The movie Ready Player One shows a haunting futuristic society of people wearing virtual reality headsets, as it’s a vital part of their culture. Watching this movie, I thought this would never happen. However, with the new Apple Vision Pro and other VR headsets gaining popularity, I am not so sure.
The Apple Vision Pro became available for purchase on Feb. 2, leaving many people with questions concerning if Apple has gone too far. The Apple Vision Pro is a headset that blurs the line between reality and the digital world. There have been other virtual reality headsets like Oculus and Meta Quest, but what makes the Apple version unique is that there is no need for controls; people control the headset with their eyes. This seems very difficult to get used to and scares me for what other technology could look like in the future.
As of now, the Vision Pro has had a few setbacks that have prevented a mass amount of people from purchasing it. Some of these things include the expensive price, which is $3,500, while another inconvenience of the headset is that it is really heavy. According to the New York Post, it weighs 22 ounces which causes people to have headaches. Similarly, in the past, the original Apple computer was first very bulky and now is a portable laptop that is slim and can be slipped away in a backpack. I see the Vision Pro getting a lot smaller in size in the future like other technology has gotten. Within the next 10 years, I envision the goggles being the size of sunglasses and being widely used across the country similar to iPhones.
The goggles are advertised as a product that you can wear doing everyday activities such as work or chores which reminds me of Ready Player One. Having this technology branded in such a way is extremely misleading and toxic for our society. With iPhones as is, people are way too addicted and can’t look up from their devices, so I can’t imagine having goggles strapped to people’s heads. The Apple Vision Pro is not safe. Even though when looking through the goggles it looks like you are seeing the outside, you are actually seeing the outside through passthrough cameras. This means that if the headset dies, you won’t be able to see a thing. 1.6 million crashes each year are caused by texting and driving, according to Edgar & Snyder Associates, and I can only imagine how much more that number would rise if people started wearing these goggles while driving more consistently.
Ready Player One serves as a dystopian model of what our society should never look like and warns us of what could happen if we allow virtual reality to be a consequential part of our culture. New technology like the Apple Vision Pro could be the first step in our society becoming the real Ready Player One.
