Why didn't Apple talk about the Metaverse when announcing the Vision Pro glasses?

Over the course of two hours, it revealed Camel unveiled a host of new hardware and operating systems, and the Vision Pro was the main product that got everyone's attention (you can learn all about glasses from here), where augmented reality glasses revealed enormous capabilities that will change our way of life, work, and communication with others, however, Apple did not attempt, even once, to use the complex word “Metaverse” while addressing its revolutionary device, but what is the reason behind ignoring Metaverse when advertising About Vision Pro glasses.

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Since Mark Zuckerberg's decision to change the name of Facebook to Meta, the company has announced that its goal is to build what is known as a parallel world or metaverse, which can be briefly described as a version of the Internet supported by virtual reality technology. For those of you unfamiliar with Metaverse, it is a term that first appeared in the sci-fi novel Snow Crash back in 1992. The term generally refers to a vision of the Internet related to virtual or augmented reality. Instead of clicking and scrolling through web pages and websites, you can navigate seamlessly through metaverses and get a unique and interactive experience. Although Apple announced the Vision Pro, which resembles amazingly designed futuristic ski glasses, it preferred to use the term spatial computing instead of the metaverse that has been misused to a large extent by those who tried to build it, led by Facebook, which painted everyone's rosy dreams as almost It comes close to letting users go online with their avatar and do anything with HD graphics, smooth usability, and more-than-amazing virtual worlds accessed through Facebook Glass, but the experience was so bad that even the number of subscribers to Metaverse (Facebook's parent company) ) is too small.

Apple and Metaverse

Cook did not clearly mention the word Metaverse once during the launch, which lasted for some time. Instead, Apple announced the advent of the era of “spatial computing.” The matter is not new to the company and its CEO. In previous meetings, Tim Cook made it clear that he does not like to use the word Metaverse, and he does not believe it has any real meaning as he points out that ordinary people do not understand what the term is.

In addition, the CEO of Apple is aware that the founder of Facebook fully embraces that word, starting with changing the name of his company from Facebook to Meta and then announcing his plan to build Metaverse, so Cook did not want to appear as if he was chasing someone else's idea and with Zuckerberg failing to build this world parallel. And then he was forced to reduce not only the budget allocated to this project, but he also reduced the workforce during the recent period after the losses incurred by Meta as a result of the pursuit of a dream that has not yet been achieved, also Apple does not want to use the word Metaverse after the disappointment and failures that befell Mark's Metaverse. Zuckerberg, so that during the past year, searches for metaverses decreased, so Cook and company officials decided to rely on a new alternative word that would be exclusive to the company, which is spatial computing instead of metaverses.

Apple and Facebook

Meta (formerly Facebook) was so confident in its ability to create the Metaverse universe, the idea of ​​an immersive 2021D internet that it changed its name from Facebook in XNUMX, and began pouring billions into the project. But the idea was cut short by fake launches, dodgy graphics, no clear path to profitability, and a general feeling that few people knew what it was. This caused billions in losses; That is why Mark Zuckerberg decided to shift from Metaverse to talk increasingly about artificial intelligence, which is becoming more popular now because of chatbots and generative artificial intelligence, and it can be said that the difference between Meta and Apple when it comes to Metaverse is that the iPhone maker does not seek to build a large-scale ecosystem With a cheap device, which is what Meta does with its Quest glasses. Instead, Apple seeks to monetize its users with an already lucrative subdivision of subscriptions and high-margin software.

Everything has a brand

Apple likes to put its stamp on its own products. It names every system or device and even the features you put a trademark on, and does not rely on already known terms, for example, facial recognition technology in the iPhone did not call it face recognition, but rather called it “Face ID” as it called the system The cameras and sensors that facilitate Face ID are called “TrueDepth.” In addition, music is listened to in Dolby Atmos surround sound on Apple Music, but Apple calls that technology Spatial Audio.

This means that Apple will not adopt the term metaverse; Because it already exists, and that is why it is always keen to avoid using it and adopting a term of its own such as spatial computing. Also, there is another reason that prompts Apple to ban the use of Metaverse, as this term does not describe the type of mixed reality experiences that the company seeks to build for users. Where the Metaverse aims to replace the real world with a virtual one, this contradicts what Apple wants, which is interested in creating an open experience that includes features from the digital and real world, and for this reason its attention was focused heavily on augmented reality with little interest in virtual reality.

Apple is heading to the Metaverse, but in its own way

At the developer conference and at the presentation of Vision Pro, Apple simulated many clips of the famous movie “Ready Player One”, which is a movie that imaginatively depicts what the metaverse world will be like, this world called the Oasis, so Apple does not deny that its goal is to reach the metaverse but in its own way.

Ultimately, some argue that the announcement of Apple's Vision Pro eyeglasses made Meta look like BlackBerry that has gone into the graveyard of history after its intransigence in developing its own smartphones, while others believe that Apple provided a believable vision of the long-term possibilities of augmented reality. Without having to touch the Metaverse. Which Meta failed to provide to users, in any case, the price of Apple Vision Pro is still exaggerated, and the glasses are still in their infancy, so we have to wait and see the reactions as soon as they become available in the market, and ordinary users try them, then the reviews will appear real.

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