Apple Vision Pro: Apple’s first spatial computer • Hacker News Board

Re: Apple Vision Pro: Apple’s first spatial computer

#521

Post by sebzim4500 » Mon, Jun 05, 2023, 9:24 PM UTC

jablongo wrote: post #496

The tech is amazing, but also ridiculous. Think about how much time and cost went into developing these features: - Creepy Eyes fake transparency (a work around for the fact that you look dumb wearing ski goggles on your face) - The realistic 3d facetime avatar (a work around for the fact that you look dumb wearing ski goggles on your face, creepy eyes isn't a good enough work around for facetime, and you need an ext…

>It is ironic that Apple Health is launching an eye-health initiative which reminds kids to keep their device far enough from their face to prevent eye damage, and then is releasing another device that is covering your entire field of vision at like 2 centimeters away from your eyeballs.

That's not how this works though. VR goggles have the focal point at least 20 feet from your eyes, it's way better for you than having a phone in front of your face.

Re: Apple Vision Pro: Apple’s first spatial computer

#522

Post by [deleted] » Mon, Jun 05, 2023, 9:24 PM UTC

jablongo wrote: post #496

The tech is amazing, but also ridiculous. Think about how much time and cost went into developing these features: - Creepy Eyes fake transparency (a work around for the fact that you look dumb wearing ski goggles on your face) - The realistic 3d facetime avatar (a work around for the fact that you look dumb wearing ski goggles on your face, creepy eyes isn't a good enough work around for facetime, and you need an ext…

[deleted]

Re: Apple Vision Pro: Apple’s first spatial computer

#523

Post by gnicholas » Mon, Jun 05, 2023, 9:25 PM UTC

It would be amazing if the downward-facing cameras could be used for 'typing' on a phantom keyboard. It would be weird to do so without tactile feedback, but it would make it possible to be productive anywhere, without having to bring a keyboard along. I'm sure that someone will come up with some sort of alternate text input method, given that Siri is not great at speech-to-text, and speaking out loud is terrible for privacy.

Re: Apple Vision Pro: Apple’s first spatial computer

#524

Post by ctvo » Mon, Jun 05, 2023, 9:26 PM UTC

llm_nerd wrote: post #102

It's interesting that HN is completely overloaded right now...with people coming to announce how unimpressed they are and how it isn't for them. The displays in this device are crazy . I honestly didn't think they'd be able to put together a value proposition, but I think they legitimately did. It's super expensive, and some of the cost of the device seems kind of silly (if I heard correctly, the display on the front…

This is an over confident audience very sure that their experiences and perspective is representative of the mainstream. See the rsync vs. Dropbox meme.

The execution is all that matters here not any speculative flaws. If it’s a delightful, polished, responsive experience for the stock applications, other use cases will come. I don’t want to bet against Apple achieving that bar. They’ve done it over and over again before.

Re: Apple Vision Pro: Apple’s first spatial computer

#525

Post by thewebcount » Mon, Jun 05, 2023, 9:27 PM UTC

emoII wrote: post #64

"The kids are playing, better record a spacial moment" was one of the most dystopic things I've seen in a long time. Same with the ad at the end, with the father wearing it around his kids. I feel like the interface demands strapping something this futuristic over your head is just... wrong. Perhaps a few years of refining the tech can lead to something that feels more natural

It was the same thing in the 80s with camcorders. There was a stereotype of the crazy neighbor who followed his kids around with his camcorder recording every second of their lives. Then it was smart phones. Now it's this. People want to take photos and videos of stuff and it's more important to them than looking dorky for a few minutes. I don't like it very much, either, but I understand it, and it's pretty much human nature.

Re: Apple Vision Pro: Apple’s first spatial computer

#526

Post by nkotov » Mon, Jun 05, 2023, 9:28 PM UTC

I'm not exactly sure what the "aha moment" is for this compared to the iPhone launch. Don't get me wrong, it looks incredibly exciting and I love new shiny tech but the demo videos felt incredibly lonely and I can't really picture myself using this on a daily basis for hours. I have a Quest 2 that gets used once, perhaps twice a month for VR Chat or to entertain family/friends with Beatsaber. Once you played enough VR, you kind of get over it.

It's like the iPad for me. When I want to get serious work done, I use a MacBook. For quick stuff, the iPhone is sufficient. The iPad then ends up being an entertainment device.

Re: Apple Vision Pro: Apple’s first spatial computer

#527

Post by ray__ » Mon, Jun 05, 2023, 9:28 PM UTC

the_watcher wrote: post #471

It would very obviously be useful for work if you can actually get high res, effectively unlimited monitor space. Maybe not for everyone, but people already spend $3500+ on monitor setups somewhat regularly (and employers definitely do this). Apple themselves sell a single monitor that costs $2300 when fully spec'd out (5k, but the point is that they know what people spend on monitors). I can't figure out why that wa…

Yes, I agree with this. I'll only be buying one of these if it means I can replace my work displays with it–I'd happily pay the exorbitant price if it meant being able to have the equivalent of an unlimited high-res display anywhere, at any time. The lack of sub-pixel rendering on macOS means that I'm already forced to buy an expensive 5K display for every place that I plan to do work; a headset like this is a bargain in comparison. Obviously this means that the headset will have to be comfortable enough to use for long periods of time and have high enough resolution to compete with a hiDPI display. I doubt that this device will be able to deliver on both of those fronts.

Re: Apple Vision Pro: Apple’s first spatial computer

#528

Post by activitypea » Mon, Jun 05, 2023, 9:28 PM UTC

w10-1 wrote: post #173

The underlying tech is amazing, as is the design. Augmented reality is a much harder problem than virtual reality. Have they defeated cybersickness? Possibly, in part due to only 12ms latency from outside camera to display. The neurological visual latency is about 100ms, but there are many drivers to cybersickness[1]. fovea-centric resolution: improve not the whole screen, but the area seen by the retina's fovea, whi…

12ms puts it at about 90hz latency. I play games on a 144hz screen, and I can tell the difference between 90 and 144 hz, and that's on a bad screen at an arms length from my face that's definitely not trying to convince me I'm looking at reality.

It'll probably be in the same ballpark as a good transparency mode on headphones -- close to indistinguishable in small bursts, but long term causes alienation/lack of presence.

Re: Apple Vision Pro: Apple’s first spatial computer

#529

Post by asdff » Mon, Jun 05, 2023, 9:29 PM UTC

jablongo wrote: post #496

The tech is amazing, but also ridiculous. Think about how much time and cost went into developing these features: - Creepy Eyes fake transparency (a work around for the fact that you look dumb wearing ski goggles on your face) - The realistic 3d facetime avatar (a work around for the fact that you look dumb wearing ski goggles on your face, creepy eyes isn't a good enough work around for facetime, and you need an ext…

What kind of sucks about tech is you start realizing people mainly just do the same stuff they did 25 years ago with it. Only today, the hardware has to be 1000x as powerful to run all the shitty bloaty software that's still just serving email, rendering spreadsheets, chat, images, videos, news, online shopping, etc, as its ever been. It's like we've been in this arms race for sexier and more resource demanding window dressing, versus something that I actually couldn't do before, and there has been absolutely no letting up.

Re: Apple Vision Pro: Apple’s first spatial computer

#530

Post by Pxtl » Mon, Jun 05, 2023, 9:29 PM UTC

paxys wrote: post #182

The hardware is no doubt impressive, as expected, but I just can't see myself in any of the situations they keep showing in VR/AR demos. Does someone really sit on their couch, put on a massive headset, and scroll through their vacation photos? Does someone watch an entire 2+ hour movie with a sweaty headset strapped to them (and plugged into a socket) instead of on a couch with their family/friends? Would I want to…

> Does someone watch an entire 2+ hour movie with a sweaty headset strapped to them (and plugged into a socket) instead of on a couch with their family/friends?

Let's be real, most media content is being consumed on phones these days. In those cases? Yes, a headset is basically just a smartphone for your face.

But I agree about the demos in general focusing on stuff you can do already just fine in 2D. There was very little that looked like a useful application of a HUD. No 3D modeling work, no superimposing digital info over relevant real-world objects... just normal computer and smartphone tasks, but wearing a big sweaty heavy expensive face-screen.