As I looked up, raindrops fell directly into my eyes, sending a chill tingling up my shirt. But I shouldn’t have, because in reality I was sitting in an anonymous conference room in Apple’s midtown offices. The sensation came midway through Ti West’s newest film, “Remnants,” a 27-minute chiller designed exclusively for the tech giant’s Apple Vision Pro headset.
West is a well-known horror auteur, making his name with films like the 2009 low-budget thriller “The House of the Devil” and the well-received trilogy of 2022’s “X,” 2022’s “Pearl” and 2024’s “Maxxxine.” Two weeks ago, I thought his only upcoming project was the holiday film “Ebenezer,” which doesn’t seem to be a scary movie (outside of starring Johnny Depp). So when I saw a social post that “Remnants” was dropping as a spooky season treat, I reached out for a screening. The film was released for free on Oct. 16 to Vision Pro users, and despite not throwing serious money behind a campaign for it, articles like this are presumably the best marketing Apple could get for their newest innovation.
Arriving at their offices to meet with two charming marketing folks, we worked first to acclimate me to the headset. I’ve spent a fair amount of time with similar tech, but they’ve seemed to be novelties compared to the brain-busting futurism of the Vision Pro. Once you’re strapped into the device, the UX is surprisingly intuitive if you’re an iPhone user.
The icons remain the same, and Apple’s simplicity is consistent, but things become pretty mind-blowing after the Vision Pro calibrates to your eyes and hands. At this point, your eyes become the cursor, and you touch your fingertips together to select something. I must admit it’s both freaky and cool, and actually closer to “Minority Report” than I first believed.
Within minutes, I was rolling my eyeballs around and clicking with my thumb and forefinger. Apps were bending to my will. Call me naive, but how is this tech already here?
My first glimpse of the immersive filmmaking I was searching for was a slick demo the Apple folks showed me, all of which was shot in 180-degree 3D 8K Apple Immersive Video with Spatial Audio, technology that has only been available for a few months. Again, the difference was a cosmic leap compared to headsets of yore. At once, I was onstage at a Metallica concert, staring at James Hetfield’s leathery skin as he barked directly in my face.
Extract — continue reading at the source.
