The XR device Apple Vision Pro, which is not seen on CES, considered as the vane of the consumer electronics industry, will be launched in the US market early next month. On the one hand, the Sony XR all-in-one machine, which was unveiled at CES for the first time, has not been clearly named, and on the other hand, there is no clear release time.
In addition, Vision Pro is a consumer electronic product "for the public", while Sony's XR all-in-one machine "is designed for professionals engaged in 3D design".
In addition, Vision Pro can be connected to external devices, but it mainly relies on eyeball, gesture and voice control; Sony's XR all-in-one machine is directly equipped with an operating ring and an operating handle, which should ensure the accuracy of this "professional" device in operation.
All these are intuitively obvious differences between the two.
(Apple Vision Pro, picture from Apple (China) official website) However, from some details of the two devices, Sony and Apple have some small tacit understanding about XR and immersive experience, perhaps without product exchanges.
In terms of display, both of them use Micro OLED.
In addition to the general excellent characteristics of OLED devices, Micro OLED also has the characteristics of small size, light weight, high resolution, high contrast, etc. It is applied to micro display panels, near eye display scenes, electronic viewfinder, head mounted displays, etc. Sony has many years of experience in the development and application of Micro OLED due to its earlier attention and layout in the VR/AR market. The previous public news is that the display screen used by Vision Pro is the Micro OLED screen exclusively provided by Sony, which has a 4K resolution, a pixel density of more than 3000PPI, and a resolution of 8K.
In addition to Micro OLED, both have 4K resolution. This further represents that both parties attach importance to display effect, which is, of course, the overall industry trend of XR equipment development.
In addition to the display, both pay attention to the relationship between the digital world and the real physical world, but the specific design is different.
Sony XR all-in-one machine, the front (display area) can be turned forward 90 ° (similar to the outer layer of double glasses), allowing the creator to quickly switch back to the real space; As for Apple Vision Pro, it is configured with an external screen that can display a pair of simulated "eyes", and add light effects when users immerse in the experience, so as to remind people around that users in the experience may not notice their existence, to some extent, as a "security instruction", or to avoid social embarrassment.
In the view of Ding Keji, the more important "tacit understanding" should also be in the product concept. Both focus on "productivity".
The positioning of Sony XR all-in-one machine "specially designed for professionals engaged in 3D design" has been clearly demonstrated. The device uses six cameras and sensors for space recognition, so that the wearer can expand the creation space by overlaying virtual objects into the real space. When conducting 3D product design in the virtual creation space, the creator can see the 3D model of the 1:1 restored real product in the virtual space, create and modify it, and support remote real-time viewing of the 3D design process by integrating third-party 3D applications.
Apple Vision Pro is not just a personal entertainment device. Even at the initial stage, its entertainment properties are not obvious compared with other consumer level head displays on the market. For example, at present, the game of Vision Pro is presented as a two-dimensional plane and interacts with the game controller. At present, Vision Pro does not support somatosensory interactive games that fit XR devices. In addition, Netflix, YouTube, etc. will not immediately launch the visionOS version of the application in viewing.
In contrast, Vision Pro is pre installed with Borderless, Keynote and Safari, which are all types of office software; 3D image shooting and review are also bringing new creative space to creators in the current era of video information dissemination; Like the 3D interface of visionOS, the display of applications can get rid of the size limit of the physical display screen. Multitask processing and video editing have reasons to become easier; FaceTime calls, so that participants can present in a life size window, plus space audio, which will make remote meetings have a better experience, for example, people in different places can help explain presentations
These seem to be more in line with Apple's definition of "revolutionary spatial computing device", that is, personal computer as a "new form".
Focusing on "productivity", on the one hand, it shows Sony's and Apple's differentiated thinking on XR and immersive experience. In terms of the market, there are many XR entertainment terminals; On the other hand, it may also represent their judgment on the XR market in the short term. When entering entertainment, they not only face the test of content experience, but also the market has been tepid for many years. In the production field, some hard demands exist.
