We live in dystopian concrete fortresses where inhabitants quarrel over digital scraps of food. A world where we waste our lives commuting to a job we hate, where we grind away for a meagre paycheque. This is a world full of cheap, plastic dopamine-sucking devices.

This hellscape is where you live. 

It's shit. But don't worry. 

Apple has the answer to all of your worries.

Presenting the Vision Pro.

A virtual reality device that combines VR and AR to emulate the world around you. It will help you forget daily life struggles. All those worries about financial hardships, limited opportunities, and a lack of adventure and freedom will melt away as you slide the comfy device onto your head.

The Vision Pro offers an escape; it allows immersing oneself in a virtual world filled with friends, cultures, and experiences one could only dream of.

With the Vision Pro, you have the freedom to enjoy life as you please. You can escape the incoming recession, the rising prices, and mounting bills.

That is Apple’s solution to an ever-growing problem.

People are unhappy, and they need happiness. Apparently the answer is to altogether remove yourself from the real world and insert yourself into a virtual world.

Cooking up a storm

Vision Pro will blend the digital world with the real world. Ripping us further from the reality we live in. Apple have already captivated our attention with their devices. They have already managed to keep us addicted and distracted. 

Just look around you. We are completely encapsulated by technology.

With the Vision Pro, you will be permanently plugged into the Matrix. Your entire life will be within their virtual reality ecosystem. The Vision Pro is not just a product but a new way of life.

It will keep the average person in a perpetual cycle of distraction. It can, and will, transform every aspect of society and even create an entirely new economy.

The widespread adoption of virtual reality could have significant implications for travel, entertainment, education, and healthcare industries. Imagine exploring far-off destinations, attending concerts or sporting events, learning in immersive virtual classrooms, or receiving medical treatment remotely through virtual reality. The possibilities are vast, but they also have consequences and challenges that must be carefully considered.

What will happen to real-world interactions, relationships, and experiences as people immerse themselves in virtual reality? Will the line between the virtual and physical worlds blur to the point where it becomes difficult to distinguish between what is real and what is not?

As with any groundbreaking technology, balancing innovation and responsible implementation is crucial. Apple has a track record of focusing on user experience, privacy, and accessibility, and it will be interesting to see how they address these concerns with Vision Pro. Their commitment to seamless integration between the real and virtual worlds, combined with their emphasis on privacy and security, will play a significant role in shaping the future of virtual reality.

Upon deeper contemplation, it becomes apparent that if an entirely new world, encompassing memories, life, and culture, is embraced in the virtual realm, questions arise regarding who is actually in control of this world. It is concerning that the same company that operates sweatshops with suicide nets in China, the company caught spying on its users with iPhones, and the company that monitors and evaluates political opinions through its ESG score system, could potentially govern this virtual landscape. The freedom we perceive in the virtual world may diminish rapidly as we unconsciously become more attached to it.

This phenomenon is already unfolding as our phones and computers transform into extensions of ourselves, storing our memories, personal preferences, secrets, hobbies, music, and conversations in a virtual cloud.

However, the true cause for concern emerges when our entire society and culture start existing predominantly within this virtual realm. If the Vision Pro succeeds, its impact could surpass the iPhone’s, presenting one of our most significant challenges.

A slow transition

The transition to living in a virtual world demands vigilance, raising fundamental questions about privacy, control, and the potential manipulation of our perceptions and experiences.
It is crucial for us to be mindful of the implications and actively address the ethical, societal, and personal ramifications of increasingly immersive virtual reality. Balancing the benefits and risks of this technological evolution will require careful consideration and safeguards to ensure that our autonomy, freedom, and individuality are preserved even as we navigate the vast possibilities of a mixed reality future.

In Vision Pro, augmented reality lies at the forefront. It aims to eliminate the brief time lag between the impulse for further destruction and the subsequent dopamine rewards. This final battle between humanity and the digital realm becomes crucial by directly bringing the digital world of distractions into people’s field of view.

Rather than having advertisements and notifications appear on your phone, they will now appear directly in your vision through augmented reality. This technology will demand even more attention and time, and Apple will capitalise on this by plugging users into their addictive data harvesting system 24/7. This continuous connection will give Apple an immense wealth of information to sell.

However, it’s a two-way street. One highly anticipated feature of the Vision Pro is its advanced eye-tracking capability. With a complex set of detailed cameras, the headset will use eye movements as a primary navigation tool for the entire interface.

It has been revealed that the headset will create a user profile based on how individuals use their eyes to focus on objects and perceive their environment. Advertisers and personality profilers will have access to this data, allowing big tech companies to predict your preferences more accurately. They will know precisely how long each element they show you retain your attention, what distracts you, and which visual cues stimulate your brain.

This eye-tracking data will work in conjunction with the real-world web, providing a seamless experience where your every desire is literally at your fingertips. While this level of convenience and personalisation may seem enticing, it also raises concerns about privacy, manipulating consumer behaviour, and blurring the line between the physical and digital realms.

Augmented reality and the real-world web bring us closer to the concept of Nozick’s Experience Machine. This famous thought experiment involves a machine that offers an individual the ultimate existence, filled with complete bliss and pleasure.

The only drawback is that once connected, the individual would never want to be unplugged, detaching them from reality itself. Although this simulated heaven may seem enticing, many people would refuse to be plugged in because they recognise an inherent value in reality that cannot be replicated in a simulation. This thought experiment suggests that there is something meaningful about the authentic experience of life that goes beyond mere pleasure.

This is precisely what Vision Pro offers — an abundance of happiness, information, and entertainment at one’s fingertips. However, it has become evident that this technological advancement does not bring true happiness.

In fact, it often produces the opposite effect. Despite having access to luxuries that surpass those enjoyed by historical lords and kings, such as hot showers, a diverse range of delicious food and beverages, and instant entertainment, people in the Western world are not necessarily happier. Instead, they frequently experience greater misery, loneliness, and emptiness daily.

In essence, the pursuit of happiness should not be reduced to shallow and fleeting experiences facilitated by technology. Instead, it is crucial to acknowledge the deeper meaning and value of genuine human connections, personal growth, and engagement with the world around us. By doing so, we can establish a more fulfilling and meaningful existence that surpasses the hollow promises of artificial happiness.

The ugly future

Phoenician happiness is not simply the result of acquiring what we desire; it is not a destination but a byproduct of the entire process. True happiness stems from the journey itself, the hard work and effort invested in achieving our big and small goals. The problem with the Vision Pro is that it promises to eliminate the obstacles that make the journey meaningful, essentially eradicating the journey. Doing so deprives us of the small moments of happiness derived from overcoming challenges and taking on the world.

Paradoxically, pursuing happiness as the ultimate goal, as a solution to the masses’ problems, ensures that genuine happiness will never be found. In this regard, Apple is not truly solving the issue it aims to fix. Beyond assisting with specific tasks in specific cases, the Vision Pro is a distraction, much like iPhones. It diminishes our attention spans, making us easily distracted and less determined.

The Vision Pro functions as a procrastination machine, leaving the masses more addicted, distracted, and dopamine-deprived than ever before. Its impact will not be limited to virtual reality alone; the content we consume will be forever altered to cater to our shrinking attention spans. Short-form content, which already capitalises on instant emotional gratification, will flourish in the niches left open by augmented reality. Think of one-minute pet adoption videos tugging at your heartstrings or five-second skits and jokes evoking laughter.

Such content bombards us with multiple stimuli simultaneously, like podcast clips accompanied by satisfying imagery or game footage. Augmented reality will merge these videos seamlessly into our sensory experiences, making them more immersive and, consequently, more addictive. These videos will intrude upon our actual world, becoming indistinguishable from reality.

Another seldom-discussed consequence of virtual realities is their potential to foster delusions. Individuals who identify as otherkin, furries, or TikTok reality shifters may believe they are actually living in the Harry Potter universe. Virtual reality would provide them with the means to inhabit their delusions, distorting their perception of reality.

Moreover, imagine political echo chambers materialising in your living room or a world populated by Instagram models, influencers, and adult entertainment stars who appear more real than reality itself, all without disconnecting from the virtual system. In this future, everyone appears perfect, frying our dopamine receptors and exacerbating any addictions we may have to attractive individuals on Instagram and similar platforms.

This is the future we are rapidly approaching, and Apple’s Vision Pro represents the first step in that direction. It introduces a new virtual world that strips away our privacy, discipline, focus, freedom, and authenticity. As long as our culture fails to offer substance, authenticity, or meaning, nightmarish trends like the Vision Pro will continue to proliferate.

Sadly, the majority of us will likely embrace these devices without a second thought.

 

This article was originally posted on Medium.com