Over the years, humanity has seen immense progress in tech. We all remember when Steve Jobs held the first iPhone, altering everything we thought we knew about technology and smartphones.

But as companies innovated, so did the business models, potentially leading us to the bottom of the curve, making tech boring. That was until we were introduced to Augmented Reality and Virtual Reality.

To avoid confusion between AR and VR, here’s a quick explainer; Augmented reality (AR) augments your surroundings by adding digital elements to a live view, often by using the camera on a smartphone. Virtual reality (VR) is an entirely immersive experience that replaces a real-life environment with a simulated one.

Although we have top firms investing in AR and VR, Ivan Sutherland 1968, along with his students, developed what was widely considered the first head-mounted display system for use in immersive simulation applications, called “The Sword of Damocles”. Now, decades after this breakthrough, we have Meta and Apple coming out as formidable contenders to grab the market for AR and VR.

But as anything Apple ventures in, they have yet again emerged as top contenders in trying to be perfectionists in the AR/VR space, trying to represent their product, Apple Vision Pro, as the next big thing.

With a price tag of gut-wrenching $3500, the Apple Vision Pro was initially placed purely for the enthusiasts and a huge step forward by Apple, who have always ridden on the bandwagon of leading progress in the tech industry. However, early reports and fan reviews have painted a very different picture.

In the US, Apple provides customers with a 14-day window to return their products if they fail to meet the buyer’s expectations. Early customer reviews are led by an influx of returned Apple Vision Pros, with customers presenting valid points of not prolonging their interaction with Apple’s latest tech.

You may have seen videos of people walking in the streets wearing the new Apple Vision Pro, making quite the fashion statement. Memes have erupted over the past few weeks, potentially hinting at the vast form factor, and that has been the first complaint with the new device. The sheer size and weight of the Apple Vision Pro have been the cause of headaches and fatigue for many customers.

With other complaints regarding disorientation and motion sickness, we can map out the trajectory of how far we have to go until we reach perfection. Sci-fi movies have spoilt us for choice with various iterations of AR/VR, but we definitely are close to a version of that reality.

The future looks promising with AI aiding AR/VR in helping ease the challenges of mapping the surroundings, identifying objects and generating human model scans. AR/VR has also opened a world of possibilities for having a unique online presence through virtual avatars, giving brands far greater exposure to clientele.