Apple Aims to ‘Go Deeper’ with Vision Pro In-Store Demos
Credit: Customer trying on an Apple Vision Pro in Omotesando Tokyo Store [Apple]
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As Apple prepares to expand the Vision Pro to five new countries next week, it’s also rethinking how it presents in-store demos of the device.
Unlike most of the products it sells, Apple realizes that the Vision Pro requires a more guided experience for potential customers to understand what the headset is all about. Hence, when the Vision Pro first launched in the US in February, trying out Apple’s new spatial computing headset was a very scripted experience.
You can’t just walk into an Apple Store, pick up a Vision Pro, and try it on yourself. Instead, you must book an appointment for an in-depth 25-minute demo where an Apple specialist takes you through the highlights of what the headset can do.
So far, that’s been a very structured experience. While some of that is necessary, customers don’t have many opportunities to stray from Apple’s chosen path.
For instance, the demo begins with a specialist scanning your face to ensure that they can put together the right combination of components to ensure a perfect fit and add any ZEISS Optical Lens inserts for customers who require them. The combination of light seal, foam cushion, headband size, and optical inserts is all assembled in the back, with the resulting headset configuration brought out ready to go for the customer to try on.
That’s all quite understandable, but once the wearer is strapped into the spatial environment, the demo becomes a guided tour that shows them a specific set of experiences that Apple has carefully scripted. This includes using the device as a computer, visiting specific websites in Safari, and watching immersive 3D movies chosen by Apple to show off the best of what the Vision Pro has to offer.
However, since demand for in-store demos began dropping in April, Apple has been looking for ways to change things up to make the demos more appealing, especially now that it’s rolling out globally.
In his latest Power On newsletter, Mark Gurman shares how Apple will “refine the retail-store experience to help give the $3,499 device a boost.”
The most significant change is that instead of viewing only a selection of sample photos and videos that Apple has chosen for the demonstration, potential Vision Pro customers will now be able to see their own content. It’s unclear how this will work, but Gurman says they’ll be able to “beam their own photos, videos and panoramas over to a Vision Pro during a demonstration,” which suggests it will likely use AirDrop or some other wireless technology that Apple has cooked up specifically for this purpose.
Apple hopes that being able to see their personal media in the mixed-reality spatial computing environment will sway some shoppers, but it’s also making sure that folks who have specific interests will be able to take more time exploring those areas.
This is what Gurman calls a new “Go Deeper” option, and it’s intended to let people take some more time to try specific aspects of the headset. For example, somebody who is interested in using the Vision Pro to augment their work on a Mac would be able to spend more time exploring relevant apps and secondary monitor and virtual keyboard features, while folks looking at it as an entertainment or gaming device could spend more time watching videos or trying out immersive games.
Apple is also changing up the default headset band it supplies with the demo units, moving from the Solo Loop to the Dual Loop to ensure potential customers get the most comfortable fit possible. The Solo Loop band only wraps around the back of the head, while the Dual Loop has an additional strap that goes over the top of the head like a headphone band.
According to Gurman, the Dual Loop is now the standard headband used for all in-store demos as of last Friday. The other changes to the demo process have already rolled out to some retail stores but are expected to officially launch on July 9, just in time for the first in-store demos in Australia, Canada, France, Germany, and the UK, where the Vision Pro will launch on July 12.
