The dust has barely settled on the meticulously planned rollout of Apple’s Vision Pro headset and already it’s clear the stakes are high in the emerging war for our reality. With tech giants and innovative start-ups jostling to create headsets and devices that augment or replace our sensory perception, philosophical differences over the role of mixed-reality technologies are coming to the fore.

In the not-too-distant past, the tech world was abuzz with discussions on the metaverse. But as interest waned due to disappointing sales and the rise of generative AI, this conversation was relegated to the background. Now, with Apple’s entry into the market, interest has surged and the metaverse is back in the spotlight. The company’s approach challenges the vision of one-time metaverse kingpin, Mark Zuckerberg, and will likely force other players, including giants like Microsoft, to choose their path in this nascent field.

Mark Zuckerberg’s initial encounter with VR through the Oculus headset nine years ago was a transformative experience. Convinced that digital reality was the future, he saw the potential for a social revolution led by this new technology. Fast forward to 2014, and Facebook (now Meta) acquired Oculus for $2 billion, despite slow progress and a timeline that has nearly elapsed.

Meta’s VR headsets, the Quest series, have made strides in the market but are not ubiquitous. The company’s strategy leans heavily on immersive activities such as gaming, fitness, and VR social spaces, where users are represented by cartoonish avatars. Meta’s social app, Horizon Worlds, while still in its early stages, aims to foster a semi-lifelike sense of connection. Despite the challenges, Meta is heavily investing in research, confident that its path is the right one.

Apple, on the other hand, has charted a different course with its $3,500 Vision Pro headset. As I noted earlier this month, the company sees its operating system, VisionOs, as a continuation of natural computing interfaces, akin to the graphical interface and pointing devices like the mouse or touchscreen. The Vision Pro is mainly a solitary device, designed for work or entertainment, rather than social interaction.

Interestingly, the term “metaverse” was absent from Apple’s event. Instead, the company described the Vision Pro as a foray into “spatial computing.” Apple’s approach leans towards redefining work and expanding popular apps, with a focus on productivity and wellness. On the social front, it is somewhat lacking, relying on uncanny-valley-ish Facetime representations of friends and colleagues.

It’s clear that both Apple and Meta are not solely relying on their distinct visions. Apple’s demo included standard VR experiences, and Meta has its own vision of a digital office. But the paths they are treading are distinctly different, and the tech world is watching to see which of these two realities will win over users—or if either can.

A natural instinct may be to resist this departure from the physical world—after all, the real world has trees! However, the reality is that we are already distracted by our devices, from teens to venture capitalists. Will a reasonably priced device that promises even greater immersion prove irresistible? As tech giants invest billions in this future, it’s clear that if they succeed, reality as we know it may cease to exist.

The battle between Apple’s Vision Pro and Meta’s metaverse marks the beginning of a new era of mixed-reality technologies. The differing philosophies of these tech giants—Meta’s social and immersive digital world versus Apple’s productivity-focused, solitary experience—highlight the vast possibilities of this emerging field. The outcome of this battle will largely depend on societal preferences between immersive digital experiences and the tangible physical world. As we venture into this new technological landscape, it remains to be seen which reality will prevail.