Apple Event: Tim Cook reveals how Vision Pro is being used across industries

Luxury auto manufacturer Porsche is using the Apple Vision Pro to build the “showroom of the future”. Not many details were revealed about how Porsche is going about implementing this, but Apple showed a woman wearing a Vision Pro checking out a car. The car was changing colors in a way that reminded me of getting a new paint job in a video game.

I suppose what we’re supposed to take away from this is that XR will enhance the showroom experience by allowing more freedom. Potential customers will be able to view any Porsche they want in whichever dealership they visit.

Furthermore, using the Apple Vision Pro customers will be able to configure the vehicle they’re looking at on a whim. They could view different trims, different colors, various rims and more.

Tim Cook also claimed Porsche was using the Vision Pro to train service technicians and reimagine track experiences. Service technician training I understand. You don’t really want inexperienced people tampering with super expensive cars. So letting them train on virtual but highly detailed vehicles is a good substitute.

I have no clue what Cook means by reimagining track experiences, though. Is Porsche going to be implementing AR (Augmented Reality) in its cars? Or, and this is more likely in my opinion, the company is going to use Vision Pro headsets in its Simulator Labs where people drive virtual Porsche cars on virtual tracks.

Dr. Tommy Korn — Head of Ophthalmology Innovations at Sharp Healthcare — is using the Vision Pro to improve surgical eyecare. Cook said this was being done through “simulation, analysis and optimization”.

We’ve talked before about how the Apple Vision Pro might become a next-gen health assistant in the future. And we’re already seeing this happening to an extent. For example, Osso Health allows you to practice complex medical surgeries in Mixed Reality on the Vision Pro.

Again, not many details were given about how this was being done, but we can take a few educated guesses. The Vision Pro is excellent for simulating virtual objects in MR because of its superb displays and myriad of sensors. Doctors can practice eye surgeries in great detail using the Vision Pro.

The headset, using true-to-life simulation, would also let doctors analyze each situation without any real pressure. They can take their time to fully understand how everything works and what each little detail means. And lastly, via repeated practice doctors can optimize their procedures in preparation for a real-life scenario.

Lastly, Tim Cook mentioned that film director Jon M. Chu was editing his upcoming film ‘Wicked’ on an Apple Vision Pro. This was being done from the comfort of his home on a “theater-size screen”.

That’s pretty cool, in my opinion. I can’t speak to the editing prowess of the Vision Pro. But being able to see your film on a screen that big before it’s even been released must feel awesome.

I’d also imagine it’s a much more personal experience. The characters of your film are standing in front of you, larger than life. Not on some small monitor. And you can also gauge how certain scenes will look in cinemas and adjust them accordingly.

The rest of the event talked about the new iPads and the Apple Pencil Pro. But this isn’t all that Tim Cook has said about the Vision Pro in recent weeks. Only a few days ago he mentioned that half of the Fortune 100 companies had bought a Vision Pro headset.

The Vision Pro is a fantastic headset. In fact, it is one of the best AR headsets we’ve ever used. But, being so new to the market, I guess it will take a few years for it to find its footing. It remains to be seen whether it will become an entertainment headset or if it will be used for more specialized use cases like Porsche’s showroom of the future.