Hannah Hopkins 
Feb 07, 2024
The US Secretary for Transport Pete Buttigieg has told Tesla owners not to wear Apple Vision Pro while driving.
The prohibition of putting on Apple's mixed reality headset comes after some Tesla owners, earlier this week following the release of Vision Pro, posted videos on social media platforms in which they could be seen sitting behind the wheels in a driverless car Tesla.
Taking to X (formerly twitter), Pete Buttigieg stated that all current vehicles require the driver to be engaged "at all times," reminding Tesla owners to keep their eyes on the road and stay fully attentive.
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On his account on X, Buttigieg wrote, "Reminder - ALL advanced driver assistance systems available today require the human driver to be in control and fully engaged in the driving task at all times."
The videos depicted individuals sitting in the driver's seat of autonomous-capable cars while wearing the Apple headset over their eyes, sparking immediate backlash from authorities. One driver claimed it was just a prank, according to BBC.
Another video, uploaded on the day the Apple Vision Pro was released to the public, showed a man apparently being pulled over by the police while wearing the headset in a Tesla.
However, according to Gizmodo, the man stated that it was a "skit" he had created with friends, and "drove with the headset for 30-40 seconds."
Apple’s instruction manual advises against using its headset while operating a vehicle, whereas Tesla states that drivers should always "maintain control and responsibility for your vehicle," even if it is in autonomous mode.
Although users may have some visibility through the glass in certain modes, it could still significantly limit their vision while driving. The company has avoided labeling it as virtual reality or any similar term, opting to refer to it as "spatial computing" instead.
"Don't describe your app experience as augmented reality (AR), virtual reality (VR), extended reality (XR), or mixed reality (MR)," Apple said in a blog post targeting developers.
