Apple announced the Vision Pro VR headset last week, and everyone is talking about playing games and using productivity apps, but nobody is talking about reading or audiobooks. Will people listen to spatial audio-enabled books in VR or read their favourite book? Apple might be planning on porting over their Apple Bookstore to VR. According to Bloomberg’s Mark Gurman, “The company (Apple) is working on a version of books for the headset that will allow readers to read in virtual reality.” One of the caveats of buying into the Apple VR offering is that it is only launching in the United States next year for $3500; other countries will likely be announced in mid-2024.
There have not been any compelling VR offerings for audiobooks and ebooks since the medium has caught on in the past four years. One ebook reading app for the Meta Oculus platform is called Chimera Reader. However, you can’t side-load, but it does have a few royalty-free titles. You cannot change the fonts or change the font type, and the app is almost exclusively 1 star. Steam VR has no good book-reading apps, but the medium is excellent for interactive visual novels.
Microsoft Holoens, Sony PlayStation VR, HTC Vive, HP Refurb and many others are geared towards productivity, gaming or ideal for the business environment. Almost zero dedicated reading apps developed for VR tap into an extensive book ecosystem where you can buy and read new titles by bestselling authors. Amazon, Barnes and Noble, Kobo, Tolino and most other giant platforms are not paying attention to porting over their apps for virtual reality. This likely means there is little demand for it, and most consumers will buy a traditional e-reader and read on their smartphone or tablet.
Likely, the Sol Reader is one of the most compelling VR/AR products. Sol Reader will let you get immersed in your favourite books while cutting out all the distractions. The company secured a $5 million funding round a year ago, led by Garry Tan from Initialized and Y Combinator. As TechCrunch reported, Sol is shipping an exclusive beta version of the glasses, referred to as the “advanced copy,” to a select group of early access testers.
The Sol Reader debuted at CES earlier this year and is simple. Resembling a pair of glasses, it conveniently slips over your eyes, shielding you from interruptions while you indulge in reading. The device features side-lit e-ink displays, similar to what you have on the Kindle, or for that matter, most e-readers out there. Each display measures 1.3 inches and boasts a resolution of 256 × 256 per eye. There is no estimated release date or price, and they are not sending review units to the media.
Do you think there will ever come a day when we read books or listen to audiobooks in VR instead of reading print books or an e-reader?
Michael Kozlowski is the editor-in-chief at Good e-Reader and has written about audiobooks and e-readers for the past fifteen years. Newspapers and websites such as the CBC, CNET, Engadget, Huffington Post and the New York Times have picked up his articles. He Lives in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.
