Apple just posted this video today, showing everyday people (that can afford the extravagant expense of $3500 first-generation tech) wearing a Vision Pro AR headset around the house while they're doing everyday things.
While standing in his kitchen, a long haired bearded guy looks at a Powerpoint err I mean Keynote presentation for a surf shop for a split second before getting distracted by a text message.
Cut to a guy sitting down on his couch about to watch Napoleon, a movie with a runtime longer than the 2.5 hour Vision Pro battery life (in best possible conditions, watching [low res?] media only).
Cut to a woman in a hotel packing her clothes into a suitcase while inexplicably wearing this obnoxious headset with a 2 hour (at best) battery life interrupted with a video call err I mean FaceTime call (iPhones only!).
Cut to a quick take of a guy walking in his living room into an ugly, smog filled panoramic photo of Los Angeles, because that's something worth $3500 and tax.
Back to surf kitchen guy working on the presentation, finding some attention span, before being distracted by his kid throwing a soccer ball at him. This is probably the best marketing bit, showing you can be in your own world doing tasks but not completely disconnected from everything else. Of course you can do this more effectively with a laptop, but they're not selling you a laptop in this commercial. A $3500 (or less, much less) Apple-branded laptop would not only give you far more capability, memory, and processing power, it would have literally 10 times the battery life too. But you wouldn't look like you were a ski-robot with a cord coming out of your head, so there are definitely tradeoffs.
And then there is the woman on a plane. Watching Everything Everywhere All at Once on a plane, a 2h19m movie while the rest of the screen turns into a sunset landscape background, isolating her from her surroundings. This almost makes a good case for the Vision Pro, except again pushing the limits of the battery life, which might be stretched further by simulating the background. And with a ~2 hour battery life, only short haul flights will cut it. The background/isolation is a trick that comes by default with VR headsets, so it's not a feature unique to the VP.
I realize Apple's marketing department has their work cut out for them with this product but trying to delude potential customers into thinking this is something practical for everyday use seems exceptional. It reminds me of a term once used regarding iPhone and other smartphone overusers: pod people. Apple does have the vision to understand that tech like this needs to keep people connected to the real world to have a chance at wide adoption, but at the same time it's a more severe disconnection than staring at a phone or laptop screen.
As it continues to develop, several generations down the line these sorts of everyday uses might make more sense. And presumably you won't look like some sort of ski-robot with a cord coming out of your head. But today, on today's bleeding edge hardware, it's ridiculous.
You will own nothing, and you will be happy, living in your pod with your AR vision Pro headset.
You don't need any of those appliances or kitchen tools, you can just whip something up in the virtual world, and pretend while you are eating bug mush dispensed from a tube.
Oops, i said "YOUR" AR vision Pro headset… well, i guess it is yours, until you expire. You worthless eater.
It is interesting that we really do not have a good use for 3D display goggles. We don't have the interface worked out at all. Nothing that is safe and works well.
These things are expensive and heavy.
And really, people are finding that living with a foot in both worlds destroys the benefit of either.
But, i am sure there are coming the MMO RPG VR experience, and many NEATS will be lost to the real world forever.
AR/VR goggles have their niches. I like my cheap VR headset for flying games. Just having a 3-dimensional cockpit adds a lot to the immersion, but the head tracking makes it much better experience as well. But yeah, it's a really hard sell for general, everyday use.
Well said.
Flying games! Yeah, i can see how a 3D goggles can work well for that
A very good application for today tech level.
Yeah not something I'm buying any time soon. Have been playing around with my partners metaquest 2 a bit and while it's impressive it's not something I'd wanna use too much during the day and honestly I keep forgetting to use often meaning it's not really dragging me in with their usecases or at least it's not outweighing the slight headache it gives me.
I haven't used one myself but I was impressed with how a friend could interact with the real world while playing a game in the Quest 3. I refuse to fund Facebook though.
Apple here is dreaming far beyond what they're actually able to technically produce, even at a $3500 price point. I do hope Apple actually reaches the point of competitiveness in this market because Facebook needs some competition, and most of the smaller players are not competing very well. That void will be filled by Chinese companies if left to linger, much like DJI has come to dominate the higher end quadcopter drone market for lack of better alternatives not run by Chinese companies.
Is your concern mostly about battery life? I think they mentioned some new processors that should handle the computing properly. I guess much like most tech keeps improving so will batter life over time but not sure if that's moving forward at the same pace.
The battery situation is just overall awkward. You're tethered to a battery you have to keep in your pocket. They obviously didn't want to mount the battery to the back of the strap for fatigue reasons. And 1-2 hours battery life is fine for some occasional gaming, but you aren't going to be wearing the thing while folding your laundry into a suitcase like this ad seems to imply.
They theoretically could have squeezed a little more performance/watt with the M3 SoC but it seems they manufactured the boards expecting to get this out earlier.
a macbook compared to windows laptops has a very impressive battery life though I have to admit, I'm usually quite anti apple but that one caught me by surprise when I had to use my partners for a week during travels
Dorkier than Google Glass, no less ugly than any other VR headset, more of a walled garden than Oculus, and more expensive than any used car I can afford. This will probably still sell like mad, at least initially, and people wonder why I insist Apple is literally a cult.
Google Glass was pretty clever about the form AR will need to take for wider adoption, short of eyeball implants. It was pretty useless when it debuted but still ahead of its time. Processing power and mobile bandwidth have caught up enough to make it viable. It will still look stupid, but with enough utility people eventually won't care.
If things go in that direction, Apple will have something of a start with this Vision line. Or it costs them a ton of money in unrecouped R/D, fire everyone who worked on it, and they shy away from the sector while those who got fired go on to capitalize on the concept elsewhere.
It is a bit surprising that Google Glass was more Apple minimalist 10 years ago than Apple itself is today.
VR has failed to take off several times. I'm sure Apple will do it well, but a technology that covers your face will have limited uses. It's far too expensive for most people to even consider, but prices will fall. You just pay a premium for Apple stuff.
It good iconclasm, thank you
Kind of seems they're flailing with this one. Hanging on to dying dreams.
I think the goal has always been to take people away from reality, from their environment! To make this kind of technology a necessity to escape from the tangible. I could consider it as a method of distraction in addition, with strong levels of addiction that will form people with personalities somewhat particular to others.
In my opinion.
Great article!
!discovery 40
Thanks Dimas!
You're so welcome :)
So you're walking down the street, enjoying your favorite movie. Before you know it, someone snatches it off your head and runs, forcing you to miss the best part?
Screw that.
Yeah well, at least the battery cord got ripped off so you still have that. Take that, Apple pickers.
I was thinking how great this tech would be if added to a helmet. Car or motorcycle can keep it charged and there would be far fewer head injuries caused by distracted driving. Could fly straight through the windshield and not even miss a call.
lol
A lot of recent cars feature HUDs reflected on the windshield, and there were those Cadillacs that had infrared nightvision a long long time ago. With thermal cameras getting better, I wonder if that'll make a comeback too.
Edit: the Cadillac Deville first got it in 2000, holy shit. A lot of modern cars seem to have nightvision but we've regressed and they seem to be displayed in the dashboard screen rather than projected to your eyeballs via the windshield.
Motorcycle HUDs make a lot of sense and just searching for that, it seems we're well past the future:
https://www.crosshelmet.com/
https://eye-lights.com/en-us
We're all going to look like Daft Punk. These helmets make a lot of sense. And you won't need to take it off in the store. Wearing it is what unlocks the door. That's the shitty part. Plus Musk will want to connect it directly to your neural pathways. The Walmart greeter will be replaced with a voice inside your head. The future sounds amazing.
such equipment will find its narrow niche in the professional market. Only most likely they will be cheaper analogs with functions sharpened for special functionality.
I don't use Apple products because of their consumerist attitude towards their customers. Every year a new phone, a new charging cord and a new headphone jack.... With the death of Steve Jobs, the quality of their products has decreased and their marketing gimmicks have only increased....
How soon will the courts be flooded with lawsuits against Apple from inattentive victims who failed to switch from the virtual world to the real world in time? LOL
I really don't understand it, one of my best friends is so stoked about these things and will buy them as soon as he can afford it. I mean he's probably gonna be ahead of the curve and find them to be a great resource for him just like those who were there at the beginning of social media, crypto, and even the internet, but I just really don't get it.
Doesn't seem worth the asking price at the very least.
I guess the concept is that they are actually a computer, just with this VR type interface, so I understand why the price is so high. To be honest though I just don't see how they will replace the very functional keyboard and monitor interface that we have now.
Technology is really looking like it is about ready to disappoint us. Of course, the first generation always is overly expensive.
Getting closer to snow crash. However we don't have online sword fighting yet.
Makes sense when flying or something that requires long travel, but anything else seems kinda ridiculous.
That was a nice gadget🤗 I will buy those soon..
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