Recent videos online have generated serious concerns regarding safety as they show people wearing Apple Vision Pro Headsets while driving their Teslas on Autopilot mode, completely unable to see the road in front of them.
The new VR goggles have a feature that merges digital apps and one’s surroundings into one immersive space, and posts of people wearing them in unusual settings have been circulating on social media since they were released on February 2nd.
Some of these videos appear to have taken place in moving Teslas, electric cars that can be driven in autopilot mode.
While many of these posts have been called out as staged, they still have generated enough public concern for federal transportation officials to issue warnings against wearing the goggles while driving.
Pete Buttigieg, the transportation secretary, weighed in on the issue on social media.
“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,” he said in a post on X that threaded a video of a driver wearing the headset during what appeared to be a Tesla Cybertruck pickup.
“Driving while wearing a V.R. headset is reckless and disregards the safety of everyone on the road,” The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration said in a public statement released on Tuesday.
One of the viral videos, was posted by Dante Lentini, 21, on X. In the video, Lentini is wearing a headset while behind the wheel of his auto-piloted Tesla on a freeway, and then it jokingly cuts to a police car coming up behind him, humorously suggesting that he is getting pulled over.
Lentini captioned the post “Think Different”- referencing the famous Apple campaign of the late 1990s. The video was viewed more than 24 million times.
In response to the negative reactions surrounding the video, Lentini said in an interview that “it was all just for content.” He claims that he did not have any apps turned on in the headset and wore it only for 30 seconds just for the video.
Apple and Tesla have not yet commented on the recent trend, but Apple did publicly refer to the safety guidelines on its website relating to properly using Vision Pro.
“Never use the device while operating a moving vehicle, bicycle, heavy machinery, or in any other situations requiring attention to safety,” the company says.
