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New report on Apple’s VR headset: 8K in each eye, potential $3k price tag

arstechnica.com

151–160 of 465 posts

Re: New report on Apple’s VR headset: 8K in each eye, potential $3k price tag

#151

I was hoping that Apple would be making AR spectacles, and not a VR headset. I was really excited by the possibilities of Google's Glass and really disappointed when they killed it off. I want a HUD in my glasses. I want to read text messages and get navigation directions without having to look down at a screen.

I used Google Glass in person for about 10 minutes, and after so much oh-ing and awing over the tech, for me it was pretty disappointing to experience. It felt like I was using a cheap Android system from 2012 overlayed onto reality and, uh, it wasn't that great. That being said, I only got to see a few basic apps in action, and maybe I didn't get the full tour of the hardware's abilities. Personally, I think that VR…

> It felt like I was using a cheap Android system from 2012 overlayed onto reality and, uh, it wasn't that great.

Considering that Google Glass was created in 2013 with hardware smaller than a phone, thats actually exactly what they made! After Google Glass got canned, all of the talented engineers went to different projects. I assume their enterprise version is basically the same 2013 glass.

Re: New report on Apple’s VR headset: 8K in each eye, potential $3k price tag

#152

Folks here are discussing the difference between AR and VR. My own take is that it's a difference of implementation. Quality VR with quality external cameras is going to give you a MUCH better experience than would AR glasses, and can of course do many things that VR glasses could not. I do think that AR glasses are much more practical and will have broader applicability. But perhaps not so much after a great VR impl…

VR is fail-deadly, AR is fail-safe by design and there's no way of getting around that. When VR fails, it's a black screen covering your head, whereas AR is the world around you.

There are many circumstances where AR is far better than VR, even with perfect VR

Re: New report on Apple’s VR headset: 8K in each eye, potential $3k price tag

#153
post #106
post #20

I bet this uses DLSS to get the resolution. I see no one talking about it but why push a high bitrate when you can just upscale with AI.

DLSS is a NVIDIA technology. Apple and NVIDIA don't quite like each other.

They could be using "DLSS" to refer to any sort of highly capable resolution improving software, not nVidia's specifically.

Re: New report on Apple’s VR headset: 8K in each eye, potential $3k price tag

#154

Do we know what the effects are likely to be of wearing a VR headset for hours at a time? I don't think our eyes are going to be happy with a fixed focal length for an extended period of time. At least when I'm working on a laptop/desktop, I'm constantly looking around the room, at my keyboard etc.

I'm not that worried about that since I already spend most of the day staring at a monitor at a fixed distance. But, I would be a lot more worried about the added weight. My posture is not the greatest and having a bulky headset weighing down the head levering the backbone could be problematic if done for long stretches of time.

Re: New report on Apple’s VR headset: 8K in each eye, potential $3k price tag

#155
post #29
post #9

I could see this as a virtual office, as some of the comments speculate. If I had a set of AR glasses that projected what appeared to be an 8K monitor on top of my dining room table, and integrated with my MacBook Pro for input / output, and that had batteries to last a workday, I’d pay $2K/$3K. Even more if it worked well at brightness levels I’d have in my backyard. Never mind gaming, mobile high-quality virtual of…

Why? I mostly have zero interest in being immersed in meetings. Most people aren't IRL most of the time. There's potentially value where people need to be on-site in other contexts such as repairing equipment.

It obviates the need for a ridiculous number of business trips.

Re: New report on Apple’s VR headset: 8K in each eye, potential $3k price tag

#156
post #144

Sooo looking forward to being able to live fully in a virtual world. Virtual cash, virtual socially distanced "relationships" and friends, a virtual body so I don't have to work out, and Neuralink attached to my brain (or whatever's left of that) so other people can make decisions for me. What a relief it's all coming together

This is super sci-fi but i'm wondering if we'll get anywhere near incubating a brain (or simulating existing brains) so that it doesn't have an aging body to deteriorate and render it useless (of course, this wouldn't solve other brain-damaging disease). A virtual environment would be used to simulate the inputs and record the outputs so that you effectively live longer//forever (perhaps you could choose to terminate at any time).

This is basically the plot of San Junipero but with the vast resources going into ML, neuroscience, and anti-aging, it's not hard to imagine this being a possibility within the next 100 years.

Re: New report on Apple’s VR headset: 8K in each eye, potential $3k price tag

#157
post #95

Bear in mind that the iPad was rumored to cost >$1000 but then launched at $499. On the other hand it might sense to launch this as a pro-workstation for the usual kinds of task: architects, designers and engineers being able to visualize and interact with models directly in space. If they can make that affordable and usable for pro designers at every level, (which $3500 clearly would be), they will have a hit. A con…

Microsoft’s hololens2 is $3.5k available now for developers.

Re: New report on Apple’s VR headset: 8K in each eye, potential $3k price tag

#158
post #75
post #66

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That sounds utterly unappealing. If I'm in a coffeeshop I have zero reason to want to cut off from the outside world. Otherwise I wouldn't be in a coffeeshop. Most of the reason I'd work in a coffeeshop is for an ambient social vibe. And for many things I do a 13" laptop screen is fine. (And I probably wouldn't feel comfortable being utterly cut off from the environment in an urban space.)

You should look into how the Hololens is able to display floating windows. You're not cut off any more than the physically equivalent monitor would obscure. A full face headset would probably give off a socially isolating presence, at least today, though.

The obvious use case is on an airplane (or bus or train).

Re: New report on Apple’s VR headset: 8K in each eye, potential $3k price tag

#159
post #9

I could see this as a virtual office, as some of the comments speculate. If I had a set of AR glasses that projected what appeared to be an 8K monitor on top of my dining room table, and integrated with my MacBook Pro for input / output, and that had batteries to last a workday, I’d pay $2K/$3K. Even more if it worked well at brightness levels I’d have in my backyard. Never mind gaming, mobile high-quality virtual of…

You may be interested in https://immersedvr.com/ . Some videos suggest that their coders use their VR workspace to code the app itself. Not exactly what you described of course :)

Fwiw I use this a couple hours a day a few times a week for coding. It’s great for focus and completely comfortable/readable as long as the text size isn’t tiny.

Re: New report on Apple’s VR headset: 8K in each eye, potential $3k price tag

#160
post #106

Earlier quoted context omitted.

DLSS is a NVIDIA technology. Apple and NVIDIA don't quite like each other.

They could be using "DLSS" to refer to any sort of highly capable resolution improving software, not nVidia's specifically.

So Apple (known maker of Galaxy phones) is going to be using DLSS for their Oculus Quest?
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