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Apple’s new headset meets reality

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Re: Apple’s new headset meets reality

#101

Post by Dig1t »

Flatcircle wrote: post #56

I once demoed the VR goggles at Facebook HQ on a tour, my boss and I put on the glasses and were immersed in a world where there was a large dragon. We really roared with excitement and kept saying “wow, amazing” and shaking our head in astonishment as we took the headset off. Then, later we said our goodbyes and left. In the parking lot my boss and I turned to each other both agreed, that VR headset wasn’t that impr…

>Also, prolonged use causes nausea in a large percentage of people.

There's an excellent video of John Carmack talking about this and how to solve it. This is much less of an issue now.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lHLpKzUxjGk

I agree with you though that there aren't any killer apps for VR/AR yet, and it remains to be seen if there will be any at all.

Re: Apple’s new headset meets reality

#102

Post by jmull »

It will be interesting to see how this plays out, and if there really is a viable Apple-scale device here.

The overarching XR vision makes sense to me -- that you could instantly drop into any kind of environment you might want to, whether for work or entertainment or socializing.

But who creates these environments, and for what purpose? They seem like they'd be quite expensive if done well, and if not done well, you wouldn't want to go there unless you had to. If there aren't great places to go, what justifies a $3K headset?

Meanwhile, with the reality of technical limitations, how good is the experience really going to be?

I suspect you're going to be able to pay $3K to buy into some games and productivity software that, once the novelty wears off, are going to feel pretty mediocre and may never really get past the tech demo stage. And your hardware is going to be dreadfully obsolete in about 2-3 years too.

IDK, maybe I just have a lack of vision and I'm too down on this stuff.

I would like to try it and see!

Re: Apple’s new headset meets reality

#103

Post by bullfightonmars »

tikkun wrote: post #45

Here's one view for the device - FaceTime++ If it's a gamechanger for remote working, then I'll buy them for my company and have my remote employees use them If it's a gamechanger for communicating with family overseas, then I might see if I can convince one of my relatives to get one (though the price will be harder to justify for personal use - but not impossible if it's a gamechanger) Both of those are contingent…

The will have to make presence _really_ good for this to be worthwhile. The closest thing I have seen to next level is Google's Project Starline [1]. I would spend so much money to get one of these for my home and one for my parent's home halfway across the country.

1. https://blog.google/technology/research/project-starline/

Re: Apple’s new headset meets reality

#104

Post by trafficante »

wintermutestwin wrote: post #58
AndrewKemendo wrote: post #13

I don't think there is a consumer market for head mounted AR anymore - if there ever really was. That makes me sad having been in AR since 2010 - and knowing what we could do with it if done right. I just don't think society currently has an appetite for a $3000 product that gives the wearer visual superpowers (that is the promise after all) and is an impossible to ignore distinction between classes. I honestly think…

>I don't think there is a consumer market for head mounted AR anymore - if there ever really was. All it takes is a killer app to come along. AR music instrument instruction is my bet. If Apple released this one app along with the glasses it would become a massive hit.

This already exists (at least for piano) on Quest. One of the few cases where I think the Quest Pro’s color passthrough really shines.

https://youtube.com/shorts/eeMte5UbFJ4?feature=share

Re: Apple’s new headset meets reality

#105

Post by Invictus0 »

tikkun wrote: post #45

Here's one view for the device - FaceTime++ If it's a gamechanger for remote working, then I'll buy them for my company and have my remote employees use them If it's a gamechanger for communicating with family overseas, then I might see if I can convince one of my relatives to get one (though the price will be harder to justify for personal use - but not impossible if it's a gamechanger) Both of those are contingent…

Videocalling barely works at 1080p because of network issues. I don't know how much bandwidth FaceTime++ would need but I am not optimistic on this usecase at all.

Re: Apple’s new headset meets reality

#106

Post by themagician »

jmull wrote: post #102

It will be interesting to see how this plays out, and if there really is a viable Apple-scale device here. The overarching XR vision makes sense to me -- that you could instantly drop into any kind of environment you might want to, whether for work or entertainment or socializing. But who creates these environments, and for what purpose? They seem like they'd be quite expensive if done well, and if not done well, you…

For me it comes down to optics. I've tried damn near every VR headset ever made, including many that never made it to production, and they all suffer from the same core issue: poor optics. Even industrial headsets that costs thousands are still using flat screen and lenses with fixed focal points (with few exceptions, but even then nothing truly extraordinary).

Current optical designs mean that there is a large out of focus area when you look anywhere that isn't forward. That's just never going to fly for the general consumer. For VR to truly go mainstream you needs an optical system that is truly sharp, edge to edge. That probably means some kind of active optical system (like reverse OIS) or some kind of magic lens that currently only exists in theory. Instead what manufactures keep doing is trading off FOV for sharpness.

If Apple has implemented a new optics system here I think they have winner and the industry will change overnight. If it's the same as current designs just a little better it feels DOA to me.

I'm optimistic because I can't imagine Apple, of all companies, putting out a headset that's blurry at the edges.

Re: Apple’s new headset meets reality

#107

Post by charcircuit »

Animats wrote: post #81

"Apple’s ambition is that customers will eventually wear the device continuously all day, replacing daily tasks done on an iPhone or a Mac such as playing games, browsing the web, emailing, doing FaceTime video calls while collaborating in apps, working out and even meditating. It will feature hand and eye control and run many of the kinds of apps found on Apple’s other devices." This concept has been well-explored i…

If people aren't finding value in a product they will stop using it. People won't want to use products which displays ads in an obnoxious way.

>What to call people who wear this?

Why do you want to bully people?

Re: Apple’s new headset meets reality

#108

Post by [deleted] »

bredren wrote: post #80

>underscoring the narrative that the company’s biggest victories were initiated under his predecessor, Apple co-founder Steve Jobs What does the author consider to be a victory? Tim Cook was elevated because he had the operational capability to grow Apple. Jobs did not consider Cook to be a product design person. But Jobs trusted Cook to find and keep people who could design products. By any stretch of the imaginatio…

[deleted]

Re: Apple’s new headset meets reality

#109

Post by crooked-v »

samwillis wrote: post #7

I'm utterly unconvinced that AR/VR is a large market or is going to be game changing in every day life. I can see why Apple feel that they need to have a product in the market, but I wouldn't be surprised if its presented as “Just a Hobby” the same way that Steve Jobs presented Apple TV back when it launched (and for a good few years later). I really do think that Apple are much more likely to present some interestin…

> I'm utterly unconvinced that AR/VR is a large market

Gorilla Tag, an indie VR game where you're an ape and run around with your hands and tag people (seriously, that's the whole thing) has made $26 million selling virtual hats and has peaks of 90,000 concurrent users.

Re: Apple’s new headset meets reality

#110

Post by tguedes »

bredren wrote: post #80

>underscoring the narrative that the company’s biggest victories were initiated under his predecessor, Apple co-founder Steve Jobs What does the author consider to be a victory? Tim Cook was elevated because he had the operational capability to grow Apple. Jobs did not consider Cook to be a product design person. But Jobs trusted Cook to find and keep people who could design products. By any stretch of the imaginatio…

Absolutely. Between Apple Silicon, Apple Watch, AirPods, and scaling operations to be able to sell the amount of products they do in a year, that is hard to argue against being an overwhelming success for Tim Cook as CEO.

Is it equal to the legacy of Apple under Jobs? Definitely not. But how many other companies/people released 3 revolutionary products?

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