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

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

#421

Post by swalsh » Fri, Feb 05, 2021, 4:30 PM UTC

irae wrote: post #393

A lot of comments here are talking about sharing a virtual office or working with VR. No one seems to note that if you cover your face with VR headset no one can see your facial expressions. The article says "more than a dozen cameras". What if this is actually a helmet? Apple called the FaceID dot matrix projector and capturing a camera before IIRC. It would be possible to capture facial expressions, and even depict…

That technology is being developed... but I can also tell you from experience playing multiplayer VR games, you can convey a lot of emotion simply using hand motions.

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

#422

Post by zepto » Fri, Feb 05, 2021, 5:02 PM UTC

rebuilder wrote: post #385

zepto wrote: 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…

Apple haven't quite convinced me they're serious about being in the pro design segment. They seemed to just quietly forget about graphics and video professionals, focusing on iOS and the consumer side instead. Sure, there's a fresh mac pro lineup now, but is it going to be another 6 years until the next gen?

What would they have done differently if they hadn’t forgotten about the design segment?

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

#423

Post by zepto » Fri, Feb 05, 2021, 5:03 PM UTC

vagrantJin wrote: post #367

zepto wrote: 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…

> they will have a hit. This right here is Appleism. And why wouldn't Occulus, HTC, Magic leap or big boy Microsoft have a hit?

Because they are focusing on games.

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

#424

Post by zepto » Fri, Feb 05, 2021, 5:04 PM UTC

whoisjuan wrote: post #164

zepto wrote: 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…

> If they can make that affordable and usable for pro designers at every level, (which $3500 clearly would be) I don’t know in what world would that be affordable. Maybe if companies buy it for their employees which makes this an enterprise product like the Mac Pro or software like Logic Pro. It would be insane of Apple to invest billions in development to end up with a product that is not targeted for regular consum…

It would be affordable if you are using it for your job and actually getting paid.

Also - nobody is saying there won’t be a consumer device.

Only that they don’t have to start there to be successful.

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

#425

Post by t-writescode » Fri, Feb 05, 2021, 5:26 PM UTC

intrasight wrote: post #420

t-writescode wrote: post #152

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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

So you take them off when they fail. And file a bug report.

I’m imagining a world where they’re so ubiquitous that they’re used when walking or driving, etc, because they provide a HUD. This is far down the line.

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

#426

Post by polishdude20 » Fri, Feb 05, 2021, 5:32 PM UTC

Balgair wrote: post #204

zepto wrote: 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…

Having done a fair bit of AR/VR work in medical and industrial settings, I've always thought the 'killer app' of VR is not in gaming. It's this very weekend: The Super Bowl. Well, not the Super Bowl precisely, but in experiences like sports or other time/space limited events. Sitting ring-side for the next big match. Or at the 50-yard line at the Super Bowl. Or at the finish line of the 100-m dash. All for, I dunno,…

You could probably take it a step further. Use lots of cameras all around the stadium from various angles then use machine learning or whatever to recreate the game in a 3d world. Then, let people move and fly around through that world. Get up close to the players, fly anywhere you want.

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

#427

Post by Accujack » Fri, Feb 05, 2021, 5:35 PM UTC

_coveredInBees wrote: post #240

Balgair wrote: post #204

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Having done a fair bit of AR/VR work in medical and industrial settings, I've always thought the 'killer app' of VR is not in gaming. It's this very weekend: The Super Bowl. Well, not the Super Bowl precisely, but in experiences like sports or other time/space limited events. Sitting ring-side for the next big match. Or at the 50-yard line at the Super Bowl. Or at the finish line of the 100-m dash. All for, I dunno,…

Ehh. I've owned a VR headset for a long time now, and I think many people underestimate how fundamentally isolating being in VR is. Humans are social creatures and unless you live by yourself and want to escape into VR, you're a lot more likely to enjoy watching the big game with friends and family so you can shoot the shit, and share the experience. Don't get me wrong... VR is and can be a lot of fun, but I just don…

>you're a lot more likely to enjoy watching the big game with friends and family

This is more a comment on the state of VR software than the technology itself.

With the Apple product described, it's pretty easy to imagine software that allows you to have a "virtual box seat" where you can get online to watch the game with your family/friends, even if you aren't all in the same place, and use the tech to both watch the game and talk to each other when nothing's going on with plays.

Alternatively, you can use the cameras in the app to merge your immediate surroundings with the game feed, so you see the people beside you in a part of the picture, or in the aforementioned "virtual" box seats. You can watch the game as if you're on the side lines (or on the ball) and see people around you react to plays, too. With eye tracking tech, the headset knows when you're looking at the game vs. your surroundings and can react accordingly.

I think Apple producing a VR headset would be a very good thing for the market. Like or hate Apple as a company, they tend to set the standard for industrial design and UI technology, and their products drive other products' features and uses.

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

#428

Post by jayd16 » Fri, Feb 05, 2021, 5:42 PM UTC

jobigoud wrote: post #316

jayd16 wrote: post #259

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The FOV of these devices is something like 100 degrees. There's not a lot of wasted space. Who knows what this theoretical Apple device is like though.

The FOV of AR headsets like Hololens is very far from 100°.

If the FoV is less then it drives home that the pixel per degree is even higher!

This is a closed face VR headset with presumably more traditional screens and lenses and unlike a Hololens or MagicLeap. The device sounds closer to VR headsets like the Vive and Quest, which are mostly around 90-110 degrees.

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

#429

Post by jayd16 » Fri, Feb 05, 2021, 5:51 PM UTC

everly wrote: post #418

jayd16 wrote: post #263

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The display did not augment reality, it was simply a small display in your view. It also did not spatially scan but it did know your rough location and where north was. It did things a smartphone could do but much worse. It's main advantage over a phone was that it was always on and didn't need a hand to hold it, which are key benefits of a smart watch.

Ok but if you are looking through that small display and you are seeing digital labels placed on real items that you are looking at, how is that not augmented reality? Like I said, there’s definitely overlap but you’re way underselling some key features. Smartwatch also can’t take a photo of whatever you’re looking at simply by winking.

>how is that not augmented reality

Again, if that's how you want to define augmented reality then we already did it much better on phones.

A smart watch achieves the goal of a passive HUD better than Glass did.

Whats left is a head mounted camera and I don't find that very compelling. The tradeoff between wearing glasses and having a much worse camera vs not having to use your hands to shoot a photo was not good enough in that device.

I mean, you're free to like it. You have to admit that its not just me who thought Glass did not have enough compelling features. Hasn't the market spoken for Glass?

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

#430

Post by intrasight » Fri, Feb 05, 2021, 7:14 PM UTC

t-writescode wrote: post #425

intrasight wrote: post #420

Earlier quoted context omitted.

So you take them off when they fail. And file a bug report.

I’m imagining a world where they’re so ubiquitous that they’re used when walking or driving, etc, because they provide a HUD. This is far down the line.

Perhaps not that far. But in that case there will be more regulated testing involved, and the subsystem that feeds the camera to the display would probably be a hardened subsystem running on a separate processor.