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A developer's view of Vision Pro

david-smith.org

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Re: A developer's view of Vision Pro

#71

Post by goosedragons »

swozey wrote: post #50

I play VR games like Skyrim VR quite often and my biggest disappointment, outside of the ridiculous price - is that it's completely gesture controlled. Are there going to be controllers at all? How would you play a game with guns? Make a pew-pew gun with your fingers?

They did show off using a standard PlayStation controller but nothing like an Oculus Quest or Index Give VR controller. While a PlayStation would be fine for something like Tetris Effect, for titles that get more out VR it does seem like it could be a problem.

Re: A developer's view of Vision Pro

#73

Post by EA-3167 »

highwaylights wrote: post #36
ladberg wrote: post #20

> In short, my brain has crossed a Rubicon and now feels like experiences constrained to small, rectangular screens are lesser experiences. I left Apple 1.5 years ago but was working on the Vision Pro while I was there. I have spend many hours working in the headset and I know exactly the feeling he's describing! Leaving felt like going back in time to using clunky technology and I've been waiting for outside world t…

I don’t want to be nosey but given that it sounds like you feel like it’s a paradigm shifting device, and you’ve actually worked on and with the device, I’d be interested to read about your motivations for moving on from Apple/the project when you did if you ever feel like writing about it. So many questions I’d love to ask you about this, but again, none of my business. Just wanted to let you know I’d upvote that bl…

From the blog this leaped out at me:

> That shift is fundamental. The interface for Vision Pro felt like it was reading my thoughts rather than responding to my inputs. Its infinite, pixel perfect canvas also felt inherently different. I wasn’t constrained by my physical setup, instead my setup was whatever I thought would be most productive for me.

That DOES seem like a paradigm shift in the offing to me. Sure it might be iPhone 1 expensive and uncertain, but it's easy to imagine how incredible a lighter, more affordable version will be to MANY people within 5 years or so.

Re: A developer's view of Vision Pro

#74

Post by IggleSniggle »

senttoschool wrote: post #51
Dudester230602 wrote: post #42

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> ...doing work in headsets... Is it possible to use Vision Pro to build and publish a Vision Pro app? Because it seems to be another Apple device separating producers and consumers just like iPad and iPhone.

This is a valid question and should not be downvoted. Are we going to be able to create a large software project using it without carrying around a MacBook as well? It’d be nice to be able to run macOS when I travel and not have to bring my MacBook.

From the ad, it looked to me like you get a iPad-esque computing device when standalone, but that it tethers and can act as a display for macOS. Just speculative of course, but in the ad they said something like, “connect to your MacBook to extend all your MacBook apps onto the Vision Pro.”

I suspect that, like the iPad, there will be ways to force it to function as a standalone device, but that the happy path will be heavily optimized towards you buying as much Apple hardware as possible.

Re: A developer's view of Vision Pro

#75

Post by CrazyStat »

ladberg wrote: post #62
highwaylights wrote: post #36

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don’t want to be nosey but given that it sounds like you feel like it’s a paradigm shifting device, and you’ve actually worked on and with the device, I’d be interested to read about your motivations for moving on from Apple/the project when you did if you ever feel like writing about it. So many questions I’d love to ask you about this, but again, none of my business. Just wanted to let you know I’d upvote that bl…

Thanks! My motivations were mostly comp based (I'm in HFT now), I loved the product and the team I was on! Feel free to ask any questions here and I'll answer anything I can (e.g. no unreleased info, but maybe go into more detail about the kind of stuff that was shown to devs at WWDC). No blog right now but maybe in the future :)

A major limitation for using VR devices as "virtual monitors" has been the screen resolution. Vision Pro appears to have significantly higher resolution than anything available on the market right now; in your experience, was the resolution high enough for the pixels to disappear and not be a distraction, especially when e.g. reading text? Have you used other VR headsets to compare it to?

Re: A developer's view of Vision Pro

#76

Post by daemonk »

None of the existing headsets I've tried has worked out in terms of working setup replacement. If it can replace a desk/monitor and lead to better ergonomics and flexibility, I would pay upwards of 5k for it. I really want Apple to succeed.

Re: A developer's view of Vision Pro

#77

Post by kitsunesoba »

Vecr wrote: post #53
jondwillis wrote: post #39

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Unironically it might be smart to start 3d printing and testing some iNeckBrace designs.

Or a bump helmet and hook the whole thing to the Night Vision Goggle mount on the front (like the new IVAS design), and put counterweights on the back to prevent it from shifting down. That could take a lot of pressure off your face and make the whole headborne system more balanced.

Counterweights are already a pretty common thing for existing VR headsets. Some people will strap a battery pack to the back strap of their headsets, and there's enough tethered players looking for plain counterweights that's there's a small cottage industry around custom made heavy metal counterweights.

Here's the one that I bought to use with my "frankenquest" (Vive Deluxe Audio Strap on a Quest 2) setup: https://www.studioformcreative.com/product-page/vive-das-200...

Re: A developer's view of Vision Pro

#78

Post by MBCook »

bun_at_work wrote: post #70
senttoschool wrote: post #51

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is a valid question and should not be downvoted. Are we going to be able to create a large software project using it without carrying around a MacBook as well? It’d be nice to be able to run macOS when I travel and not have to bring my MacBook.

This seems more than a little likely, as Vision Pro has an M2 chip for processing, and the R1 for vision processing. If your work needs a fully-capable GPU, that's probably a different story, although most graphics work (like photo editing/video editing) should run well on the M2.

On the other hand, the iPad Pros have M1s (M2s?) but so far Apple keeps them constrained.

Re: A developer's view of Vision Pro

#79

Post by gpm »

andrewmunsell wrote: post #23
thefounder wrote: post #15

I would buy this if it can replace my current monitor(s) for development/coding. Price is not issue for many people as long as it can do your daywork easier.

It could work, with a Mac (which is unfortunate, given the Vision Pro's HW is equivalent to the Mac you "need" just to run the right software). It's an unfortunate limitation that you can only run one 4k "virtual monitor" from a Mac, but presumably your IDE & terminal would live in the virtual Mac screen and all of your documentation, etc. would be "native" in the headset

For the vast majority of my work vscode stuffed into a browser-like window using SSH remotes would be fine, and would remove the "single 4k screen from a mac" restriction.

Re: A developer's view of Vision Pro

#80

Post by crooked-v »

TillE wrote: post #30
Krasnol wrote: post #9

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Also: don't cry about the price. Quality costs money. Altogether sounded like an GPT Apple Ad.

It's true though, the device is clearly intentionally overbuilt, it's not like Apple is adding some huge arbitrary markup.

From the previews people have had so far, I feel like they decided their target was "could plausibly and comfortably replace a computer day 1 even for someone who had never used a VR device before", then went backwards from the hardware needed for that to figure out their price point.
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