Chinese filmmaker, screenwriter and producer Lu Chuan was recently invited to Apple's headquarters in Silicon Valley to attend the 2023 Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC) as the only Chinese director on June 5th. 

After the press conference, Lu Chuan became one of the first global users to experience the Vision Pro for 45 minutes. He felt that the scenes from the sci-fi movie "Ready Player One" have become a reality. The following is the content of an interview with Lu Chuan conducted by National Business Daily, presented in Lu Chuan's own words.

Photo provided by Lu Chuan to NBD

"Going to theaters to watch 3D movies is a false proposition now"

After the presentation, Tim Cook asked me how I felt about Vision Pro, and I said it was like having an elephant suddenly appear in the room. But after I actually experienced Vision Pro, I want to revise my statement: it's like having a dinosaur suddenly appear in the room.

Vision Pro isn't particularly light, and there is a bit of weight when wearing it. Throughout the entire testing period, I constantly had a feeling - the scenes from "Ready Player One" have really come to life.

First of all, there are several "old tricks" from all sci-fi movies, where a few virtual screens appear in front of you. You don't need gloves or controllers, you can operate the virtual interface in front of you with your fingers. What you see is single-eye 4K HD.

When I clicked on the Apple+ streaming app in front of me, I watched a clip from the movie "Avatar". After watching it, I realized something profound - going to the movies to watch 3D movies is a false proposition now.

Because in Vision Pro, I can see the ultimate reproduction of the color and depth of "Avatar", the  sound, the interactive stereoscopic and immersive feel, it made me feel that the logic of going to the cinema to watch 3D movies has collapsed.

Do you know the movie "Doctor Strange"? Through a flame circle, Doctor Strange can shuttle arbitrarily between the boundaries of multiple universes. Wearing Vision Pro, I looked at a wall in real physical space. The wall seemed to have opened up a parallel time and space, and a colorful butterfly flew out. It flew to me, and I stretched out my hand, and it landed precisely on my finger. I was in the real environment, but through the lens, I could still see the tables and chairs around me. However, the virtual world's butterfly can interact with me in real-time.

This is just the beginning. The engineer said, "Next, you will see dinosaurs. Get closer." Now I know they set me up. I walked around the coffee table in front of me and got closer. First, I saw a small dinosaur poking its head out, taking a glance at me and then running away. Then, the "boundary" on the wall became larger, and a big dinosaur poked its head out. I wanted to avoid it, but it kept following.

No more PCs in the future

Another feature that really excited me was that with Vision Pro, you can take photos and videos. When you put on Vision Pro to play the footage you just captured, what you see is a true stereoscopic representation before your eyes.

Vision Pro will change our lives and our way of work, just like how Mac brought us into the personal computing era and iPhone brought us into the mobile computing era. Apple Vision Pro will bring us into the era of spatial computing, as Tim Cook said.

Photo provided by Lu Chuan to NBD

I had a video call with an Apple engineer through Vision Pro. We opened multiple windows in front of us while talking about interior design for an office. A hand-drawn sketch appeared on my right side as she modified it in real-time. In less than a second after completing the modifications, a 3D model popped up in front of me.

So you can't simply consider this device to be VR glasses. Why do we need desktop computers for work anymore? Apple already produces tablets, smartphones, watches...what's the point of their existence in the future? Our ways of interaction, work, and life will undergo significant changes.

I no longer want to discuss the impact it may have on the film industry. What I feel is that it's already the era of technological revolution.

"Just like giving us better pens, what we write is always something from within ourselves"

After experiencing Vision Pro, I spoke with an Apple VP. I joked with him, asking why they didn't announce Vision Pro first.

He laughed and said, "Of course, we wouldn't use such a wrong script to announce our products." He asked me how I felt about the updates of other products they released. I said they were all incremental. But Vision Pro is a completely new breed that will overturn all of Apple's product lines. Users won't need to buy any other Apple products anymore. Did you expect this outcome?

He said, "This is what we know, so we hesitated for a long time before releasing Vision Pro." If so, why go through "self-subversion"?

He answered me in three points, which I remember word for word.

"First, we felt that a moment of technological revolution was coming. Instead of letting others overthrow Apple, we'd rather do it ourselves. Only we can overthrow Apple."

"Second, we're grateful for all the products in the past series of Apple because of the money they earned. We can invest without regard to cost in developing a revolutionary product. We've been working on this for six or seven years, just waiting for today."

"Third, we also thank other Apple products for the development process. We could accumulate strong enough technologies and eventually integrate all of them into Vision Pro."

Photo/Screenshot at Apple's website

Vision Pro is another complete utilization of a series of AI achievements.

Technology expands the scope of human life experience. As content creators, we're learning every day. It's just like giving us better pens. What we write is always something from within ourselves.

What I see now is the baton being passed between the future and reality.