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Vision Pro: What we got wrong at Oculus that Apple got right

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Re: Vision Pro: What we got wrong at Oculus that Apple got right

#31

No matter how much I contemplate about it, there was still no “killer” app that affords me to buy a VR set. I’ve tried them, it’s nice. But it really has no place in my life. And how could this change? Even with better displays etc. the whole idea of disconnecting my main sense - the eyes - from my surroundings is so strange to me that it seems irreconcilable. Can anybody relate?

I'm going to relate in a different way / non VR user way:

Once in a while I want to get into VR, but understanding all the options and etc makes my head spin and I quit on it, go back to other hobbies. Much of the discussion online, news stories (with any detail) and etc is all very "already knows the VR lay of the land / knee deep in it". It makes it difficult to understand / get the lay of the land. I'm almost burnt out just thinking about looking into it again.

Now if Apple provided a more affordable route in in the future, I know my consistent user experence with Apple would make that choice potentially a lot easier.

Re: Vision Pro: What we got wrong at Oculus that Apple got right

#32
post #4

Great article. It's so long, the four-part title is deserved and necessary to understand what's here. I found this part somewhat funny or perhaps disingenuous: > "I admit Vision Pro is the ultimate tech toy, but since I’m not an active developer I can’t justify the $4,049.78 price tag (512GB model + California sales tax) simply for keeping up with the VR market, so I returned my Vision Pro for a full refund inside th…

I have found that many of the affluent engineers that I know exhibit this sort of... line of thinking. this how should I say, false frugality, that at the end of the day doesn't really move the needle much (since they're making 200-300+K TC minimum) but makes them feel good

people who will, instead of directly using their subsidized subsidized clipper card benefits, will load their clipper card with credit cards for the 2% cash back, and then manually submit an expense, creating an operational burden for their company finance team so that they personally can read the benefits of... $25 a year in cash back

people who will take UberPool/Lyft Line to save 4-5 dollars for their commute home at the expense of an extra 20/30 minutes instead of either a) just taking public transit or b) taking a regular uber

people who will buy take out containers and bring them to work to take company-provided catered food so that they can save $20 a day

people who will use credit cards to buy gift cards at grocery stores for 5% cash back (obviously if you buy a $1000 gift card for $50 cash back, that's great but you run the risk of either losing the card/and thus losing cash/losing the credit card purchase/price matching benefits/etc etc)

all in all I think regardless of income/net worth sometimes it's not about the money. they can afford it. but it just feels good to save a little bit of money relative to your net worth way more than the actual financial impact

Re: Vision Pro: What we got wrong at Oculus that Apple got right

#33

No matter how much I contemplate about it, there was still no “killer” app that affords me to buy a VR set. I’ve tried them, it’s nice. But it really has no place in my life. And how could this change? Even with better displays etc. the whole idea of disconnecting my main sense - the eyes - from my surroundings is so strange to me that it seems irreconcilable. Can anybody relate?

I'm open to the idea of VR gaming but the industry just can't seem to break out of the chicken-and-egg problem of hardly any content being made, because hardly anyone has the hardware, because there's hardly any content. Even with Meta and Sony throwing money around for exclusives their libraries are barren, and PC VR is even worse since Valve isn't interested in subsidising game development beyond their one big first party title. It's been this way for years with little change and it stands to get even worse when Meta finally gets tired of losing billions of dollars each year to keep Reality Labs afloat.

Apples current approach to VR doesn't seem like it's going to help the gaming situation much either, since they opted to rely entirely on hand tracking which is much less accurate and capable than the standard-ish controllers used on every other VR platform. Releasing a game on Apple Vision opens up more potential buyers, but comes at the cost of having to accommodate a very limited lowest common denominator input method.

Re: Vision Pro: What we got wrong at Oculus that Apple got right

#34

No matter how much I contemplate about it, there was still no “killer” app that affords me to buy a VR set. I’ve tried them, it’s nice. But it really has no place in my life. And how could this change? Even with better displays etc. the whole idea of disconnecting my main sense - the eyes - from my surroundings is so strange to me that it seems irreconcilable. Can anybody relate?

Same. Every time I try a VR headset (starting from the Oculus Rift dev kit back in the day with that rollercoaster and other demos) I am blown away by the experience, but then I take it off and never think about it again. VR/AR simply isn't something that is missing from my life, and a decade+ later the software still hasn't made the case for itself.

Re: Vision Pro: What we got wrong at Oculus that Apple got right

#36

No matter how much I contemplate about it, there was still no “killer” app that affords me to buy a VR set. I’ve tried them, it’s nice. But it really has no place in my life. And how could this change? Even with better displays etc. the whole idea of disconnecting my main sense - the eyes - from my surroundings is so strange to me that it seems irreconcilable. Can anybody relate?

I think it’s partly generational. We don’t see as much value because traditional computers are familiar and get the job done for us

But younger people won’t have the same attachment. Young people already use mobile phones for things we would never do outside of a desktop. There is no question that the range of experiences you can have in AR/VR.

Re: Vision Pro: What we got wrong at Oculus that Apple got right

#37
After obsessing on thinness and weight for a decade on the iPhone and MacBook, Apple inexplicably did the opposite and missed the opportunity to focus on the major painpoint or VR : every headset hurts after 30 minutes. The Vision Pro is heavier than most flagship headsets.

I have 1000 hours on SteamVR, but coming back is a chore. And my face is red after every session.

Re: Vision Pro: What we got wrong at Oculus that Apple got right

#38

After obsessing on thinness and weight for a decade on the iPhone and MacBook, Apple inexplicably did the opposite and missed the opportunity to focus on the major painpoint or VR : every headset hurts after 30 minutes. The Vision Pro is heavier than most flagship headsets. I have 1000 hours on SteamVR, but coming back is a chore. And my face is red after every session.

[deleted]

Re: Vision Pro: What we got wrong at Oculus that Apple got right

#39
I remember being sooooo tempted to buy a devkit just so I could play about, see if I can get it to work with my own 3D games. Would it be a pointless exercise? Yes. However, would I learn from it as a programmer? Yes.

To this very day, I still dont have a VR headset. I am actually a tad behind with the latest ones, if I am honest about it.

There is a VR place in our City which I take my children to (and myself) for some fun for an hour. I do enjoy it. We play together on those Zombie or Archery games.

One of the main reasons I am tempted to get VR is to got the extra mile for some games or.. more specifically.. simulations.

I want to give my kids a slight head start to things like driving. With a decent simulator, steering wheel and VR, will be educational for them. I would need to build (or perhaps just buy) a new PC.

Is all this worth it for a driving simulator experience?

Interesting to see the future of VR and AR. I think these techs will merge in one way or another, ending up being small like a pair of glasses. I do think this tech as it evolves will eventually replace monitors. Things like this will be replaced, like giant mainframes are nothing compared to modern phones.

Re: Vision Pro: What we got wrong at Oculus that Apple got right

#40

No matter how much I contemplate about it, there was still no “killer” app that affords me to buy a VR set. I’ve tried them, it’s nice. But it really has no place in my life. And how could this change? Even with better displays etc. the whole idea of disconnecting my main sense - the eyes - from my surroundings is so strange to me that it seems irreconcilable. Can anybody relate?

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