Apple’s Vision Pro looks like a pair of ski goggles, and for good reason: Apple wants you to be able to experience its vision of mixed reality through a design that completely covers your vision. If the company knows your peripherals are totally blocked out, it can control exactly what you see through the headset.
Part of what makes this design work is the light seal surrounding Vision Pro. As the name suggests, it creates a barrier around the headset so no outside light gets in. This is a common design, especially for virtual reality headsets, where the introduction of exterior images negatively impacts the sense of immersion.
But while the Vision Pro can offer virtual reality experiences, such as simulating a theater setting for watching shows and movies, or exploring planets in outer space, most of the time, the device is designed to be used for augmented reality—seeing virtual windows and programs layered on top of the real world around you. As such, it theoretically shouldn’t be an issue if outside light leaks into Vision Pro during AR experiences. In fact, if the goal is to eventually get mixed reality good enough to put into standard glasses, it’s a necessary feature.
This Reddit thread, as spotted by 9to5Mac, argues that Vision Pro is made better with this light leakage, as doing so widens your field of vision significantly. As such, implores users to remove the light seal when in use for AR experiences. According to OP, if you want to remove the light seal, then put Vision Pro lower on your nose. If you do it right, your experience should be similar to looking through a pair of glasses.
Many Vision Pro users in the comments seem to love the hack, with some opting to use it with the standard solo band, and others trying it with the dual loop. The critiques seem mostly focused on quirks that come from using the Vision Pro in a way Apple didn’t intend: You may see a “eyes too close to lenses” pop-up because eye tracking is affected, and one user wasn’t able to set up eye calibration at all wearing the headset this way. It might not be ideal for those with prescription inserts either, since the extended lenses could come in contact with your eyes or eyelashes.
One major flaw is that the Vision Pro won’t stay put on your face without the light seal. That means you’ll need to hold up the device with something else in order to keep it steady. For the OP, that was their hand, which is obviously not sustainable for many situations. However, many commenters got creative with how to keep Vision Pro upright: Check out this user, who jerry-rigged a head-strap to keep Vision Pro on their face in the desired position.
Credit: Reddit/Nightstorm_NoS
If you have a Vision Pro, give this hack a try, even if only for a minute or two. Who knows: Perhaps third party manufacturers will make custom head-straps that make this version of Vision Pro a reality, or maybe Apple will try something of their own.