US Government Reacts to Popular Videos Using Apple Vision Pro with Tesla Autopilot

Following a video of a man driving a Tesla self-driving car while wearing a Mixed Reality (MR) headset, which has garnered tens of millions of views, the U.S. government has once again issued a warning that this is not safe.

U.S. Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg issued a warning on his X (former Twitter) on the 5th (local time), posting the controversial driving video and stating, “Reminder – All currently available advanced driver assistance systems (ADAS) require the human driver to always control and fully participate in the driving task.”

In the 23-second video, the driver is seen wearing what appears to be Apple’s MR headset, Vision Pro, which was released on the 2nd, with both hands completely off the steering wheel and engrossed in manipulating the virtual screen.

Reuters reported that this video has recorded 24 million views.

MR is an extended version of Augmented Reality (AR), which overlays 3D virtual objects onto the real world. Wearing an MR headset does not completely block the field of vision.

However, because a large screen resembling a computer screen appears in front of the eyes, it is inevitable that attention will be dispersed.

Apple explicitly stated in its user guide, “Do not use the device in situations where safety is required, such as driving a car, bicycle, or heavy equipment.”

According to CBS Broadcasting in the US, the car that the driver was in was a Cybertruck that Tesla launched at the end of last year.

This model from Tesla is equipped with Level 2 autonomous driving capabilities, allowing it to adjust its own lanes and speed. However, human intervention is needed for variables that the system cannot respond to during driving. Therefore, the driver should not take their hands off the wheel.