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Lenovo launches HoloLens competitor

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Re: Lenovo launches HoloLens competitor

#11

Post by keyle »

k__ wrote: post #7
writimov wrote: post #2

I've used a Google Glass, Oculus Rift, Cardboard VR systems and seen a demo of Oculus Rift. Is the Lenovo ThinkReality a real competitor? The market hasn't picked up VR for gaming and AR has flopped so far. How about high end systems for engineering and design. There could be a case where engineering speed and collaboration could increase from using a few of these systems at any company doing hardware design.

I think VR could take off this year. The Quest and Shadow VR have reasonable price ranges. AR headsets are still a magnitude too expensive.

Still miles away from mass adoption. VR/AR is at the stage of the Apple Newton and I don't think we're at the iPhone stage yet (in relative terms).

Re: Lenovo launches HoloLens competitor

#12

Post by mdorazio »

writimov wrote: post #2

I've used a Google Glass, Oculus Rift, Cardboard VR systems and seen a demo of Oculus Rift. Is the Lenovo ThinkReality a real competitor? The market hasn't picked up VR for gaming and AR has flopped so far. How about high end systems for engineering and design. There could be a case where engineering speed and collaboration could increase from using a few of these systems at any company doing hardware design.

You're mixing AR and VR into the same bucket when the use cases are fairly different. ThinkReality is a competitor to HoloLens and Magic Leap, both of which (and this, too) are still in the dev kit / proof of concept phase. VR systems work just fine and are technically mass market ready, they just cost too much and the market for people who want to strap a heavy thing onto their face for long periods of time is smaller than a lot people expected.

Headset VR like this is indeed being evaluated mostly for non-consumer applications right now, including manual labor guidance (think mechanics and surgeons), team collaboration, and 3D design, but the price and capabilities are at least a generation away from being appealing to most companies.

Re: Lenovo launches HoloLens competitor

#13

Post by eugeniub »

keyle wrote: post #11
k__ wrote: post #7

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think VR could take off this year. The Quest and Shadow VR have reasonable price ranges. AR headsets are still a magnitude too expensive.

Still miles away from mass adoption. VR/AR is at the stage of the Apple Newton and I don't think we're at the iPhone stage yet (in relative terms).

I think Oculus Quest could be the iPhone of VR. Keep in mind that the iPhone gen 1 didn’t sell well at all compared to just about any other iPhone generation.

Re: Lenovo launches HoloLens competitor

#14

Post by andybak »

dna_polymerase wrote: post #8

The only place I see such devices are highly polished demos to show the 'capabilities of AR/VR'. I've never seen such headsets used for anything even remotely useful (not considering gaming as extremely useful). I think the AR/VR craze is just here because we have nothing really new at the moment and investors want to pour money into something.

You've missed out something in between "games" and "useful".

The arts.

There's still a lot of interest (at least from where I'm standing) in VR etc as a creative medium. There's some really remarkable work being created.

Re: Lenovo launches HoloLens competitor

#15

Post by AlphaWeaver »

writimov wrote: post #2

I've used a Google Glass, Oculus Rift, Cardboard VR systems and seen a demo of Oculus Rift. Is the Lenovo ThinkReality a real competitor? The market hasn't picked up VR for gaming and AR has flopped so far. How about high end systems for engineering and design. There could be a case where engineering speed and collaboration could increase from using a few of these systems at any company doing hardware design.

I've used the original Hololens and one of the things that stuck with me was how well-polished it was from an OS standpoint. Microsoft has worked hard on Windows Holographic and it shows.

If this device can run Windows Holographic I think this could be really great. Lenovo already works with Microsoft to run it on some of their budget AR headsets but it is unclear to me whether Microsoft will grant them permission to use it on something that's a more direct Hololens competitor. I get the impression that running their own android-based holographic OS will not be the best though.

Re: Lenovo launches HoloLens competitor

#17

Post by germinalphrase »

andybak wrote: post #14
dna_polymerase wrote: post #8

The only place I see such devices are highly polished demos to show the 'capabilities of AR/VR'. I've never seen such headsets used for anything even remotely useful (not considering gaming as extremely useful). I think the AR/VR craze is just here because we have nothing really new at the moment and investors want to pour money into something.

You've missed out something in between "games" and "useful". The arts. There's still a lot of interest (at least from where I'm standing) in VR etc as a creative medium. There's some really remarkable work being created.

Is there a good resource for finding such work?

I recently experienced some VR art at the Walker Art Center (museum of modern art) in Minneapolis and was decidedly underwhelmed.

Re: Lenovo launches HoloLens competitor

#18

Post by skellera »

eugeniub wrote: post #13
keyle wrote: post #11

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Still miles away from mass adoption. VR/AR is at the stage of the Apple Newton and I don't think we're at the iPhone stage yet (in relative terms).

I think Oculus Quest could be the iPhone of VR. Keep in mind that the iPhone gen 1 didn’t sell well at all compared to just about any other iPhone generation.

It’s not about selling well. It’s revolutionizing the field. I don’t think the quest would be considered that.

It’s great and will bring more people to the market but it is still to be seen if that price point for something only a single person can enjoy at a time will be a game changer.

Re: Lenovo launches HoloLens competitor

#19

Post by thrower123 »

andybak wrote: post #14
dna_polymerase wrote: post #8

The only place I see such devices are highly polished demos to show the 'capabilities of AR/VR'. I've never seen such headsets used for anything even remotely useful (not considering gaming as extremely useful). I think the AR/VR craze is just here because we have nothing really new at the moment and investors want to pour money into something.

You've missed out something in between "games" and "useful". The arts. There's still a lot of interest (at least from where I'm standing) in VR etc as a creative medium. There's some really remarkable work being created.

Is there a market in there somewhere, or is it a whizz-bang gimmick like 3D TVs?

I've seen a lot of VR gaming, or at least, I did, approximately 18-12 months ago, but it really seems to have petered out.

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