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Apple’s Best Hope for New Headset: a Smartwatch-Like Trajectory

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141–150 of 191 posts

Re: Apple’s Best Hope for New Headset: a Smartwatch-Like Trajectory

#141
I'm an Apple user and love all things VR / AR, probably spend 10hr/wk using Quest 2.

Tempted to get the Reality Pro/One on launch, but at $3k and the tech team saying that not only will there be nothing exciting software-wise at launch, but a cheaper version and a more advanced version are on the horizon (no pun intended), I can't justify getting it.

If someone like me who is basically the perfect demographic crossover doesn't want it, not sure who will... but time will tell.

Re: Apple’s Best Hope for New Headset: a Smartwatch-Like Trajectory

#142
post #63

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I could see major potential in the fitness space, paired with Apple Watch + Fitness+... I could see potential use cases in education (think surgery simulator etc...). I could see some developers using it as an alternative to their monitors. I think there are plenty of places outside of gaming where a device like this, done right (comfortable) could carve out a segment. Plenty of people pay thousands of dollars for an…

I’ve heard people bring up fitness, but the physical experience of sweating with a headset strapped to my face sounds unpleasant. It also turns the product into “gym equipment”. Is it waterproof? Can I give it a good wash in the sink and dry it? Or am I putting it on later with it soaked in cold sweat? How’s it going to smell after a couple of weeks?

All of their other wearables and phones are waterproof at this point, why wouldn't this one be? Rinse it off in the sink when you are done!

Re: Apple’s Best Hope for New Headset: a Smartwatch-Like Trajectory

#143
post #83
post #34

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Where was this persistent iteration and overnight success with Homepod, Airpower, butterfly keyboards, touchbar, force touch, MobileMe, Ping? Apple has had its share of failures like any other company, and kills products like any other company. There is plenty of precedence for their AR headset to just fizzle out.

HomePod Getting more successful with the Mini. The OG Homepod was a very V1 product like the person you replied to was saying https://appleinsider.com/articles/22/06/06/homepod-mini-was-... AirPower: never released Butterfly keyboards/Touch Bar/force touch: all features. The person you’re replying to is talking about product lines. You might as well list cd/devs drives and FireWire as well because things come and go.…

I agree with you on all of that except MobileMe. Apple killed that, then had a delay, then had iCloud. They were actually ahead of the curve for a bit and then went way far back before catching up again.

Re: Apple’s Best Hope for New Headset: a Smartwatch-Like Trajectory

#144
Maybe Apple could market this thing simply as a hi-res monitor and focus only on productivity side. If they have dual 5K displays and lenses, that seems like a safer bet and avoid the metaverse and gaming altogether. They charged more than 3000 for their pro monitors.

Recently they have Wi-Fi 6E across new products and it could be for pushing compressed pixels to the headset which needs only to be a thin client like the studio display.

Re: Apple’s Best Hope for New Headset: a Smartwatch-Like Trajectory

#146
The simple things I want from Apple, that seemly would be not to difficult from a company with so much money and talent are left to linger. But every half baked idea is rushed to the front of the line.

If during the VR headset announcement Xbox was somehow involved, it would get my attention though.

Re: Apple’s Best Hope for New Headset: a Smartwatch-Like Trajectory

#147

One of the biggest problems with the metaverse is content. It's pretty clear that AI can do a great job generating the artwork needed for great 3d content. It is very expensive and time consuming to do so with human artists... which makes me sad.

AI has done a great-ish job with 2D content. It's very impressive superficially, but flawed when you examine the details.

3D content - particularly live procedural 3D animated content based on large models - is maybe 15-20 years away. It needs a couple of orders of magnitude more processing power.

I wouldn't be surprised if that's Apple's planned destination. If so, it's going to take a while to get there.

This version seems more like a toe in the water. It will appeal to early adopters and a few gamers, but it's not going to be a game changer.

Re: Apple’s Best Hope for New Headset: a Smartwatch-Like Trajectory

#148
Did we go back to thinking we wanted to be less connected to the world around us, and we're looking for a $3k device to help us do that? I thought maybe society was admitting there are major, inadequately examined problems with device addiction, social alienation, mental health, and so on. I guess maybe we were just in a lull between product launches, and I mistook that silence for introspection. My bad.

Re: Apple’s Best Hope for New Headset: a Smartwatch-Like Trajectory

#149
post #111

HoloLens is (soon to be was) a great AR device. Certainly useable and competent but it suffered from the same issue over and over: once the gee wiz demo was over, outside of a few very niche uses, people went back to using their laptops and smartphones. Because it’s easier to just pull out your smartphone, get whatever you need done, then put it back in your pocket. This rapid and random access is why people love sma…

> Because it’s easier to just pull out your smartphone, get whatever you need done, then put it back in your pocket. FWIW I see an alarmingly lot of people glued to their phone while walking, in a restaurant, on the train, while driving, etc. Once it's normalized that they don't actually have to "pull out, put it back", just use (wear) it all the time as it is with phones, there will be a market.

You still have some sort of spatial awareness while using a phone, which makes it more acceptable to use in public. Like, if I’m dining solo, and a waiter comes by, I will still acknowledge their existence and be able to respond to them, have an eye contact and be able to use your body language. That’s kind of lost in AR/VR case.
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