Who’s using the Apple Vision Pro? Some Boston companies. – The Boston Globe

Still, tech industry analysts predict that wider corporate adoption of the Vision Pro will be a long time coming.

“I’m going to say 1 percent of enterprise users anywhere in the next five years,” said Tuong Nguyen, an augmented reality analyst at research firm Gartner. “It’s a very specific group of users who absolutely need 3D visualization to do their jobs,” Nguyen said.

Virtual reality (or VR) systems like the Meta Quest 2 surround the user with computer-generated simulation. But augmented reality (or AR) headsets like the Vision Pro blend video of the real world with digital images. With AR, workers can interact with humans and real objects, and operate advanced software at the same time.

The latest Meta headset, the Quest 3, is also an AR system. Meta founder Mark Zuckerberg last week said (not surprisingly) that the Quest 3 is superior overall to the Vision Pro and much less expensive at just $500. But Zuckerberg conceded that the Vision Pro offers sharper video resolution and better hand and eye tracking, making it easier for users to control the device with glances and hand gestures.

Ghee’s firm, PTC, has created a Vision Pro app that lets workers design 3D models of all sorts of machinery, from wristwatches to robots. Meanwhile, Boston Children’s Hospital has developed an app to help teach vital medical skills to nursing students. And Boston-based home furnishings company Wayfair has launched an app that will let Vision Pro users redecorate their houses with 3D images of new chairs, sofas, and tables.

It’s all part of the plan for Apple, which sees corporate adoption of the Vision Pro as a vital part of its strategy to make augmented reality a mainstream technology. During a recent earnings call, Apple executives described upcoming enterprise apps developed for the device by Walmart, Bloomberg, medical device maker Stryker, and corporate management software firm SAP.

“I think there will be a great opportunity for us in enterprise,” said chief executive Tim Cook on the call, “and we couldn’t be more excited about where things are right now.”

With PTC’s app, engineering teams scattered around the world could use Vision Pro headsets to visualize and modify each other’s work. Using hand gestures, workers can reach inside a 3D model of an object — a pump, for instance. They can pull it apart piece by piece, upgrade a single component, and put it back together. When everyone agrees that it’s just right, the pump specifications can be sent directly to the factory for production.

Boston Children’s Hospital worked with Apple software engineers to create CyranoHealth, a Vision Pro tool for training medical personnel. Before using an unfamiliar piece of equipment, such as an intravenous medication pump, a nurse can review the procedure at the patient’s bedside by using Vision Pro to display a simulated pump alongside the real one. Once the nurse has practiced on the simulation, they can immediately follow the same procedure for real.

Boston Children’s has experimented with virtual reality headsets for years, but most of those devices didn’t let users interact with patients in the real world. Kate Donovan, the hospital’s clinical director of innovation for inpatient medical programs, said the Vision Pro’s blend of real and virtual images makes it a more powerful tool.

“To have this on someone and allow them to actually continue working, it’s going to be a game changer,” she said.

While other companies are using Vision Pro for internal activities, Wayfair is reaching out to consumers with Decorify, an app for consumers looking to spruce up their homes. The app leverages a web-based service launched last year that lets consumers upload photos of a room to see how the space would look if decorated in different styles, such as traditional, rustic, or industrial. Decorify uses artificial intelligence to recreate the room but with different furniture, carpets, and accessories.

The Vision Pro app lets users do the same inside the AR headset. But instead of seeing the results on a flat screen, the app displays 3D images of the redesigned room. The software makes it easy to generate multiple room makeovers in just a few minutes. “It’s a what-if app,” said Wayfair creative technologist Abhijit Gurjal.

But the Decorify app’s success depends on whether enough consumers purchase a Vision Pro. And Nguyen said that even big companies won’t be too quick to invest in the technology until it’s supported by a broad ecosystem of worthwhile apps.

The same thing happened with smartphones, Nguyen said. “There’s no killer app. It’s the suite of applications and services that made it practical and beneficial and useful,” he said. “That’s the same with this device.”

Hiawatha Bray can be reached at hiawatha.bray@globe.com. Follow him @GlobeTechLab.