It was widely anticipated that Apple would introduce at the annual 2023 Worldwide Developers Conference goggles to support virtual reality (VR), Augmented Reality (AR), Mixed Reality (MR), and Extended Reality (XR).
What was not expected to many, was that the device would be much more than a viewing device with some sensors, but rather a full spatial computing platform. In Apple’s own words, the Vision Pro was the company’s “first spatial computing device.” The opening line of the online introduction of the VisionPro are: “Welcome to the era of spatial computing.”
While domain investors have been interested in immersive technologies, artificial and augmented realities, and spatial computing for some time, the announcement opened the floodgates to new registrations. For example, the exact term spatial is registered, as I write this, in 317 extensions according to dotDB, probably more by the time you are reading. Prior to the Apple announcement the number was about one-third as many.
According to dotDB, there are more than 11,000 other domains that include the term spatial.
We have seen multiple surges in specific terms over the last few years, including NFT, meta/metaverse, Eth, GPT, AI, etc. In some cases the exact term sold for large amounts, even in unpopular extensions, and numerous .com compound names sold for strong prices. Will spatial enjoy similar popularity?
What Is Spatial Computing?
If one consults a number of recent articles, it is suggested that spatial computing is using movements and gestures, along with voice, as the input device for a rich XR computing experience. The ‘desktop’ is wherever you look, with augmented reality interspersing the digital space with the physical space around you.
Check out Rebekah Carter’s article in XR Today What Is Spatial Computing in Simple Terms?
But the term spatial computing also has another aspect, as we will see in the next section.
Is Spatial Computing New?
No. The term has been in use for decades. Initial credit for the term is often given to Simon Greenwold, now a developer and manager at MathWorks. His 2003 thesis at MIT had the title Spatial Computing – you can read the entire thesis at the link.
In his thesis you will see that spatial computing is more than the previous section suggests. Here are a few quotes from the chapter where he defined the topic.
This introduction to spatial computing stresses a definition more in keeping with Greenwold’s thesis.
An article in Business Reporter, Spatial Computing the Next Frontier of Industrial Efficiency outlines advantages of
We will see that the Apple Vision Pro device incorporates both definitions of the term spatial computing.
How Big Is This?
Spatial computing changes where and how we do computing, and what things are possible. That seems pretty big.
Expert opinions vary, but most point to the influence of Apple, and the success the company has had in the past in bringing new technologies to market at the right time. These successes include:
The company has not been without failures, though, including the Newton personal assistant, that never really caught on.
What Exactly Is Vision Pro?
The best way to learn about Apple’s Vision Pro is through the online presentation from Apple. Go to apple.com/apple-vision-pro/, then after scrolling through the main points, watch the presentation linked at the end.
The Vision Pro interface detects where you are looking, and adjusts what you see accordingly. A variety of sensors detect your eye and body movements, and gestures, as well as your voice.
You can both see through the headset and be seen, while the system adjusts the mix between your surroundings with a superimposed digital representation.
The software system, dubbed visionOS, controls how the different elements interact. It supports all of the Apple applications, things like Safari, Pages, Messages, Photos and so one, as well as a number of third-party applications. See a brief description of visionOS information for third-party developers at this link.
The device includes two high-resolution cameras, permitting 3D photos. The Vision Pro also has LiDAR, that supports precise mapping of objects in your surroundings, a key part of the second definition of spatial computing.
VisionOS runs on an Apple M2 silicon chip, the same integrated circuit in the latest Mac computers. A new chip, R1, processes all of the signals from the sensors including the cameras.
The displays in front of your eyes, although each only about the size of a postage stamp, have a total of more than 23 million pixels, with a 90 Hz refresh rate.
Reporter Chance Miller had a chance to try out the Vision Pro at the Apple event, and wrote about his perceptions in the 9To5Mac article: Vision Pro: I just tried Apple’s first spatial computer, and here’s what I think.
Is the term Vision Pro Trademarked?
Apple filed a trademark application for Apple Vision Pro on June 9, 2023.
There is a 1B, intent to use, trademark application for the term Spatial Computer by a Texas company.
Emerging Keywords
This week dotDB released their expanded Top Keywords, and introduced the Emerging Keywords feature. DotDB shared on social media the top of both lists.
For emerging keywords, the biggest changes were in registrations of VisionPro, that grew from 56 to 381 registrations during the week, and VisionOS, that increased from 12 to 143 registrations. Interestingly, they also reported that Apple itself was making a number of these registrations. It is not clear why they had not secured the names prior to the announcement of the products.
Spatial Domain Sales and Listings
Somewhat surprisingly, the term spatial only has one exact word sale listed in NameBio, a 4-figure sale in the .org extension at Sedo in late 2018. The GoDaddy valuation tool allows discovery of additional sales, including exact word 4-figure sales in the .co.uk and .audio extensions.
If you expand the search at NameBio to any name including the word spatial, there are 6 more 4-figure sales (and many wholesale level sales) listed, including a sale this month of
The small number of sales is particularly surprising, given that spatial has been a popular term in company names, even in applications that have nothing to do with spatial computing. The OpenCorporates site has 1483 active business listings including the term spatial. LinkedIn have 1100 results for a search of companies using the term spatial.
I searched at Dan, and there are 133 exact match spatial names listed for sale. Many are at make offer, but for those priced, they range from $$$ to $2.5 million.
If we broaden to any name including spatial, there were 2887 names at Dan the day I checked.
I searched at Afternic, but, as far as I can see, their search interface does not allow you to find all listings in a term in any systematic way.
The filter at Sedo allows you to see how many names have been added over various recent time periods. There have been 623 names including the word spatial added at Sedo during the past week.
I also checked the brandable marketplaces. BrandBucket had 16 names for sale that include the word spatial. In all but one case it was the leading word.
I searched at SquadHelp for inclusion of the exact word. There were 68 listings with spatial as the leading word, and 23 with it trailing. There would also be some variants of the word, probably.
There were 5 listings at BrandPa, all leading words.
So What Are The Practical Uses?
If this ends up being important to domain investors, it will be because the Vision Pro, and similar technology by other makers, fundamentally changes what is possible.
It is still early days, but here are some applications that came to mind as I researched this topic:
What Does This Mean for Domain Investors?
I could well be wrong, but it seems to me that the main aftermarket demand for spatial-theme domain names will fall into one of the following categories. First, names for businesses doing development work to support spatial computing. The second category will be names for new services made possible by the spatial computing hardware and software.
As with any sector, think about niches with authentic future demand, and seek to obtain the best names for those niches.
The names might include specific words, like spatial or immersive, or acronyms like XR, VR, AR, MR, but they may well not.
The same tests for what makes a good name still apply. Is it a name that will stick with people, and is easily shared? Does it hint at what is involved, without boxing the business from future expansion?
Spatial computing offers many exciting possibilities, including that it will make computing feel more personal.. Names that can somehow feel simultaneously personal and technologically advanced might do well.
Another key aspect is fostering connection and collaboration. These are key concepts as you consider possible names, and ways the technology may be used.
Spatial computing frees the user from being tied to a specific location, so think of applications that could benefit from that aspect.
At least from early marketplace listings, it seems that names that include the specific word spatial may do best if it is the leading word. That said, there is proper phrasing that has the term both first and last.
Exact Word Spatial in the Various Extensions
I had a look at the status of the exact word spatial in a number of extensions:
What Are Alternatives To Vision Pro?
All of the tech giants, Meta, Microsoft, Google, Amazon, and others, are working on their own vision for immersive experience devices and software. For Meta, it is an essential component of their metaverse visions.
Meta already have the Meta Quest line of devices, with the Meta Quest 2 not much more than $200 at some retailers, and the Meta Quest Pro only about $1000 if you shop around.
Will Greenwald wrote for PC Magazine the article 5 Affordable Alternatives to the Apple Vision Pro.
NamePros Discussions
There are many NamePros discussions, some started years ago, on this topic. Here are some of them:
In FaceTime, the VisionPro will allow the development of Spatial Personas.
The Vision Pro will have a much richer audio experience, dubbed Spatial Audio.
The $3499 price was one of the shocks, but there are already rumours of an entry level spatial computing device from Apple, possibly called Vision One.
Closing Thoughts
At the close of her article, Rebekah Carter wrote:
Domain investors can play a small role in that, through inventing and finding the names that are a memorable fit for the many developments that this technology will spawn.
What are your views on spatial computing and the domain names that may find use?
Update June 15, 2023: I added information on the number of businesses using the term spatial, based on OpenCorporates and LinkedIn data.
What was not expected to many, was that the device would be much more than a viewing device with some sensors, but rather a full spatial computing platform. In Apple’s own words, the Vision Pro was the company’s “first spatial computing device.” The opening line of the online introduction of the VisionPro are: “Welcome to the era of spatial computing.”
While domain investors have been interested in immersive technologies, artificial and augmented realities, and spatial computing for some time, the announcement opened the floodgates to new registrations. For example, the exact term spatial is registered, as I write this, in 317 extensions according to dotDB, probably more by the time you are reading. Prior to the Apple announcement the number was about one-third as many.
According to dotDB, there are more than 11,000 other domains that include the term spatial.
We have seen multiple surges in specific terms over the last few years, including NFT, meta/metaverse, Eth, GPT, AI, etc. In some cases the exact term sold for large amounts, even in unpopular extensions, and numerous .com compound names sold for strong prices. Will spatial enjoy similar popularity?
What Is Spatial Computing?
If one consults a number of recent articles, it is suggested that spatial computing is using movements and gestures, along with voice, as the input device for a rich XR computing experience. The ‘desktop’ is wherever you look, with augmented reality interspersing the digital space with the physical space around you.
Check out Rebekah Carter’s article in XR Today What Is Spatial Computing in Simple Terms?
But the term spatial computing also has another aspect, as we will see in the next section.
Is Spatial Computing New?
No. The term has been in use for decades. Initial credit for the term is often given to Simon Greenwold, now a developer and manager at MathWorks. His 2003 thesis at MIT had the title Spatial Computing – you can read the entire thesis at the link.
In his thesis you will see that spatial computing is more than the previous section suggests. Here are a few quotes from the chapter where he defined the topic.
I define spatial computing as human interaction with a machine in which the machine retains and manipulates referents to real objects and spaces.
It is not enough that the screen be used to represent a virtual space—it must be meaningfully related to an actual place.
This introduction to spatial computing stresses a definition more in keeping with Greenwold’s thesis.
An article in Business Reporter, Spatial Computing the Next Frontier of Industrial Efficiency outlines advantages of
…the digitisation of spatial relationships between machines, people and objects in order to identify their precise location and movements within a 3D space.
We will see that the Apple Vision Pro device incorporates both definitions of the term spatial computing.
How Big Is This?
Spatial computing changes where and how we do computing, and what things are possible. That seems pretty big.
Expert opinions vary, but most point to the influence of Apple, and the success the company has had in the past in bringing new technologies to market at the right time. These successes include:
- iPod, that heralded digital music downloads.
- iPad, that defined the tablet computer experience.
- Apple Watch, that helped to grow the health wearable niche.
- iPhone that was a revolutionary type of smartphone that quickly became the standard for smart phones.
The company has not been without failures, though, including the Newton personal assistant, that never really caught on.
What Exactly Is Vision Pro?
The best way to learn about Apple’s Vision Pro is through the online presentation from Apple. Go to apple.com/apple-vision-pro/, then after scrolling through the main points, watch the presentation linked at the end.
The Vision Pro interface detects where you are looking, and adjusts what you see accordingly. A variety of sensors detect your eye and body movements, and gestures, as well as your voice.
You can both see through the headset and be seen, while the system adjusts the mix between your surroundings with a superimposed digital representation.
The software system, dubbed visionOS, controls how the different elements interact. It supports all of the Apple applications, things like Safari, Pages, Messages, Photos and so one, as well as a number of third-party applications. See a brief description of visionOS information for third-party developers at this link.
The device includes two high-resolution cameras, permitting 3D photos. The Vision Pro also has LiDAR, that supports precise mapping of objects in your surroundings, a key part of the second definition of spatial computing.
VisionOS runs on an Apple M2 silicon chip, the same integrated circuit in the latest Mac computers. A new chip, R1, processes all of the signals from the sensors including the cameras.
The displays in front of your eyes, although each only about the size of a postage stamp, have a total of more than 23 million pixels, with a 90 Hz refresh rate.
Reporter Chance Miller had a chance to try out the Vision Pro at the Apple event, and wrote about his perceptions in the 9To5Mac article: Vision Pro: I just tried Apple’s first spatial computer, and here’s what I think.
Is the term Vision Pro Trademarked?
Apple filed a trademark application for Apple Vision Pro on June 9, 2023.
There is a 1B, intent to use, trademark application for the term Spatial Computer by a Texas company.
Emerging Keywords
This week dotDB released their expanded Top Keywords, and introduced the Emerging Keywords feature. DotDB shared on social media the top of both lists.
For emerging keywords, the biggest changes were in registrations of VisionPro, that grew from 56 to 381 registrations during the week, and VisionOS, that increased from 12 to 143 registrations. Interestingly, they also reported that Apple itself was making a number of these registrations. It is not clear why they had not secured the names prior to the announcement of the products.
Spatial Domain Sales and Listings
Somewhat surprisingly, the term spatial only has one exact word sale listed in NameBio, a 4-figure sale in the .org extension at Sedo in late 2018. The GoDaddy valuation tool allows discovery of additional sales, including exact word 4-figure sales in the .co.uk and .audio extensions.
If you expand the search at NameBio to any name including the word spatial, there are 6 more 4-figure sales (and many wholesale level sales) listed, including a sale this month of
SpatialMaps.com by BuyDomains.The small number of sales is particularly surprising, given that spatial has been a popular term in company names, even in applications that have nothing to do with spatial computing. The OpenCorporates site has 1483 active business listings including the term spatial. LinkedIn have 1100 results for a search of companies using the term spatial.
I searched at Dan, and there are 133 exact match spatial names listed for sale. Many are at make offer, but for those priced, they range from $$$ to $2.5 million.
If we broaden to any name including spatial, there were 2887 names at Dan the day I checked.
I searched at Afternic, but, as far as I can see, their search interface does not allow you to find all listings in a term in any systematic way.
The filter at Sedo allows you to see how many names have been added over various recent time periods. There have been 623 names including the word spatial added at Sedo during the past week.
I also checked the brandable marketplaces. BrandBucket had 16 names for sale that include the word spatial. In all but one case it was the leading word.
I searched at SquadHelp for inclusion of the exact word. There were 68 listings with spatial as the leading word, and 23 with it trailing. There would also be some variants of the word, probably.
There were 5 listings at BrandPa, all leading words.
So What Are The Practical Uses?
If this ends up being important to domain investors, it will be because the Vision Pro, and similar technology by other makers, fundamentally changes what is possible.
It is still early days, but here are some applications that came to mind as I researched this topic:
- Immersive video experiences will call for new approaches to filming, processing and delivering video content. As the Apple video points out, any location can become a movie theatre rivalling the best in the physical world.
- Spatial Computing will take gaming to new heights of realism and interaction.
- Virtual Travel The metaverse promised virtual travel.Technology such as Vision Pro makes that practical.
- Collaboration Under Vision Pro FaceTme will be more intuitive, flexible and realistic. Businesses will use this for everything from group meetings to client consultations.
- Counselling and Therapy TeleHealth, both physical health and mental health, has become more important since the pandemic. The same spatial computing features that enhance collaboration are important for remote healthcare.
- 3D Imaging and Viewing With each Vision Pro user having a powerful 3D camera, and a way to view 3D images, there will doubtless be practical applications beyond making your family and travel pictures more engaging.
- Training The combination of super resolution imaging, with spatial interactive controls, including eye sensing, make this the ideal platform for training, including highly demanding areas such as surgery, advanced science and engineering, and more.
- Art Performance and interactive art has been around for a long time, but it seems to me that this will take what is possible to a whole new level. Also, the gallery experience could be enjoyed from anywhere in the world with a realism that makes virtual and physical attendance very similar.
- Performances With technology such as this, one could have a virtual concert experience from anywhere.
- Design Immersive technology is already in use in some industries to foster more effective design processes.
What Does This Mean for Domain Investors?
I could well be wrong, but it seems to me that the main aftermarket demand for spatial-theme domain names will fall into one of the following categories. First, names for businesses doing development work to support spatial computing. The second category will be names for new services made possible by the spatial computing hardware and software.
As with any sector, think about niches with authentic future demand, and seek to obtain the best names for those niches.
The names might include specific words, like spatial or immersive, or acronyms like XR, VR, AR, MR, but they may well not.
The same tests for what makes a good name still apply. Is it a name that will stick with people, and is easily shared? Does it hint at what is involved, without boxing the business from future expansion?
Spatial computing offers many exciting possibilities, including that it will make computing feel more personal.. Names that can somehow feel simultaneously personal and technologically advanced might do well.
Another key aspect is fostering connection and collaboration. These are key concepts as you consider possible names, and ways the technology may be used.
Spatial computing frees the user from being tied to a specific location, so think of applications that could benefit from that aspect.
At least from early marketplace listings, it seems that names that include the specific word spatial may do best if it is the leading word. That said, there is proper phrasing that has the term both first and last.
Exact Word Spatial in the Various Extensions
I had a look at the status of the exact word spatial in a number of extensions:
- Spatial.com is developed offering 3D Technologies and Expertise for Developers.
- Spatial.org is not in use.
- Spatial.io is developed – create and share 3D experiences.
- Spatial.net only has a welcome page.
- Spatial.xyz is developed, offering a service to Create No Code Workflows Empowering Location-Based Services.
- Spatial.co is for sale, using one of NamePros landers.
- Spatial.ai is developed, with this tagline “Predict and influence customer behavior with the world's first real-time social media segmentation system.”
- Spatial.app is for sale.
- Spatial.computer is for sale.
What Are Alternatives To Vision Pro?
All of the tech giants, Meta, Microsoft, Google, Amazon, and others, are working on their own vision for immersive experience devices and software. For Meta, it is an essential component of their metaverse visions.
Meta already have the Meta Quest line of devices, with the Meta Quest 2 not much more than $200 at some retailers, and the Meta Quest Pro only about $1000 if you shop around.
Will Greenwald wrote for PC Magazine the article 5 Affordable Alternatives to the Apple Vision Pro.
NamePros Discussions
There are many NamePros discussions, some started years ago, on this topic. Here are some of them:
- Showcase Immersive Domains
- Showcase and Discuss Immersive-Decentralized Gaming Domains
- Is Immersive the Next Big Thing?
- XR Technology and Cognitive Processing
- The .AR Domain Extension
- Domains and the Metaverse
- Metaverse: Showcase Your Domains
- Holo vs VR, MR, AR, all realities
- What Are the 20 Best VR Domain Names
- XR Domains - Umbrella for all reality technologies
- Showcase Spatial Computing Domains
In FaceTime, the VisionPro will allow the development of Spatial Personas.
The Vision Pro will have a much richer audio experience, dubbed Spatial Audio.
The $3499 price was one of the shocks, but there are already rumours of an entry level spatial computing device from Apple, possibly called Vision One.
Closing Thoughts
At the close of her article, Rebekah Carter wrote:
As we enter the era of the metaverse and explore new digital experiences, spatial computing will form the foundations of a new relationship between people and machines.
Domain investors can play a small role in that, through inventing and finding the names that are a memorable fit for the many developments that this technology will spawn.
What are your views on spatial computing and the domain names that may find use?
Update June 15, 2023: I added information on the number of businesses using the term spatial, based on OpenCorporates and LinkedIn data.
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What a great day to be a domainer. Whoohoo!
