When you’re Apple, even mediocre and overpriced products will have their copycats. Chinese brand Vivo has announced its Vision Discovery Edition mixed reality for sale in China, with the new wearable headgear taking a shot at Apple’s own Vision Pro.
In terms of design, the two devices look remarkably similar. The visored headset and generous padded headband might have come from the same design engineer, but Vivo’s effort is just two-thirds the weight of Apple’s stupendously expensive hardware.
Vision of the future?
A raft of other features is supposed to tempt users away from Apple’s premium offering. Dual micro-OLED displays offer “8K binocular resolution, 94% DCI-P3 color coverage, and DeltaE<2 color accuracy,” according to the company, while a Snapdragon XR2+ Gen 2 processor handles visuals, AI support, and other controls.
Vivo reckons its headgear can simulate a 120-foot theatre screen, acting as “a seamless entryway for users into their digital lives, covering immersive entertainment, gaming, and productivity scenarios.” Eye tracking, fingertip tracking, and 175° vertical tracking help there, while OriginOS Vision software works in tandem to facilitate “spatial computing.” You might recognise the latter as a popular Apple marketing term for its Pro hardware, even if its roots go a little deeper than that.
Whether Vivo’s mixed reality headset works out any cheaper than Apple’s remains to be seen. The smartphone maker hasn’t announced pricing in its native country yet, nor are there plans to launch it internationally. That could change, depending on how popular (and well-priced) the Discovery Edition turns out to be.
