Apple has announced how its Vision Pro is ushering in a new era of spatial computing for businesses, partnering with companies like SAP, Microsoft, Nvidia, and Cisco.
The world of extended reality (XR) is said to be at a turning point. While search traffic for the term ‘Metaverse’ has significantly decreased as excitement over technology is replaced by enthusiasm for generative AI (Gen AI), companies are increasingly adopting metaverse technologies such as virtual and augmented reality (VR/AR), which could help the industry grow to a value of $615 billion by 2030.
In addition to entertainment uses for consumers, these technologies are already being used in industrial contexts, where manufacturers are harnessing metaverse technology to digitize difficult physical processes, ranging from physical product design and engineering to planning and operating factories and warehouses through digital twin technology.
Now, as the debate continues on how these technologies will affect the future of work, Apple has announced how its Vision Pro is bringing a new era of spatial computing to businesses, revealing how it is working with companies like Microsoft, SAP, Nvidia, Zoom, and Porsche to transform operations.
“There is a great opportunity for businesses to reimagine what is possible using Apple Vision Pro at work,” said Susan Prescott, Apple’s vice president of worldwide developer relations and enterprise marketing. “We are thrilled to see the innovative ways organizations are already using Apple Vision Pro, from fire response operations planning to iterating on the most intricate details of engine design, and this is just the beginning.”
Apple Vision Pro: How Spatial Computing Is Transforming the Business World For decades, Apple has been a trusted partner for businesses of all sizes, providing innovative products and services that drive world-leading enterprises. Now, with the unveiling of its Apple Vision Pro, the company is poised to once again transform how businesses operate.
Powered by the visionOS operating system and Apple’s custom silicon, Vision Pro features an ultra-high-resolution display system and advanced machine learning and artificial intelligence capabilities. This enables a variety of powerful enterprise applications, from enhanced productivity and collaboration to immersive training and guided workflows.
Leading enterprise software providers, including SAP, Cisco, and Zoom, have already embraced Vision Pro and are offering innovative solutions that harness the power of spatial computing. These applications are empowering businesses to reinvent their workflows, unlock new insights, and drive greater efficiencies.
SAP Analytics Cloud, for example, helps streamline the process of collecting, integrating, analyzing, and presenting data-driven insights to improve business decision-making. In Apple Vision Pro, the app allows employees and executives to instantly access their data dashboards and organize their most important workflows, applications, and business cards, while also delving into data with contextual 3D maps and charts to gain new insights. With the latest version of the SDK for developers, SAP Business Technology Platform is fully compatible with Apple Vision Pro. Customers and partners can now deploy their SAP applications on Vision Pro, alongside iPhone, iPad, and Apple Watch.
“Apple Vision Pro is a revolutionary device, and we are thrilled to leverage spatial computing capabilities with SAP Analytics Cloud and SAP Mobile Start,” said Philipp Herzig, SAP’s AI director. “Looking ahead, we see the power of visionOS combined with generative AI as a force multiplier for businesses. SAP Analytics Cloud running on Apple Vision Pro will help our customers uncover entirely new insights from complex data with powerful, intuitive processes that empower their business planning. And with SAP Mobile Start, we provide access to all SAP business applications and workflows in unimaginable ways.”
Users can multitask between Microsoft 365 productivity apps on Apple Vision Pro. Photo: apple Microsoft 365 productivity apps and the AI Copilot add-on created for Apple Vision Pro also promise to help users do more in new and powerful ways. The Focus mode in Word allows users to write without distractions; graph, manipulate, and visualize data with crisp, sharp details in Excel; and immerse themselves in a slideshow with PowerPoint. Switching between meetings, chats, and shared content is easy in Teams, in addition to accessing Copilot assistance, with full-size windows that can be arranged in the user’s space.
“Spatial computing has allowed us to rethink how professionals can be productive and work smarter with the power of AI,” said Nicole Herskowitz, Microsoft 365 and Teams vice president. “With Microsoft 365 and Teams on Apple Vision Pro, your office moves with you, allowing users to view applications side by side on an infinite canvas with spatial computing for incredible collaboration and multitasking.”
In other innovations announced by Apple, Cisco’s Webex provides an immersive and intuitive meeting experience that fills the space and uses People and Spatial Audio for a more natural video conferencing experience, while Zoom provides an experience tailored for Apple Vision Pro with exceptional audio and video quality, giving users the ability to collaborate and schedule meetings easily.
The Future of Design and Collaboration As Apple explains, spatial computing opens up opportunities for product design, retail planning, and building modeling, enabling new experiences for customers to interact with products and services.
Apple Vision Pro has already helped Porsche engineers visualize real-time car data, providing critical metrics such as speed and braking alongside track conditions and car positioning, combined with live video from the car dashboard. In February, Porsche set the U.S. electric vehicle record at Laguna Seca with the new Porsche Taycan Turbo GT, while engineers followed the process using Vision Pro. This can also expand track experiences for fans worldwide.
“At Porsche, we have always been driven by dreams, and Apple Vision Pro has allowed us to reimagine track experiences,” said Oliver Blume, Porsche CEO. “The new Porsche Taycan Turbo GT is the ultimate in fully electric high-performance cars, and, fittingly, we were delighted to bring together the best of German engineering and Apple’s inspiring product innovation along with the Race Engineer app.”
Design and manufacturing processes are complex and involve large amounts of data from various sources. Nvidia Omniverse Cloud APIs enable developers to stream massive sets of 3D simulation and engineering data from the cloud to Apple Vision Pro. The high-resolution displays and powerful sensors integrated into Vision Pro allow developers and designers to create detailed and immersive representations and visuals that can be viewed and manipulated in real time.
“The world’s industries are competing to build digital twins of products, facilities, and processes to test and optimize designs long before they are built in the physical world,” said Rev Lebaredian, Nvidia’s vice president of Omniverse and Simulation Technology. “Companies can now combine the power and capabilities of Apple Vision Pro and physically accurate representations of OpenUSD content with Nvidia’s accelerated computing to drive the next generation of immersive digital experiences.”
By: Nestor Castillo, ForAllTechNews Director