Vision Pro as a camera… for who?

Part III in a series exploring strategic implications of the Apple Vision Pro

If the Vision Pro is evaluated as a camera… who would use it and why? 

In my last post, I discussed the notion of immersive capture and immersive sharing use the Apple Vision Pro’s extraordinary video and spatial audio capabilities, basically focusing on it as a video camera for creators instead of as a computer on your head or as a content consumption device. Is the Vision a new camera platform? Who is it for? 

There are issues with using the Vision Pro in its current form for capture, especially for the experiences that so many people share with friends and family, such as a celebration of a child’s birthday as depicted by Apple. Today, that seems ludicrous.  That part of the launch was roasted by skeptics and defended by some early-adopters.  To skeptics, it’s still hard for us to accept VR goggles in that scenario. To critics, it came across as a man sacrificing being in the actual moment with his actual kids so that in the future, he could again step out of the present and relive the past, with his virtual kids. To defenders of the scenario of use, they point out that people have been doing this for decades already: putting a lens between them and the experience in order to document it. Including dads, since at least the 1950’s, who might have joked “My kid’s first word was ‘Kodak!’”in the days of the Instamatic. Then it was a Nikon SLR. Then a Sony camcorder. Now it’s an Apple iPhone. 

We might bristle at the notion of memories-or tech-obsessed dad with a camera instead of a face, but we’ve been growing up with it for years. Are those gleaming ski goggles and simulated eyes simply the next iteration? How does perception of a guy-wearing-a-thing differ from a guy-holding-a-thing? (If attributes of the thing extend to the guy…hmm)

How do you navigate between recording the present vs being in the present? Does Vision Pro appeal to you for capturing memories? What is the effect of the form factor?