Pretty cool! From having used immersed [1] for a little bit, I really enjoyed having my desktop inside VR. However, the weight of Oculus was just impracticable, could not do an 8 hour shift with it. This sounds much more promising. However, instead of a laptop this should be a stand alone device one could plug in to existing PCs / Laptops methinks...
Spacetop, a radical laptop with no screen
141–150 of 173 posts
Re: Spacetop, a radical laptop with no screen
#142I've been dreaming of a product like this for years. I'm most productive in my office setup with large 42" + 24" monitors. When I travel I feel cramped and unproductive on my laptop. The laptop screen size does not seem to matter within the limits of what I'm comfortable lugging with me (nothing larger than a 15-16" mbp). So I've longed for some kind of VR or projected display from a laptop or mobile device. I signed…
Nreal sells glasses that are available today, on Amazon, and their Nebula virtual desktop app is available for Mac and Windows. The FoV on the Air isn't great, and if you wear corrective lenses you'll need to wear contacts, or get their prescription inserts, but that future is already here. It connects via USB-C to your existing computer, though dongles are available if you only have HDMI. The software isn't quite th…
Nreal looks great! Shame Linux support is not there yet, but given SteamDeck it must be coming!
Re: Spacetop, a radical laptop with no screen
#143Earlier quoted context omitted.
Yes, tracking the entire face is already being done in prototypes. I guess Meta in particular is extremely interested in rolling this out, it enables them to analyze better which content and ads you react to.
People in the meeting with standard laptops and desktops with a camera are going to show their faces to the other participants. What are they going to see for the ones wearing a headset?
An avatar like the Apple memoji, they already heavily communicate around this concept over previous online WWDC (due to COVID) https://developer.apple.com/news/?id=gclaxoae
This could make total sense, I always thought they spend to much energy on what was a gimmick at this point. But maybe they were just preparing a live memoji feature until it was flawless.
You might notice that unlike Meta, Apple current approach focus solely on head avatar. But they make a point for them to be very expressive.
This also perfectly fit the privacy narrative. Expressing yourself thought an expressive live animated avatar help preserve privacy as a remote worker. My life companion colleagues never agreed to turn on their webcam, maybe they would feel more at ease with an avatar.
PS: Maybe a better video (example) of the footage used in last year daily WWDC recap. The setup for the daily recap was a memoji of Serenity Caldwell reporting thought online meeting with other developers using memoji.
WWDC22 Day 5 Final statement : https://youtu.be/PMCDIIxBiZA?t=46
WWDC21 Day 5 Final statement : https://youtu.be/fwQF-HQG-pU?t=64
WWDC20 Day 5 Final statement : https://youtu.be/GHHw_hOnML0?t=1
Fun to see the evolution also...
Re: Spacetop, a radical laptop with no screen
#144It's an interesting idea, but 1080p per eye is way, way too low a resolution to actually use for most people.
Is "most" an alias for "more than 50%"? I don't think so in general, given the amount of cheap laptops I see around. Maybe it's true for the people that are willing to pay $2000. What's odd with this device is that it runs Android. I used Android with a keyboard and a mouse in the past but it was a sub par desktop environment and for $2000 one should make sure to be able to have all files, mail, etc to work on availa…
"most" people with 1080p laptops aren't stretching that 1080p to cover their entire field of vision and only displaying windows in small fractions of that. There's a reason VR is at minimum 4k per eye, and even then struggles with legible text
Re: Spacetop, a radical laptop with no screen
#145Earlier quoted context omitted.
Is "most" an alias for "more than 50%"? I don't think so in general, given the amount of cheap laptops I see around. Maybe it's true for the people that are willing to pay $2000. What's odd with this device is that it runs Android. I used Android with a keyboard and a mouse in the past but it was a sub par desktop environment and for $2000 one should make sure to be able to have all files, mail, etc to work on availa…
"most" people with 1080p laptops aren't stretching that 1080p to cover their entire field of vision and only displaying windows in small fractions of that. There's a reason VR is at minimum 4k per eye, and even then struggles with legible text
They're not covering the entireffield of vision. The fov is very restricted, that's why they can get away with a 1080p display.
Tbis replaces one problem for another. I'd definitely have to try it out before I'd consider buying something with a pov this small.
Re: Spacetop, a radical laptop with no screen
#146I don’t really understand why my iPhone can’t just be a desktop. It should just hook up to a dock and turn into a desktop pc. It’s got the power to do everything I do I just need a monitor and keyboard hookup
I've for a budget range Samsung tablet and Samsung dex works great.
Apple doesn't want to build a version of dex. I don't know why, it seems like an excellent fit, but they don't care. It probably has to do with the fact Microsoft's attempt has failed miserably.
If you care about this concept, I'd recommend considering buying a Samsung phone instead of an iPhone. Web browsing, office work, remote desktop, terminal stuff, it all Just Works hooked up to a compatible dock. The desktop feels a bit like a polished Linux environment, with deviations from Windows and macOS in the way things like the launcher works, but it also feels very finished.
The only real limit I've run into is the amount of RAM packed with these devices. The 4GiB of RAM my tablet packs clearly isn't enough to run multiple browser tabs, hires video playback and a fully featured MS Office at the same time, but I also imagine most computers would struggle with 4GiB these days. The S23 contains up to 12GiB of RAM, I imagine that'd be a breeze to work with.
I think people who care can use DeX for real office work today. I imagine the people who care are a minority, though.
Re: Spacetop, a radical laptop with no screen
#147Earlier quoted context omitted.
For the same reason you cannot use ab iPad as your Mac Mini display easily and out of the box
Can other tablets behave as a monitor only?
Samsung has a feature to turn it into a WiDi display. It works, but the wireless latency and throughput limitations are a tad annoying. Maybe the Samsung laptops have optimizations for this.
The fact you can use the stylus that comes with the tablet on your PC through the second screen feature is kind of nice, but the wireless issues make using it kind of a bother.
Re: Spacetop, a radical laptop with no screen
#148[deleted]
Re: Spacetop, a radical laptop with no screen
#149I have been doing this for months now with the nreal air, my phone and a portable keyboard with trackpad (I use keyboard shortcuts for anything anyway). It works really well and I haven't taken my laptop anywhere for 2 months or so. It is not perfect, but it's much better than lugging my laptop everywhere (no matter what it weighs; it's the dimensions). And the battery life is outstanding (it's that of my phone and charges as quickly which is much faster than my laptop). I either use github workspaces or vnc to work. VNC is outstanding as it burns minimum battery on the phone and you have a powerful server desktop.
Also; it's much more private; no-one can see your screen (unless you share) and when you put the sun light protector on, no-one starts talking with you. It's a very clear sign of ; I am busy.
The resolution of the monitor (I run DEX as the AR on this thing is not good enough (yet)) could be higher, but that's just a matter of time, and, as it seems to progress now, not a lot of time at that.
Re: Spacetop, a radical laptop with no screen
#150Earlier quoted context omitted.
People in the meeting with standard laptops and desktops with a camera are going to show their faces to the other participants. What are they going to see for the ones wearing a headset?
An avatar like the Apple memoji, they already heavily communicate around this concept over previous online WWDC (due to COVID) https://developer.apple.com/news/?id=gclaxoae This could make total sense, I always thought they spend to much energy on what was a gimmick at this point. But maybe they were just preparing a live memoji feature until it was flawless. You might notice that unlike Meta, Apple current approach…
I just switch off my camera when I don't need it and turn it on for those few business interactions that are more effective by looking each other faces. That's it. 3D moving avatars feel totally inappropriate to me in a business environment. I would wonder if I am working with kids.