Happy New Year! I hope you all had restful and fun holidays. I’m not usually in the habit of making New Year’s Resolutions, but this year my goal is to create a motion design and animation demo reel. To achieve this I’ll need to get more experience in motion design, digital modelling, and animation to create content I can showcase on my site. I recently started the “After Effects Kickstart” class at School of Motion, an online program that teaches animation, and digital design skills. I also purchased a new Macbook Pro that works better with animation programs as a holiday gift to myself. In addition to After Effects, I’m also practicing 3D modelling in Blender, with the help of the workbook “Blender by Example” by Oscar Baechler and Xury Greer. I will post my completed AE and Blender projects on the website throughout 2025, so look forward to it!
The last chapter of “Designing Immersive 3D Experiences” provided some additional goals for building my skills in XR. One of them is to try out different XR applications and devices, and I got to experience one at the Apple store when I bought my new Macbook. While I was waiting for the data transfer to my new computer to complete, a salesperson asked if I would like to try the Apple Vision Pro, a spatial computing XR headset. I agreed, and soon was strapping on the device and going through setup. The headset used a mixed reality “pinch” gesture for set up and navigation, where pinching a program icon between two fingers would open it. The main screen looked like a 360 degree computer desktop, with icons for different programs displayed in an immersive space. You could customize the spatial computing desktop with 360 degree “wallpapers.” I enjoyed these, as it was relaxing to be surrounded by a forest or beach scene with the computer apps only in front of me. The Vision Pro could also switch to VR mode, and show movies and programs from the Apple Immersive catalog. I watched the AI demo video, but while the visuals were impressive, they were in a 180 degree view rather than 360, like a curved IMAX screen.
My experience with the Vision Pro showed me some benefits of the system, but also several downsides. I don’t think its pinch navigation mechanic is very intuitive for first time users, as most other device interactions require clicking to open applications. The headset was also pretty heavy, and pushed down on cheeks and bridge of my nose even when fully secured. The salesperson also needed to add lenses that matched my glasses prescription to the device before I used it. While I’m unsure if these would require an additional charge, I can tell that they could be a pain to replace if the owner lost or broke them. Overall, the free trial was interesting and informative, and I’ll continue to try out immersive and virtual experiences and devices throughout the year.
Sources:
“Apple Announces more than 600 New Apps Built for Apple Vision Pro.” Apple Newsroom, February 1st, 2024. https://www.apple.com/newsroom/2024/02/apple-announces-more-than-600-new-apps-built-for-apple-vision-pro/
“Introducing Apple Vision Pro.” YouTube, uploaded by Apple, June 5th, 2023, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TX9qSaGXFyg
Stevens, Renee. Designing Immersive 3D Experiences. Pearson Education Inc., 2022, pp 359-377.