Live data from Hacker News

Apple Vision Pro review

wsj.com

81–90 of 1001 posts

Re: Apple Vision Pro review

#81
post #37

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You mean the front cabin where they have big screens for every seat? I couldn't see carrying one of these instead of just an iPad for movies. (But then I'm a very light packer.)

I think it will be more like the proliferation of noise-cancelling headphones; it's not about what it brings (music, dialog, etc) but about what it blocks out (the ambient sounds). Yes, you can watch a movie on a plane now, but with a headset you remove the depressing, crowded, and claustrophobic visual environment.

Although I'm not sure I want to be that isolated from the environment. (I do use noise canceling devices but they're in-ear.)

Re: Apple Vision Pro review

#82

What's the killer app? Quest headsets have been out for years and haven't seemed to find one. Well.. besides 3d porn

Quest headsets are already pretty compelling for some use cases, but the tech still needs more advancement (at a reasonable price point) to go fully mainstream.

For a lot of people, Beat Saber and similar games are a killer app for the Quest. It can be good for making exercise fun and accessible at the same time.

Re: Apple Vision Pro review

#83
post #68

Earlier quoted context omitted.

They can already do this with the desktop composition software they use today. All the windows are virtualized onto backing layers that you can draw anywhere and add effects to. It’s how window shadows work, and how certain window effects are done. They just haven’t done it.

So Apple could have done this, but did not. Why? (Speculation and leaks welcome) - [Profit on basic innovation] Did they want to wait and see how their customers would adopt VisionOS's native free-floating windows, so as to avoid cognitive overload by commingling with MacOS windows? - [Benevolence to fellow competitors] Did they not want to takeover the existing market of virtualized VR desktops?

Most likely because it wasn't polished, so get it out now in a polished and limited state and now you have a fancy update to tout when it is done.

Re: Apple Vision Pro review

#84

One of the aspects of the device that has been under-realized is that when mirroring your desktop/laptop display to the AVP, you can't break out its applications into different areas. You can't pull them away from the desktop window. This is one of those things that Apple never claimed was supported, and yet there's something about that behavior that feels like such a natural intuitive implication to the technology t…

The largest portable MacBook Pro 16.2 inch has a 3456-by-2234 native resolution at 254 pixels per inch which by default is halved . So I don’t know what she means exactly about 4k but there are enough pixels to do a portable 4k display.

Re: Apple Vision Pro review

#85
post #28

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don't think it's even possible to get a fully immersive FOV in that form factor with the current SOTA optics, the few headsets which do have ultra-wide FOVs are enormous bricks. The widest FOV headset you can currently buy is the XTAL 3 at 180 degrees, and it's huge, despite being a PC-tethered design that doesn't need to make space for a SoC or battery. https://www.xtal.pro/product/xtal-3-mr We're a few breakthrou…

I always think back to the Nikkor 6mm fisheye lens[0] for example of what it takes to have 180° FOV. It's a lot of glass. [0] https://duckduckgo.com/?t=h_&q=nikkor+6mm+f2.8+fisheye&iax=i...

Amusingly the XTAL 3 MR is only slightly heavier than the Vision Pro despite all the glass it must have inside to produce that FOV.

Re: Apple Vision Pro review

#86

Earlier quoted context omitted.

For me, I think the killer app would have to be something that interacts with the real world. Watching movies, FaceTime, or browsing the internet won’t be enough for me to ever buy this. But maybe if there was something like a home repair or car repair app that could in real time identify and inspect the objects, give me visual and audio instructions on how to perform the repair, that could be a killer app. But I’m n…

The Microsoft Hololens demos included some examples of this. It certainly looked interesting example: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pIsjVaqdNpc

Speaking of the MS Hololens: Is it still a thing and is there a community of 3rd-party developers around it? It showed a lot of promise when it was released.

Re: Apple Vision Pro review

#87

I think we are now at a stage where VR hardware has surpassed software. Between this and the Quest 3, we have powerful, polished and consumer friendly devices, but beyond a few niches (fitness, simulation, gaming to some extent), there is nothing to convince users to put the headsets on. I am hoping we will see a lot of experimentation in the coming years, and I am excited for what the Apple ecosystem will bring to t…

> I think we are now at a stage where VR hardware has surpassed software.

Totally agree. I'm waiting for a usable Virtual Desktop app to come out. All the ones I have tried which work on my cheap WMR headset fall short of having floating app windows in view.

I guess there is one of those which works on Meta Quest, but not PC headsets. That's really what you need to be effective working in VR. Just like is mentioned the Apple headset supports.

Re: Apple Vision Pro review

#88
post #55

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> What's the killer app? Movies on airplanes. I’m guessing these will become virtually ubiquitous in the front cabin within a few years.

Wouldn't just about any available headset that costs 10x to 20x less suffice for this?

Pretty much, but I haven't seen anyone on a plane watching movies with a Quest or similar headset

Re: Apple Vision Pro review

#89

I think we are now at a stage where VR hardware has surpassed software. Between this and the Quest 3, we have powerful, polished and consumer friendly devices, but beyond a few niches (fitness, simulation, gaming to some extent), there is nothing to convince users to put the headsets on. I am hoping we will see a lot of experimentation in the coming years, and I am excited for what the Apple ecosystem will bring to t…

People like to say this but my friend just sent me a recording of “drop dead home invasion” with the Quest 3 and my jaw was on the floor. He says it’s amazing too.

I’ve also heard about players spending a lot of time in counter strike games like pavlov.

At this point it seems like there’s a TON of things to do in VR (and I’m gonna be honest, there were a ton of experiences too on the Quest 1 when I had it).

I’m just waiting for more live shows and concerts that I can attend from the Quest personally.

Re: Apple Vision Pro review

#90

One of the aspects of the device that has been under-realized is that when mirroring your desktop/laptop display to the AVP, you can't break out its applications into different areas. You can't pull them away from the desktop window. This is one of those things that Apple never claimed was supported, and yet there's something about that behavior that feels like such a natural intuitive implication to the technology t…

It looks like someone is working on a Mac app that does exactly this, and they seem to have a functional prototype: https://x.com/TheOriginaliTE/status/1751251567641346340?s=20

Unclear if Apple will allow this in the store

edit: Yes I know you can build apps before they're in the store

Post reply on HN