Apple’s new Vision Pro headphones, arriving later this year, will use hand and eye tracking for control, but at one point, Apple considered a fingertip input device, according to Bloomberg‘s Mark Gurman in today’s Switched on Newsletter.
Gurman said that early in the Vision Pro development cycle, Apple tested third-party VR controllers from companies like HTC. Later, he investigated the finger device; in fact, a smart ring patent from the company surfaced in 2015, though at the time it seemed more intended as a general wearable, not something specific to a mixed reality headset.
In the end, Gurman says, the company decided that using eye tracking and hand motions to control the Vision Pro was the “most elegant solution.” When our own Nilay Patel tested the headset, calling it “the ultimate headset demo,” he thought the eye tracking was solid, and confirmed that you can keep your hands at your sides or in your lap, touching your thumb and forefinger together. to make selections, no waving your hands in the air or pointing at things here.
