Screengrab via Rec Room's Shawn Whiting
Update, 4:00pm: Shawn tells me he can't comment beyond the tweet featuring Rec Room in the VisionPro menu, but then adds: "might be more tomorrow too :)"
While Apple VisionPro may not be primarily targeted at or architected for VR/virtual world/Metaverse usage, it may still become an interesting niche peripheral for them. It looks like Apple very much knows and is preparing for that -- evidenced by this intriguing screengrab from the WWDC reveal, showing VisionPro being used in the App Store's premium Apps and Games We Love section. (See above.)
Top selection among those apps, even above Zoom: Rec Room, the highly popular, multi-device metaverse platform.
This is very likely no accident, especially when the VisionPro presentation is the most highly anticipated and carefully prepared in all technology. Even more intriguingly, the screen grab was first posted on Twitter... by Rec Room head Shawn Whiting! With a sunglasses emoji no less:
😎 pic.twitter.com/uh3ywHzxf4
— Shawn Whiting (@ShawnRecRoom) June 5, 2023
I reached out to Shawn and will update this post if I get a reply. I'm not completely surprised, as Rec Room is already playable on iOS, and (to judge by its 556,000+ App Store user ratings), easily has well over 10 million active users on iPhones/iPads.
And that's likely just the start: Another key part of the VisionPro reveal is the news that Apple is closely partnered with Unity the company to bring Unity-based apps to the HMD.
Most of the other leading metaverse platforms, including Roblox, ZEPETO, VRChat, and IMVU, are also powered by Unity.
And as longtime readers know, Linden Lab has long been developing a Unity-based iOS app version of Second Life, while the community-created Crystal Frost project is porting Second Life to Unity.
All that to one side, VisionPro is still a $3499 headset, and its price is unlikely to be affordable to most consumer for nearly a decade. But as a powerful and valuable niche peripheral to the Metaverse? That's definitely in the cards already.
> Rec Room head Shawn Whiting
LOL
Posted by: Martin K. | Tuesday, June 06, 2023 at 12:12 AM
Breaking news - Apple seriously considering relocating operations to planet Earth
Posted by: sirhc desantis | Tuesday, June 06, 2023 at 06:02 AM
Rec Room on the Vision Pro - I feel like there are cheaper options to give your 13 year old to play the VR game with n64 graphics.
Posted by: Adeon Writer | Tuesday, June 06, 2023 at 08:24 AM
... to play the VR game with n64 graphics.
I would be surprised if the VR version of Rec Room will be available on the Vision Pro any time soon - all the buzz is probably about a flat-screen version (basically the iPad version) coming to Vision Pro.
Posted by: Martin K. | Tuesday, June 06, 2023 at 09:05 AM