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When Apple unveiled its long-awaited augmented reality headset, the Vision Pro, earlier this month, part of the pitch was that these “Ready Player”-style goggles would change the way we consume entertainment.
As The Walt Disney Company CEO Bob Iger was on hand to demonstrate new visually immersive capabilities in entertainment and sports, two of the biggest names in media appeared to be betting on augmented and virtual reality. Imagine seeing digital confetti raining down at a college football game, or watching The Mandalorian in the desert of Tatooine.
Owning content from Hollywood studios like Disney has long been seen as a way to bring the virtual reality business into the mainstream after years of failure in the once-bubble industry. Part of the reason expensive VR headsets have failed to deliver on their promise as the future of entertainment is the lack of something compelling for customers to play.
“Without content, it’s like a mansion without furniture,” said Dan Ives, managing director and technical analyst at Wedbush Securities.
But Apple’s earbuds, which cost $3,499 each, may not be enough to convince the average consumer that the price is worth it. To skeptics, Iger’s proposed feature might even seem like a gimmick.
“When I watch Ted Russo, I want to watch it with my wife, sharing the same screen,” said Wagner James Au, author of the forthcoming book “Making a Metaverse That Matters.” “
Au says the Vision Pro does have utility, but it seems to be more about productivity than entertainment. The ideal user might be a Disney employee, not a Disney fan.
The uses Apple and Disney have demonstrated so far are a bit of a Trojan horse, experts say. The target audience for Apple’s high-tech ski goggles isn’t consumers; it’s consumers. It’s other companies. The tech giant needs media brands, entertainment studios, and software developers to start adopting the technology so that when customers show up in droves, there’s a set of exclusive AR content waiting for them.
“I don’t think it’s a general consumer product right now,” said Brandon Ross, a partner and technology analyst at research firm LightShed Partners. Much like the iPhone’s massive third-party app store, he continued, Like pushing these devices into the mainstream, the Vision Pro “is launched to start developing an ecosystem of apps around it.”
Early integration of 2D streaming video apps, such as Disney+, provides potential users with an easy-to-understand example of what the headset can do, Ross said. Even more interesting, though, is the media that creatives have produced specifically for Vision Pro—content that can only exist in the AR format.
Disney, in particular, could finally use the technology to bring new products to fans, allowing for interactions with Mickey Mouse in a child’s living room, or adding virtual flourishes to an in-person experience at a theme park. (Is that Iron Man flying over Cinderella’s Castle?)
Matthew Ball, investor and author of “The Metaverse: And It Will How It Will Revolutionize Everything,” said The House of Mouse was a perfect fit for the technology, noting the brand’s association with the video game ” Fortnite and its innovations in theme parks and animation technology.
“Among all media companies, Disney IP has the most intuitive appeal in augmented reality or virtual reality,” Ball said via email. “For decades, children and adults have imagined themselves in the world of Star Wars or Marvel…Disneyland is proof.”
He went on to say that by decoupling parks like Disneyland from constraints such as ride capacity, hours of operation or the laws of physics, the technology could enable new, immersive ways of utilizing Disney intellectual property.
But Amy Webb, chief executive of the Future Today Institute, a consultancy, said that so far it’s unclear what added value the average viewer will get by ditching their TV for the Vision Pro.
Unless Disney secretly owns a whole new AR-specific media category, “what will this offer that is significantly better than the current TV viewing experience?” she asked.
In that sense, Apple’s announcement may be an attempt to inject momentum into the future the company is trying to build. In other words, the Metaverse — the popular term Silicon Valley uses to describe 3D virtual worlds.
“I just wonder if Apple is envisioning a world where two-dimensional screens disappear, and this first version of the product is designed to help bridge that bridge,” Weber said.
Apple did not respond to a request for comment. Disney did not make executives available for comment.
The entertainment world is littered with attempts to make augmented reality or virtual reality headsets a reality.
Magic Leap, once the industry’s wunderkind, pivoted to a less flashy corporate strategy after its consumer-focused AR headset underperformed. Meta, the biggest name before Apple’s entry into the space, has recently dropped the price of its Quest headset line due to slumping Quest 2 sales, and has been struggling to build a user base for its “Horizon Worlds” virtual environment.
Data shows that interest in AR and VR headsets will decline in 2022. Earlier this year, U.S. teens showed lower interest in the technology.
“When we were most excited about VR and AR, we had at least four different headset makers, and none of them were very excited,” said Jay Tucker, executive director of UCLA Anderson’s Center for Media and Entertainment Enterprise Management. The market has significant penetration.” and Sports. “Imagine trying to create a virtual reality experience. Knowing that your audience is a subset of people who buy a virtual reality experience, how much would you spend on it? [one] A specific headset? “
(That hasn’t stopped media companies from trying. NBCUniversal’s streaming service, Peacock, recently became available on Quest headsets.)
Tucker added that Apple wants to seize the opportunity of a company becoming the standard equipment maker in the AR space, convincing developers that there are enough users in the ecosystem to make the investment in original AR content worthwhile.
Deals with companies like Disney could break the ice.
Apple’s partnership with Disney isn’t the first time the two companies have worked together.
Former Apple CEO Steve Jobs was once Disney’s largest single shareholder after selling Pixar. Disney’s Disney Channel and ABC were the first TV networks to put shows on iTunes, and Disney Studios was the first movie studio to show movies there.
Iger even suggested that the two companies might have merged had it not been for Jobs’ untimely death. Maybe they still can — this time, in a virtual universe.
Published by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
Apple Vision Pro VisionOS. (Apple/TNS)
Apple Vision Pro with battery. (Apple/TNS)
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