Yes, Apple’s Vision Pro is an enterprise product

Business users are picking up on Apple’s visionOS, exploring a range of mission-focused applications and prompting one leading SAP executive to call the tech, “a force multiplier for enterprises”. 

Apple improves its visionOS offer for the enterprise

Apple is aware of this and today Apple announced a new developer support module called the Enterprise Spatial Design Lab. These sessions will be available later this summer and are designed to provide enterprises with support to bring apps from concept to reality.

And in a second move, Deloitte announced today it is expanding its Apple practice to include a new Academy for Apple Vision Pro. With trained experts, the Academy aims to provide a series of one-week, instructor-led courses to help business users come to grips with the potential of visionOS

Why is business interested?

So, why are business tech leaders so excited? In the simplest terms, they see opportunities for new wearable computing interfaces using artificial intelligence (AI) to unlock productivity. Morgan Stanley analyst Eric Woodring got it right when he said in February, “The Vision Pro seems ripe for Enterprise adoption.”

Spatial computing isn’t just some kind of posh entertainment system (though it is also that); it’s an immersive augmentation environment in which computation becomes highly contextual. It also makes extensive use of AI and the on-chip Neural engine to handle tasks such as hand tracking, room mapping, and more. 

The hint that Apple expected leading edge users to work with the device first was — and still is, quite obviously — in the name (as well as the MDM support). Box CEO Aaron Levy is typical in sharing high expectations, telling me recently, “I think we’re going to look back on this period as probably the most transformative technology we’ve ever seen.”

What SAP says

SAP introduced a visionOS version of SAP Analytics Cloud on the day Apple shipped the product. It’s a tool that helps surface data-driven insights to improve business decisions. The app gives Vision Pro users a wide field of view, along with the capacity to drill deep down in data. This is not the only SAP application to make it to Apple’s new device – SAP Mobile Start is also available.

Philipp Herzig, chief AI officer for SAP SE, explained: “Going forward, we see the power of visionOS combined with generative AI being a force multiplier for enterprises.”

What Microsoft thinks

Apple and Microsoft worked together to ensure Microsoft 365 productivity apps were available with the introduction of Vision Pro. That also includes support for Microsoft’s own generative AI (gene) companion, Copilot. “Spatial computing has enabled us to rethink how professionals can be productive and work intelligently with the power of AI,” said Nicole Herskowitz, vice president for Microsoft 365 and Teams. “With Microsoft 365 and Teams on Apple Vision Pro, your office moves with you, allowing users to view apps side by side on an infinite canvas with spatial computing for incredible multitasking and collaboration. 

Porsche races into spatial

The Porsche Race Engineer app is a unique deployment that combines data in interesting ways for use in real life situations on the racetrack. What the app does is combine critical car data, such as speed and braking performance, and puts this beside track conditions, car positioning, and live video from the car’s dashboard.

 The idea is that the engineering teams have more insight into vehicle performance than ever before. Armed with the app, Porsche broke the US record for electric vehicles with the new Porsche Taycan Turbo GT earlier this year. This data may also be a glimmer of a future for car racing fans. “At Porsche, we’ve always been driven by dreams, and Apple Vision Pro has enabled us to reimagine track experiences,” said Oliver Blume, Porsche’s CEO. 

Take to the skies

KLM Royal Dutch Airlines is building an app it calls The Engine Shop. This is designed to teach aircraft maintenance to engineering technicians using real-life “digital twins” of the aircraft concerned. The idea is that technicians can learn about these machines without the cost of taking the plane offline for the hundreds of hours such training requires. 

“We see Apple Vision Pro as a tremendous value-add that will improve our fleet availability and operations,” said Bob Tulleken, KLM’s vice president of Operations Decision Support. “Training our employees with spatial computing will lead to fewer costly errors, because the most current information they need to do their job is there in front of them as they perform the task. This means we not only get vastly more efficient in our work, but also provide a better work environment for our employees to succeed.”  

NVIDIA gets spatial design

Every professional is aware that developing design and manufacturing processes is complex and requires large amounts of data from various sources. This has led many to ponder the use of digital twins. This is realized in Vision Pro, with NVIDIA Omniverse Cloud APIs enabling developers to stream massive 3D engineering and simulation data sets from the cloud to the device, which can then run highly detailed visuals and renderings that can also be manipulated in real time. This really matters to many industries and could help them optimize product and process design.

“The world’s industries are racing to build digital twins of products, facilities, and processes to better test and optimize designs well before constructing them in the physical world,” said Rev Lebaredian, NVIDIA’s vice president of Omniverse and Simulation Technology. “Enterprises can now combine the power and capabilities of Apple Vision Pro and the physically accurate renderings of OpenUSD content with NVIDIA accelerated computing to power the next generation of immersive digital experiences.”

What Apple said

“There’s tremendous opportunity for businesses to reimagine what’s possible using Apple Vision Pro at work,” said Susan Prescott, Apple’s vice president of Worldwide Developer Relations and Enterprise Marketing. “Combined with enterprise-grade capabilities like mobile device management built into visionOS, we believe spatial computing has the potential to revolutionize industries around the world.”

While there’s evidently some build-up of hype, the proof of any dessert is in its eating, and Apple today published first-hand insights from an array of business users already exploring the potential of Vision OS in scenarios as diverse as business management, training, engineering and beyond.

So, what else are enterprises devising?

Apple has published an extensive list that pretty much proves the claim that many enterprises are exploring use of Vision Pro to get things done. The activity is similar in the healthcare industry which seems to be rapidly embracing Apple’s product for use during surgery — including use in a shoulder operation. 

Webex by Cisco, Zoom, and Box are all visionOS savvy. Video conferencing gains support for Personas and Spatial Audio, while Box makes it easy for users to collaborate and securely manage files and content, including 3D objects, allowing them to intuitively bring this content into the world around them.

There’s also a new and extensive family of emergency response apps for the device. These combine real time with historical and location data to help improve incident management. For example, the FireOps app, developed by About Objects and DigitalCM, provides a unified operational view of Incident Action Plans (IAPs) to improve decisions made in life or death situations.

The list of apps is growing

Additional enterprise-focused apps that show what’s available include:

Lowe’s Style Studio, which lets customers visualize and design kitchens using Vision Pro.

JigSpace, which brings intuitive, hands-on inspection and effortless collaboration to help users communicate complex ideas, products, and processes with spatial context.

EnBW Energie, which enables visualization of renewable energy infrastructure projects.

Taqtile Manifest, which makes digital work instructions actionable with gesture or glance.

TeamViewer Spatial Support, which enables remote experts and service technicians to troubleshoot repair and maintenance processes.

BILT, which provides 3D interactive instructions with voice, text, and animated guidance for training and more.

Guided Work, a tool for architects, builders, and maintenance workers that provides contextual location based information, such as building schematics, work orders, and the position (if known) of plumbing, wiring and more.

Let me know as new solutions appear; I’m watching this space with interest.

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Apple, Artificial Intelligence, Augmented Reality, Vendors and Providers