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Apple Vision Pro review

wsj.com

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Re: Apple Vision Pro review

#301

Post by jandrese »

gorkish wrote: post #257
andrewmcwatters wrote: post #50

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.

> They just haven’t done it. Literally nobody has done it. It's beyond ridiculous that you can't already show or duplicate an application window on any display you want and allow it to be controlled from anywhere it is visible. Searching for ways to do this lead one into extremely niche software ecosystems. Please is there any collaboration app out there that makes it seamless to toss windows around like everyone act…

Isn't this how ordinary spanning monitors works? It might be slightly awkward with AR goggles since the relative orientation of the displays will be constantly changing as your head moves, and what happens to a window you have half on and half off of the Macbook's screen when you look away? Or do you want to have the application jump between devices, like appearing on your fridge when you go for a drink? With the old X11 protocol and a daemon in the middle this was possible but the use cases were extremely limited and the security issues made it a pain in the ass to actually use. With distros moving away from X11 this is only going to get harder, and you have to ask yourself how much you really want it.

This would mean the goggles would be basically just a dumb display for the Mac. It would also be weird to try to move an AR app onto your Mac.

Re: Apple Vision Pro review

#302

Post by dougmwne »

jayd16 wrote: post #255
AlexandrB wrote: post #166

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Underlying a lot of these discussions is the assumption that there is a future where this is an actually useful, mass-market device. I'm still not convinced this is true. For example, "killer apps/content" never arrived for 3D TVs and they have largely disappeared from the market. Same with various "waggling" input technologies like the Wiimote and Kinect. There were some compelling uses, like Wii Sports, but these w…

>Same with various "waggling" input technologies like the Wiimote and Kinect. Hasn't VR taken over waggle? I don't think you can say its disappeared when the VR install base is in the 10s of millions.

Yeah, the Quest seems to be the spiritual successor to Wii sports. It’s the closest thing you can buy to that 2006 experience. The long dream of wielding a lightsaber on the Wii was finally realized on the Quest, to a quite satisfactory level.

And yet, from a gaming perspective, we still have to crack force feedback and natural locomotion before we have a holodeck. Maybe in 20 more years.

Re: Apple Vision Pro review

#303

Post by threeseed »

aloer wrote: post #132

It is interesting how many here are excited about this for productive computer work. It’s also what Apple advertises with. But what is the account situation like? For years I’ve been complaining that I can’t easily use my private iPad with my company Mac because they have separate Apple IDs. Things like sidecar for a quick virtual whiteboard are basically impossible. AirPods have gotten better over the years where to…

> But what is the account situation like?

These devices are going to have your sweat, makeup, odours etc on them.

So you're really not going to want to share a device with anyone else.

Re: Apple Vision Pro review

#304

Post by layer8 »

I found the details interesting, like how she couldn’t really see if pepper was coming out of the pepper mill. Or the cooking app recommending not to actually wear the AVP during cooking due to (presumably) safety reasons.

The spatially placed timers are one of the most compelling use cases I’ve seen so far, but I wouldn’t want to wear 1.3+ pound goggles plus battery for that.

Re: Apple Vision Pro review

#305

Post by kemayo »

Fauntleroy wrote: post #142
aloer wrote: post #132

It is interesting how many here are excited about this for productive computer work. It’s also what Apple advertises with. But what is the account situation like? For years I’ve been complaining that I can’t easily use my private iPad with my company Mac because they have separate Apple IDs. Things like sidecar for a quick virtual whiteboard are basically impossible. AirPods have gotten better over the years where to…

The entire screen sharing setup they demo'd in the original Vision Pro demo reels always made me laugh. They've had years to get Sidecar right, and have failed miserably every time. How am I going to believe that they'll get wireless display transmission to work perfectly for this thing?

I haven't used the Vision Pro, so I can't say how well it works in practice... but with macOS 14 this year they redid their screen sharing app to, presumably, use whatever technology is underlying the Vision Pro display-sharing. It's really good. Vast improvement over the previous tech (presumably VNC?).

Assuming the Vision Pro screen sharing works using the same stuff, I have high hopes.

Re: Apple Vision Pro review

#306

Post by joshspankit »

tunesmith wrote: post #7

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…

On Windows of all places (95ish to MEish) there was a remote tool called radmin and it had something that I wish companies had embraced: it hooked in to (maybe even before?) the window-rendering functions and sent the changes over the network. It’s hard to explain exactly what I mean because everyone is so used to streaming pictures of the screen over the network (if they even use remote access at all), but you could have less than 20ms latency while controlling over the internet while using tiny amounts of data (50kbps? 100? not sure but somewhere around there).

OSX had the opportunity to follow that path before settling on the “render windows, capture the screen, compress the image, send it over the network to be decompressed” VNC-style remote access that’s bog-standard today, and if they had Vision Pro would be set up to be an absolute mind-blowing macOS experience.

Re: Apple Vision Pro review

#307

Post by nkrisc »

Vegenoid wrote: post #214
AlexandrB wrote: post #166

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Underlying a lot of these discussions is the assumption that there is a future where this is an actually useful, mass-market device. I'm still not convinced this is true. For example, "killer apps/content" never arrived for 3D TVs and they have largely disappeared from the market. Same with various "waggling" input technologies like the Wiimote and Kinect. There were some compelling uses, like Wii Sports, but these w…

I see headsets like this as a way to have multiple, large, monitors that go away as soon as you aren't using them. After having a big dual-monitor setup for years, about a year and a half ago I got rid of them and work with just my laptop's display. I do this so that my desk doesn't have to have monitors on it, and is more conducive to artistic work and mechanical tinkering. I don't miss multiple monitors so much, bu…

I’d rather have small monitors than wear a headset while working.

For less than this headset, I can buy an Ergotron arm and some monitors and have multiple large monitors that have zero footprint on my desk.

No, I can’t take my setup with me when I go somewhere, but I don’t want to.

I have a hard time seeing this become a mass market device. It’ll have its adherents and enthusiasts, but personally find it difficult to imagine even wanting one, let alone using it.

But what do I know, I thought the iPad was goofy. Though I never did end up replacing my gen 2 iPad. Realized I didn’t need it.

Re: Apple Vision Pro review

#308

Post by jdietrich »

progbits wrote: post #203
espositocode wrote: post #187

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I’m surprised Apple dropped the ball on fitness here given they already have a fitness platform. Imagine rowing in VR and feeling like you’re actually on the water. It would make exercising so much more motivating and interesting. It turned out the killer Apple Watch feature was fitness, and I don’t see why it couldn’t have been here.

I've used a rowing machine with a VR headset (I don't recall which model, it was a few years ago, but probably some Oculus). It was fun for a few minutes but not really usable for serious exercise: - It's heavy and annoying (and this apple product seems even bulkier and heavier). The cable situation is also not great, you need a lightweight cable and ceiling suspension to keep it out of the way, but this is solvable.…

>I've used a rowing machine with a VR headset

I really don't think that's the best use-case for VR - if you're doing some kind of virtual rowing, a flat screen is going to offer most of the experience with none of the downsides. VR fitness is really about games that are fun in their own right and happen to be physically active. There's a big cohort of people who hate exercise and would never set foot in a gym, but who will happily spend an hour at their aerobic threshold because they're playing a fun game.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=291LZGxZS5Q

Re: Apple Vision Pro review

#309

Post by Sodman »

theshackleford wrote: post #213
MegaDeKay wrote: post #147

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Worse than that would be when you fry something and the front of your $3500 headset gets splattered in grease. No thanks.

It’s called a cloth and they cost almost nothing.

IDK they're like $19 these days and that's without even knowing if they'll officially list the Vision Pro as a supported device yet or not!

https://www.apple.com/shop/product/MM6F3AM/A/polishing-cloth

Re: Apple Vision Pro review

#310

Post by karim79 »

I'm a bit puzzled as to why they did not include at least one HDMI output. Given that it has a fairly impressive hardware spec, it's not hard to imagine someone buying this as a device which could be an face computer when desired, and also for it to double as something like a Mac Mini.

I'm sure it supports Airplay, but being able to plug it in to a real monitor with a wire, wouldn't that make the purchase a bit more appealing?

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