The much-hyped Apple Vision Pro launched on Feb. 2 to the type of fanfare and bizarre cultish celebrations we’d expect from an Apple product. Despite costing a whopping $3,499 (and also reportedly causing some users neck and back pain), it hasn’t stopped customers from purchasing roughly 200,000 headsets since pre-orders opened.
While the mixed-reality device has been selling like hot cakes, its release also coincided with the launch of a new type of guy: dudes who wear their Apple Vision Pros when they probably shouldn’t.
Not only have users been spotted wearing the headset while eating dinner at restaurants and taking care of their infants, but an incredibly disconcerting amount of Vision Pro owners have also been caught wearing them while walking across traffic intersections and even operating vehicles.
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To their credit, Apple has designed the device to only work while the user is standing still. However, that still hasn’t stopped people from moving around while wearing it.
Dante Lentini, a 21-year-old Tesla owner, posted a video on X that appeared to show him using the Vision Pro while driving his Tesla via the vehicle’s self-driving feature before a police vehicle seemingly pulled him over. Lentini later told Gizmodo that the stunt was a “skit” and that he only wore the headset for “30-40 seconds while driving his Tesla.”
He added that he didn’t get arrested and merely filmed the police vehicle in an unrelated incident. “[I] was in the right place at the right time,” he told Gizmodo. “That’s why we filmed the police.”
It should be noted that Apple warns its users against wearing the headset for any amount of time while driving. “Never use Apple Vision Pro while operating a moving vehicle, bicycle, heavy machinery, or in any other situations requiring attention to safety,” Apple’s safety guide states.
Similarly, Tesla’s safety guide states that users must “stay alert” while using its Autopilot feature and that drivers “keep your hands on the steering wheel at all times and maintain control of your vehicle.”
Still, this hasn’t stopped users from putting their lives into the metaverse’s hands by wearing the Vision Pro when they shouldn’t. YouTuber Casey Neistat even donned the Vision Pro while zipping through the streets of Manhattan on an electric skateboard in one video. In it, he also showed off using the device while walking down the sidewalk and commuting on the subway.
“Right now I’m in the city. I’m in the middle of Time Square,” Neistat said in the video. “I’ve got my virtual keyboard here. I’ve got Apple TV there. I’ve got YouTube [and] Safari open here. And it all kind of works.” Later adding, “This is wild.”
Neistat isn’t the only YouTuber wearing the Vision Pro and operating vehicles either. At least one other creator decided to don the headset while riding his bike in a parking lot.
It goes without saying that you shouldn’t be wearing your Vision Pro while walking down the sidewalk, driving a car, or while on your electric skateboard in one of the most traffic-clogged cities in the world. Not only are you endangering yourself, but you’re also endangering the lives of literally everyone around you.
As the hype around the device continues to grow and mixed-reality technology becomes more and more commonplace, we’ll no doubt see more users proudly don their Vision Pros in public. It’s really only a matter of time before there’s a serious reckoning with regards to the safety of the device.
So, do yourself and the world a favor: Just use your Apple Vision Pro at home or, at least, while sitting down. We don’t need any more instances of people crashing their cars because they were wearing their VR headset.
