Spatial computing - a game changer with the Vision Pro.

As transformative as the iPhone

On Jan 9 2007, when Steve Jobs launched the iPhone at Macworld, he changed the world.

Sixteen years later, on Jun 5, 2023, Tim Cook said ‘one more thing’ to introduce the Apple Vision Pro and spatial computing, and he changed the world again.

I got my hands on the Vision Pro soon after it launched, and I’ve been using it for a few weeks now.

The killer feature – Presence, blew me away.

Apple has built a machine that transports your ‘presence’ into another environment or someone else’s presence into your space. And it’s incredible how well this works.

To demonstrate this, Apple has created new ‘immersive video’ content. It’s beyond 3D – it’s as if you are there.

I gasped as I watched Faith Dickey fall off a high line 3000 feet over the fjords of Norway – three meters away from me. I experienced the ‘real’ presence of Alicia Keys in a recording studio. It wasn’t just about seeing her on a screen; it was about feeling her energy and passion as if I were standing beside her. I couldn’t help smiling in wonder as a virtual butterfly fluttered and parked itself on my finger.

My favourite workplace has been on the Moon for the past three weeks.

Yes, you heard that right – the Moon.

The Vision Pro’s immersive lunar environment is now my go-to place to work in peace. It helps that when I get tired of working, I can set up a 100-foot-tall, immersive screen on my Moon to watch my favourite Netflix show.

My workspace - Powerpoint, the asgard.world app and Notion on the Moon. Of course, this 2D representation doesn’t do the experience justice.

I recently watched Dune 2 in an IMAX theatre in London. The screen felt small, and the experience was underwhelming compared to my theatre on the Moon.

Vision Pro will forever change movies, concerts, tourism, and all media. We will go from being passive observers to fully immersed in the experience. I’ve already felt the excitement of a live concert and explored far-off destinations from my home; Vision Pro has opened up a world of possibilities.

But Vision Pro isn’t just about entertainment. It’s also already transforming the way I work and collaborate.

As I work on developing Asgard.world, I’ve overlaid digital tokens in the real world through AR on my phone and Vision Pro. It’s been wonderful to experience firsthand how Vision Pro can bring digital tokens to life and give them a real presence in human perception. Adding a real presence while collaborating with coworkers in the same virtual space, regardless of physical location, will make telecommuting more efficient and connected.

Asgard.world home screen overlaid on the real world on Apple Vision Pro

And the personalized experiences that Vision Pro offers are truly remarkable. Whether trying on clothes virtually or exploring architectural designs in 3D, Vision Pro will allow us to interact with digital content in ways that were never possible.

Tokens in AR view on an iPhone on asgard.world

Technologies evolve along an S Curve, starting slow, then experiencing rapid growth, and finally plateauing as they reach maturity. The current version of the Vision Pro is just at the start of its journey along the S Curve. As it continues to develop, it will become more accessible and convenient to use, reaching a point where it becomes as ubiquitous as smartphones are today. In a few years, I can fully see a world where a more efficient, slimmed-down version of the Vision Pro (perhaps 2X the weight of a pair of goggles) and equivalent Android variants will be attached to every face like smartphones are attached to every hand today.

The intersection of Vision Pro with VR/XR and AI represents the convergence of presence and prediction. VR/XR technologies serve as presence machines, allowing users to bring their presence to other places or bring others’ presence to them.

On the other hand, AI acts as a prediction machine, enabling better predictions and actions.

When combined with tokenization, which allows physical objects, content and services to become tangible and tradable, we enter a world where prediction and personalization engines operate within an environment where everything can be tokenized and traded at scale.

In this future world, Vision Pro, AI, and tokenization are driving forces that will transform our reality. With Vision Pro (and its successors) enhancing our perception of the world, AI providing insights and predictions, and tokenization enabling the exchange of tangible and intangible assets, we are on the cusp of a paradigm shift that will redefine how we interact with technology and each other.

Spatial computing, AI, and tokenization are all general-purpose technologies – they can have far-reaching consequences, and we often don’t see the possibilities. Very few people thought the result of the iPhone launch would be the demise of traditional taxi services.

I advise readers that now is the time to lean forward into these technologies. Those who find use cases for them now have a good chance of being the disruptors rather than the disrupted over the next decade.

PS: For those who want to know what’s up with Asgard.world, the project is progressing well, and the team is now working on the core AI elements - we are on track for a beta launch later this year. If you want to be a beta tester, email us at info@asgard.world.

PPS: For those who want to know what happened to Frameworks - please accept my apologies - I’ve been caught up in other stuff and stopped writing a couple of years ago. I've still got over a hundred frameworks to write, and I've committed to restarting in March 2024, so look for a new framework in your inbox this month.

Immersive video on the Vision Pro