is not consistent and works well all the time. Using watch 9 and current OS.

I have very specific words and thoughts that I’d like to use when thinking about this quote community. but for the sake of remaining polite, I’m going to stick with narrowminded. People don’t seem to understand that whether or not they like this, it’s going to happen. Moreover, there are 1 million use case scenarios for this product, and the blind and visually impaired will benefit. For example, instead of pulling out a phone and taking a picture to describe a scene, the blind user can simply look over, and the picture will be taken with either a voice command or a simple tap. Or, the device will automatically describe what it’s seeing without our needing to ask it to do so. As a blind person is walking down a street, the cameras on this device will determine location to a more precise level And essentially tell them what’s around them. A blind person can look around and be told if someone is smiling at them or scowling at them. It’ll tell them the description of the person that they’re looking towards. They could tell them who the person is. For example, John or Jane is 15 feet away at the storefront. And it will do it without us having to use our hands. It will be able to read a document you might receive in the mail. It might even be able to read what is on a computer screen. Or an ATM. It might be able to describe the action at a basketball game.

Right now, it’s $3500. And its battery life isn’t that great. But this is the first step towards something immensely bigger. The second generation or third generation or fifth generation, which will be maybe in five or six years can be much smaller and probably cheaper. And even if it’s not cheaper, there are going to be a lot of people who will be using this product by then. And generally speaking, it’ll be the same people denouncing it right now.

That’s pretty much the way this website works. People say something is a terrible idea. They say they don’t see how blah blah blah. And then for five years down the line, they can’t picture their lives without it and find something new to complain about.

Yes, your phone can pretty much do everything I’ve described. But this device will do it without you having to pull out your phone because it’ll already be on your face. Moreover, it’ll be live and bring you closer to being a sided person. Add to that the way that “artificial intelligence is progressing, and our lives are going to be much better in the next 5 to 10 years. And all most of you can do is complain and be unimaginative

I generally have stayed away from commenting on this website due to many negative experiences in the past. And I’m going to regret leaving this post. But enough is enough. This version of the Vision Pro is not for you. It’s a test bed. It’s potential For tomorrow. And I think it’s important to allow ourselves to be excited about tomorrow because it’s coming sooner than you think.

I genuinely tend to enjoy all of your comments. You and maybe a few others tend to have really amazing thoughts. They tend to be more about possibility than about the easier negativity that sometimes can be overwhelming.

Excuse us for talking about a product that actually exists now rather than one that may exist in the future.

Save your feeling of superiority, insults, and patronising tone for when people are dismissing something that is actually capable of doing what you describe.

Good for you.

It looks like someone else already said what I was going to say. Nevertheless... Yes I am not that excited about the displays for obvious reasons. However the sensors on the Apple Vision Pro potentially have a lot of use cases once some creative and talented folks get to experiment with them. From public sources on what Apple has mentioned there are at least two main cameras, two TrueDepth cameras, a full LiDAR sensor centered in an optimal location, and IR cameras to see in the dark and sense light. And the Vision Pro has a specialized chip that can process all these inputs, and prsumably if not now some day give a superior data feed of surroundings to apps to use for a lot more. This will take time, and I am hear to encourage anyone who has the vision, creative genius and skills to think up and make things i can't even think of yet. Imagine an app like Oko (pedestrian light detector) given the abilities to have a more detailed and accurate data feed. I took this post to be intended for this, get the creative ideas flowing. Perhaps AppleVis is not the place to brainstorm anymore. So yes version one is probably not for most of us, but everything has to start somewhere. I am sure a lot of horse and buggy enthusiasts weren't enamored with the Model T either. Luckily for everyone it is a choice. There is no law or anyone holding a gun to your head saying buy it now!

I understand this is a product many in our community feel passionately about, given the potential added value of the technology. However, we ask that we please avoid personal attacks and insults, as those rarely lead to productive conversations.

Accordingly, could we please refocus the discussion on the Apple Vision Pro itself - both its current capabilities and how it might continue to develop in the future. I'm sure many of us have ideas, concerns, and hopes about the product that could be valuable to share in a thoughtful way.

David, apologies to the team, my temper slipped a bit. I did try but it's not possible to delete my comments which I'm willing to do. If you have the ability to do this, I'm all for doing that to be fair to this post.

As others have said here, this product does have potential in the future. Being that its only the first generation though, I'd expect there to be flaws, like any new product that comes out on the market these days. Having said that, I feel the price for the headset is what would keep me from even thinking about buying one.

I don't think i'll buy the first generation. but it'll be more exciting as it gets cheaper and more capable.

I agree with others on here; this has potential. The majority of us don't have $3500 to throw down on a vision pro but who knows what could come of it in 10 or 20 years from now. It is still in its' infancy.

Apple? It's a little silly to ask us what we think. We simply don't know. We haven't tried it. We don't know any blind people who have tried it. I love the vision offered by Ash Rein, but if you want our opinion, it would be so incredibly helpful if you, Apple, loaned a demo to someone in the AppleVis hierarchy so they could review it for the rest of us. I mean, no ingtense offended, butd duh.

A note to AppleVis hierarchy: I don't suppose you have room in the AppleVis budget to buy one, review it, and return it within the return period? Or keep it and offer it as a grand prize for some AppleVis contest or fund raising lottery down the road?

I'm very curious about this product, as it does have a lot of potential, but at the end of the day it comes down to two questions, does it work and how well. Until we get our hands on one we won't know.

You will need an appointment to do so.

I love the idea of trying one out at an Apple Store. Only one problem. The nearest Apple Store is around 5 hours' drive from my house.

I don't think just Apple will have them, I'm guessing best buy walmart etc should have them. If not, I'd still make a weekend of it, grab a room, play with the device, then go on a journey to have a brake. :) You're talking to a girl who hasn't had a vacation in almost seven years and is well overdue.

I am looking for someone will do a podcast about it?
even it is quite expensive though !

I don’t think a podcast could really give you an idea of how a device like this works. Same thing for a YouTube video. I think it will be something you have to try for yourself.

I agree with most people here that I’m not expecting much out of this gen 1 device. A lot of discussion about the AVP in general, centers around future potential. For some sighted people, it’s the alure of having one or more virtual 40+ screens to take with them while traveling, either for entertainment or to get “real” work done instead of having to look at a relatively small 16” MBP screen. For blind people it’s the possibility of wearing something that would give us more and easier access to visual information when out and about.

I’m mildly tempted to set up an appointment to demo the VVision Pro at my local Apple store, but there will probably be a lot of people doing that so I’ll probably pass. Lol

My feelings about this are kinda mixed. If I was still sighted, and this headset was available here in the EU, I'd probably buy it on a whim, however being totally blind, the only value that I can currently find in this product is to impress sighted people as a developer, because to me, if I disregard the hand gesture recognition, this headset is just as good as the AirPods Pro which also have an accelerometer and gyroscope and thus can already be used to develop immersive virtual reality experiences for the blind at a twelfth of the price. This is not to say that there is no accessibility potential in a device like this, however there are two things to consider: it's so expensive that I would think twice about using it outside, and currently a single battery charge is way too low for this headset to be usable as a daily driver.

1. It's way to expencive and 2. At the moment there's no AI built in that's made to help the blind navigate and honestly even when or if it's built in, I doubt I'd buy it.

I'd be willing to check it out at an apple shop though.

First, let me say that I personally will never pay $3k+ for a niche group item. Having said that, I can see a few instances where this type of technology could potentially benefit the blind.

1. Seeing A.I. - The "World" feature is amazing, even if it is still a 'preview'. It basically scans your environment in real time, and creates a navigational path for you to follow. This includes indoor navigation. I have used this on my iPhone, and it is pretty neat.
2. Envision - Envision's "Explore" feature is pretty amazing. It uses the camera to scan the environment in real time, and identifies objects. The Face Identifier feature could also be handy here. Note: not to be confused with FaceID to unlock the iPhone, etc.
3. Voice Vista - 'nuff said.
4. Be my Eyes - Both the "Call a Volunteer" and "Be my AI" function could be utilized with this tech.

These are just a few ideas where this technology could be useful, but again, I do not like the price. If I am paying over $3k, I want, at the very least, to be able to fully replace the iPhone.

/end 2 cents.

Subject line says it. I'm sure that's what Brian meant by be my eyes, though I'll never use that program for anything sensitive, I don't trust the volunteers well meaning though they are. I'd love to be able to take a video while out and about but again, the price tag won't be coming down any time soon. I'm sure Apple's not going to lower the price on it if at all seeing as how it's the next shiny thing. I would also be curious to try it at an Apple store.

What is that the iPhone can not do that the device can? Same thing you do in the phone can do with the vission. If I was sighted good reason to get it but as a blind person!

It allows people to use their devices without having to pull out their phone and put it back in their pocket. Not everybody has an easy time doing that. And considering that most people are either using a white cane or a dog, it’s not that easy, doing things with one hand. Many people live fast pace, lives and having a device that brings them closer to being able to see will make their lives that much better.

There’s a lot of people that say they will never buy something like this. And then they end up buying it. There’s so many people that said they would never buy a watch because they couldn’t see the use and now they’re all using it. There’s so many people said that, they didn’t see the point of a MacBook if they have a Windows PC that works and they ended up buying one. They said they wouldn’t buy an iPhone without a home button. They are now using an iPhone without a home button. No matter what comes out, there are some people that will immediately jump to know. And then, when they see that other people are enjoying it, they jump on the bandwagon and say look I like it too. I’ve always liked it blah blah blah.
In the end, if it’s $1000 or $3000 or $6000, people will buy it if they find it useful. How much money would any of you pay to be able to be more part of the world?

I'd love to know what this new device can do for us, but I don't, and whatever it does do, I seriously doubt it will instantaneously convert what it sees into useful words.

They say a picture is worth a thousand words. A picture is instantly seen, however. How long does it take to hear and understand a thousand words? Sure, you don't need to take it out of your pocket and put it back again, but what does that save you? A couple seconds every once in a while? I'm not sure I want to spend the money if all I'm going to get is a savings of a couple seconds here and there, and I don't even use my phone camera as it is, not for anything.

Still, I love the advance of technology, and I figure that if Apple thought this device meat something special for us, they'd be blowing their trumpets.

Anybody hear any trumpets?

So you are willing to pay over $3500 for what the phone does just because is hard to use the phone. My birthday is coming on June. Let me know if you can give me that for present.

Let me know when you have my £3000 ready will ya?

If it can walk me to the shop, letting me know what's around me and when to cross the road, plus train times and lettting me know about obsticles, and read text without me having to move my head,, (I won't know where the signs are to do so,) then I might be interested, but for now there's no way I'd even think about spending that much money on a pair of glasses.

I bought the watch, it wasn't for me but tonnes of blind people enjoy it, but they enjoy it because it's about £500 for a brand new one, no one would pay £3000 for a watch unless they were stupid or ritch or both.

When it comes to affordability, people who can, are people who will (buy one of these). I mean, if the demand is there. . .

I can definitely see someone with both vision and mobility impairments wanting this kind of technology. Especially with the suggestions I provided in my last post.

I do not have any personal experience with Aira, but have seen a YouTube video or 3 about it. While I am not too familiar with it, I am with Be my Eyes/AI.

Also, I hear Be my Eyes is great for stalking Irish girls. 😈

$3500 for a device that will last 4 hours before you charge it and if you take it outside it will be the last time. Those third party apps like be my eyes will not work on it. Irish women I go for them. Give me a red hhair.

Why wouldn't apps like BmE work? Are there no cameras built into the device? No internet capability?

Don't say no VoiceOver, because Illegally Sighted has already referenced it on his YouTube channel.

Will see what happen, when a blind person who has more money than sense by one.

Have you ever had a post that wasn’t a complaint? I’ve never seen you post anything positive ever.

You know, the other week I was going to the museum of modern Art in New York. So I set the GPS and was on my way. And more than a few times Apple Maps asked me to pull my phone out and move it around so that It can get a more accurate fix on my specific location. This was somewhat problematic because it was the middle of the Christmas holiday and people were coming from every direction. A couple of times, someone almost knocked the phone out of my hand as they plowed into me while I was standing in a stationary position. Now you tell me if I dropped my phone in New York City with literally 1000 people around me, how would I have ever picked up that phone? You might say that people would be nice and could help me. And that is definitely a possibility. Except that they are just as likely to pick up the phone and walk away with it. If I had something like the Apple vision Pro, I would simply be looking around, and the GPS would be doing its job automatically. It’s not just about pulling out my phone here and there to save a few seconds. It’s literally trying to pull out the phone to do any number of tasks where it is inconvenient or problematic. With the Apple vision, pro and voiceover enabled, you can literally do swipe gestures and type in the air. You don’t have to worry about it dropping out of your hand because it’s not in your hand. You don’t have to worry about pulling your phone out to take a picture because the device will automatically do it as you turn your head. And as I’ve mentioned before, it is $3500 right now. If I actually bought the Apple Vision Pro, I would never think that it would be a good idea to leave any feedback on this website. My feedback goes to where it belongs. Directly with the engineers and axcessibility team. And it’s funny how the ones who try to be positive and promote possibilities have to contend with a few people who tend to monopolize and are nothing but negative about every single topic pretty much 100% of the time.

$3500 and a 2 1/2 hour battery life is not reasonable right now. They’re not pushing out the product for any other reason to see how people respond to it. The technology is going to improve and get smaller and there well eventually be better battery life. And iOS 18 is apparently going to have quote artificial intelligence baked into it. The way the technology is evolving and changing is impressive. I am more into what can be than thinking of someway to be negative.

You of course have every right to use your devices the way you want to. I’m having a very difficult time understanding why anyone who isn’t interested in this device would bother to post just to complain. It’s literally OK to not like something. If you don’t want to use your camera then perhaps you can focus on things you do want to use. This isn’t about what you wouldn’t use. This is supposed to be about what the possibilities of a device like this could be. and what it apparently can already do.

Fair Enough. Yeah, no,, I'd not trust strangers to give me my phone back either so you make a very good point.

If this could have maps built in,, which it probably will, I'd definetly consider giving it a go in a shop and if it works, you'll probably be write, if I could buy it on a plan I would.

Ok, now I'm thinking about it, having not to use my phone and just being able to ask what my next direction is would be amazing!

I'll look into this device when it comes to the uK, the 2 and a half hour battery isn't good at the moment but as you say, it will improve.

You've changed my mind, I'm going to look at one of these when they come to the UK.

You're right, posting just to be snarky/negative isn't worthit and is a waist of my energy.

I'm as visual as I can be. I've posted on here before about how i live life as fully sighted as possible. that means, I want information about something I want to buy if it looks good, or if someone's blowing sunshine up my skirt. I make my own decisions. We're all speculating on what it can do when clearly no one outside of Cupertino has no ideas. Maybe voice over will be choppy, maybe the battery will take to long to charge, maybe Apple will put out patches barely a few weeks after release. If it's not for you in any capacity, that's up to your own preference. Me? I'll try it and if I really honestly saw a need for it, yes I would buy it. I'm also a redhead Irish woman who has a lot of trouble being PG on here because most of yall need a serious kick in the ass sometimes. Here's hoping whoever tries or buys it, has fun. Man if I had the capability to run a site such as this, I'd so change so much about this place. :)

I'd love to see a much less expensive audio only option. I get tired of paying higher and higher prices for hi-tech screens I can't see.

For those who think this is just an expensive toy, I would like to bring you back to the early 1980s, when Apple introduced the Lisa, then the Macintosh. At first, rich executives would buy the Macintosh, set it on the corner of their desk, and run the analog clock application fullscreen. That was all they used it for. They did all their real work on their PC clone running DOS 3.1.

So don't underestimate Moore's law.

Up to this point, Apple has not officially published any workflows or instructions regarding the Vision Pro’s accessibility features. The press release mentions these features only briefly, which does not suffice to inform us about how users with visual impairments can interact with the new device. It seems likely that even Apple Store employees may not have this information. Apple ought to distribute a detailed press release or a technical support document explaining the implementation of accessibility features on the Vision Pro. If such documentation were available, our discussions could be grounded in its contents rather than relying on subjective speculation.

Eloquent and succinct. Well said.

I think that Apple Vision has tons of potential, but as it is currently, it's prohibitively expensive for me. I waited until the Apple Watch Ultra to jump on that particular bandwagon, and while I hope it won't be 8 years before I check out what Apple Vision has to offer, I can't even allow myself to think about it until the price comes down, ideally to under $1,000. A few years back, I heard some rumors that Apple was going to come out with some glasses for around $500. Presumeably, had they ever become reality, they would have ben designed to help with apps like seeing AI, Envision, or other similar apps. If those glasses would have become a reality, I would have absolutely saved up $500, or bought them on my Apple card, but $3,500... Not so much. Also, based on what I've heard so far, it doesn't sound like Apple Vision is intended to be used for things that would be helpful on a daily basis. Perhaps I'm wrong about that part, but nothing I've heard about Apple Vision so far has sounded like a feature that could increase my independence. I will most definitely do my best to maintain awareness of what's going on with Apple Vision, as I'm sure it will improve quite a lot over time, but I'd much rather invest in a simpler, more budget friendly piece of technology. For now, especially since it's no longer possible to buy an unlocked iPhone using interest free installments on the Apple card, I'm perfectly happy with my iPhone 13 Pro and Apple Watch ultra. I don't see myself replacing either one of them until they're no longer supported unless an extremely significant accessibility feature is introduced that requires newer hardware.