There’s no shortage of speculation about what Apple needs to do to make the Vision Pro product line a commercial success. At $3500, there’s no way this product can be a mass market success, and Apple has always known that. Besides, Vision Pro production is too heavily constrained to sell in large numbers. When people speculate on ways Apple could build a lower cost Vision product, the first thing that comes up is getting rid of EyeSight.

EyeSight is an interesting feature that uses the outward-facing display on the Vision Pro to show a live representation of your eyes. This lets people around you know if you can currently see them, or if you’re immersed in an app or environment and can’t see them. It’s an innovative way of conveying status without resorting to something basic like an LED indicator. It also helps you look a teeny tiny bit less like a robot to the other person. At least, that’s the idea. This feature has been met with almost universal ridicule from reviewers and pundits.

First things first, EyeSight isn’t perfect. Not even close. The outer screen needs to actually be as bright and clear as the advertisements make it seem. But I think the idea behind it is sound. Making technology you wear more human and approachable is a necessity for wearable computing. Until we get to the point of unobtrusive smart contact lenses, there’s going to be a need to ensure that the technology isn’t doing more to prevent us from connecting with others. EyeSight can be viewed as a step toward achieving this goal.

Touch Bar Vibes

EyeSight reminds me a bit of the Touch Bar on the 2016 MacBook Pro. Both features seem to have started with clear intentions. For EyeSight, the goal was to reduce isolation while wearing the Vision Pro. For the Touch Bar, it was to make better use of the function keys, which most people only use for volume, brightness, and music control..

Unfortunately, the Touch Bar needed more iteration and improvement. It would sometimes not respond to taps or completely freeze altogether. This happened often enough that it made the entire feature, at times, unreliable. Developer support started out strong, but quickly fizzled, affecting user enthusiasm for the feature.

There were also expectations for revisions to the Touch Bar hardware that never materialized, such as haptics (why?) or a brighter display. Because of these issues, the Touch Bar didn’t gain the widespread acceptance it deserved, and I’d hate to see the same thing happen to EyeSight. A few more iterations could really make it a strong differentiator compared to the Meta Quest and other headsets that look more gamer-y.

Conclusion

Vision Pro is a product where I hope Apple continues to Think Different. I believe that focusing on computing and connection will eventually convince the average person to embrace augmented reality in a way that the current gaming focus hasn’t. I just hope Apple doesn’t abandon what could be a key differentiator for their Vision platform.