Why isn't anyone talking about the Vision Pro accessibility?

The Apple Vision Pro is potentially huge for pALS

I wrote this on June 7, 2023 when the Apple Vision Pro was announced.

person wearing apple Vision Pro while sitting in a wheelchair

As a person with ALS and a full quadriplegic, I am really excited about the Apple Vision Pro, the new computer headset from Apple. If it works for ALS patients, $3499 is really cheap! I have a iPad based system with the Skyle sensor, which is $5000! And a medical eye gaze system is $15000. Tobii should be scared.

Here is what I have observed so far...

I watched the presentation on accessibility in Vision OS, and they are clearly thinking about how to use the system without hands!

The system is not ready yet, but it is heading in the right direction. The dwell system was only shown for a few seconds, but it shoved how thoughtful they are!

Another problem I deal with is sunlight. I can't communicate when at the park because of ambient light. The eye gaze works by bouncing infrared light off the retina and mapping it to the screen! It is pretty amazing

The problem is that bright sunlight causes the iris to close, which limits the reflection for the iris. So, eye gaze is basically useless outside! I live in a darker room... Like batman.

Apple seems to have taken a different approach to eye gaze. They seem to be tracking the entire eye with infrared lights and cameras. So, they should be able to track eyes more accurately at close range. If so this could be huge!

I am not excited about wearing a big thing on my face, but it might be worth it!

I still have questions about typing and other interactions, but I am really excited for this product!