Is virtual reality the future? Apple's betting on it, but VR experts say we may not be there yet

On Monday, Apple unveiled a new product that's either revolutionary, or very expensive hype, depending on whether you read the company description of the Vision Pro or media reviews of its unveiling. 

Launched during the company's annual World Wide Developers Conference (WWDC) in Cupertino, Calif., the Apple Vision Pro is a wearable headset. The device will be capable of toggling between virtual reality (VR), and augmented reality (AR), which projects digital imagery while users still can see objects in the real world.

It can be used for immersive experiences in everything from work meetings and FaceTime, to photos, movies and apps. 

"Today marks the beginning of a new era for computing," said Apple CEO Tim Cook.

The headset, which Apple says will be available in 2024, won't be cheap, starting at $3,499 US, or about $4,700 Cdn.

While the Vision Pro was unveiled with some fanfare — it's Apple's first major product launch since its Apple Watch nearly a decade ago — investors gave it a lukewarm reception. Analysts warned the cost could be a major deterrent and the VR and AR industries have struggled to take off in the past.

"VR kind of resurfaces every 10 years or so as the big thing," Alla Sheffer, a professor of computer science at the University of British Columbia whose research areas include virtual and augmented reality, told CBC News. "And then it goes away."

The question on many people's minds: is this time different?

To grasp the technology's implications, it helps to understand the technology itself. Traditional virtual reality is a computer-generated environment. Typically, a user wears a head-mounted display or headset like ski goggles, Sheffer explained. But instead of looking through those goggles, users see a display.

"You only see the virtual content. You don't see the outside world," Sheffer said.

VR also includes capture setups, and software that responds to them: think, for example, of a virtual reality golf game where you're moving your hands, and that's captured automatically and translated into a gesture using a virtual golf club.

There are two types of augmented reality, Sheffer said: head-mounted display, and cell phone. With head-mounted display AR, imagine you're wearing the same ski goggles, but now they're transparent. You can see what's in front of you in the physical world, but you can also see what's on the screen.

Cell phone AR, Sheffer explained, combines what you see on your phone's camera with virtual elements. Imagine choosing a couch model on a retail website, and seeing it in your living room through your phone's camera.

"You probably interact with AR a lot and don't realize it," said Bree McEwan, an associate professor at the Institute of Communication, Culture, Information and Technology at the University of Toronto, and the director of the McEwan Mediated Communication Lab.