As an owner of a Meta Quest and a PSVR for some time now, I’ve gotten to know those Virtual Reality platforms pretty well over the years. 

I’ve used those two devices from Meta and Sony primarily for gaming with my family; but also for other things like social interactions, meditation, and even some fitness activities during the pandemic. (I still very much prefer the real world for exercise, though!)   

However, having recently acquired an Apple’s Vision Pro 🥽, I can honestly say that this product feels different. At least from my initial usage of it.

Perhaps it’s the interaction design familiarity of visionOS given the rest of Apple’s software and hardware ecosystem. Perhaps it was the marketing launch campaign that stressed productivity. Or, perhaps it’s just the newness of it all and not calling it VR.

Whatever the case may be, the end result is that I’m finding myself reaching for it to do deep work – and to simply think.

Let me explain. 

If you are anything like me, you probably have lots and lots of Chrome tabs – and other browsers with their own multiple tabs – open at any given time. Couple that with lots of Spaces on a Mac (the equivalent of multiple desktops on Windows) and you’ve clearly got a few things going that impact your cognitive load.

In trying to compartmentalize my workflow and establish some degree of focus, it’s a constant, curatorial crusade of deciding what to keep open, where to put it, and what to close.

A few examples of my organizational structure includes individual Spaces for things like:   

• Personal communications and knowledge capture (e.g., Gmail, Apple’s Messages, Things, Evernote)  

• Several spaces for what I’m working on concurrently or plan to work on later

• Things I want to read or review at a later time

• News and social

• Fun stuff, related to things like personal interests, hobbies, etc. 

• And much, much more. 

However, when I put on my Vision Pro, it’s become a bit of an escape. Basically a break from staring at a monitor all day and using traditional input/ output devices.

I think the best way to describe is that I’m feeling freer — and maybe even a step closer to a state of flow.

It’s been kind of the equivalent of going for a hike and sitting down in a lovely spot with your thoughts. But, instead of taking along a Moleskin notebook to jot ideas down, you’ve still got the wonder of the internet and AI at your fingertips – or, eyeballs, that is. 

(Side note: My personal task management app preference at the moment is Cultured Code’s elegant Things, which was specifically designed for visionOS.) 

Now of course I can actually go out into the world with my thoughts, but the reality is it's not always feasible. And yes, you can have lots of stuff open in visionOS at any given time to replicate desktop chaos. These are just some personal observations from my workflow after a few weeks with the device.

In some weird way, perhaps spatial computing is today’s technological equivalent of Mark Twain intentionally putting a humble desk in front of a bare wall to help him focus and avoid visual distractions.

Anyway, these are just some early thoughts. Definitely more to come on the specific visionOS interactions, the application of the Human Interface Guidelines when building apps, and how Fitt’s Law may (or may not) translate to eye-tracking considerations on this new, exciting platform.

Marc