This is becoming a popular theme recently. Lots of folk embracing a digital detox, as it were. Add to that an increasing number of people struggling to make ends meet, and AVP probably couldn’t have picked a worse time to come to market.
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This is becoming a popular theme recently. Lots of folk embracing a digital detox, as it were. Add to that an increasing number of people struggling to make ends meet, and AVP probably couldn’t have picked a worse time to come to market.
This is somewhat of a limited release beta version of the product, so I think they will be fine selling what they have to first adopters and developers. I do think it may be harder to sell after the initial wow factor has worn off down the road if they don’t do something about the price and form factor.
Curious, have you personally used or reviewed an AVP?
I don't expect it to compete with a $150K+ Augmedics surgical system. But from trusted reviewers (such as Marquez Brownlee) reporting pros and cons, in my opinion it appears AVP has a bright future in the AR world. Latency is 12 mSec, corresponding to its refresh rate of 90 Hz.
There are a lot of use applications where the current AVP will make a great AR tool for a variety of disciplines. Apple knows what its doing.
Also... One must remember this is a first generation device for Apple. From reading technical papers submitted at SIGGRAPH, glasses are not that far away. You can bet Apple is vigorously pursuing that for a future generation.
Calling the best CEO in the world a doofus is a little much. Then you top it off by speculating on the return rate? 😂
This is a proof of concept more than anything. Apple understands how to market products and this will be no different. The future is in this kind of stuff, for sure.
No I haven't used it in person, but have read enough trusted reviews to get the point that it's not simulating reality anywhere near as well as the human eye can, whether it's latency, fov, color gamut, or other issues which have been brought up. Certainly it most likely does this the best out of any other VR headset, but still not close to human vision. But of course I will temper that with myself not having tried it out. Although some things are obviously not going to change, like having 1.4lbs strapped to the front of your head, peripheral vision, comfort, etc, similar to the other VR headsets I've tried.
AR for industrialized applications may be an avenue to profit, although I will have to see it to believe it, even industrial applications still have to wear this monstrosity. Surgeons, architects, etc still have to have it on for hours at a time. Sure they can put it aside, but time is money and if you aren't working you aren't making it. AR for the mass market consumer, I don't think so, at least how I have it envisioned, and I can totally respect if your vision of AR isn't the same. Personally my vision of AR is walking around and getting an information overlay of what I'm looking at, travel directions, weather, restaurant menus and reviews, store sales, contact information, hazards, etc. It doesn't mean those are the only uses, just the ones I would love to have in a set of glasses, but could care less about in a VR headset which I would only wear for very short periods of time with specialized work. Even simply having a huge screen that is travel friendly isn't well implemented, only one monitor for Mac output and you can't connect non Apple devices.
I totally get that it's a first gen product, even ignoring some of the competing hardware which is actually smaller and much more compact/cheaper. But devs still kind of need to know where to go with it, and VR hardware has been around for a while (as has passthrough) and it's not like we've seen anything other than games really sell these devices. I mean we all knew AR/VR would take off when these units approached the size of glasses. You have to stop looking at those voicing valid criticisms as not having any vision of the future, trust me I've been heavily interested in AR/VR ever since Lucky Palmer first announced the original Oculus hardware. Again, everyone keeps saying the same "cut them a break it's the first gen" stuff, but when I see other companies making nicer hardware (I'll save that until that other hardware actually gets reviewed though) it makes me wonder what Apple is thinking.
Oh, yeah…that one! Yes, it looks good, almost too good. I had missed the September presale, but have been burned a couple of times in the past with vapourware, so likely wouldn’t have bit, anyway. Since then, it looks like they dropped the 2.5k version and moved pricing up a bit, and now they have added the subscription model, which drops pricing to $399 if you get a 24 month $39.99 subscription. All the movement worries me, but since the head of Intel gave them a shout out, I am assuming they will deliver something. I think the subscription model requires payment in advance, but if not, I might actually try that one, once it is in the wild. Thanks for the reminder!
Edit: The “promise to not prevent SteamVR integration”, but then “no devkit” answers from the FAQ notes seem a bit at cross purposes, though, so stuff like that also worries me.
You might want to pick a lane. Do you think the shareholders demanded Apple produce the AVP, or do you think it is a product that nobody wants?
My guess with the difficulty on the Subway would be that he was facing sideways while stopped and the subway windows are large enough to anchor the view to the outside walls, which would be why the viewport flew away with the surroundings when the train started to move.
Other than stopping on the (not busy) stairwell, I didn’t really see any lack of etiquette on his part, and the reactions of the bystanders seemed to indicate that they had absolutely no issue with his behaviour. At least it is very obvious he has a headset on, versus someone coming up beside you, apparently talking to you, until you notice their AirPods.
The really weird part of this statement is to even post it on an Apple rumour site forum, as that is at least two strikes against your resolution. Irony is apparently lost in today’s world.
I don't think anyone is saying cut Apple a break. What I and others are saying is Apple has released a really excellent first gen product (in terms of video resolution/quality/refresh, as an example) and that future AVP generations will improve on weight/size/comfort and other nits.
That's the overall message of Brownlee's excellent review where he points out many current weaknesses as well as features that he's super impressed with in comparison with all of the other less expensive headsets he's reviewed in the past.
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He said he's trying to spend less time in front of screens.
He didn't say "no time at all"
We all recognize that computing devices are part of modern life and largely inescapable for most people.
Working to moderate any "extra" time spent with them is an admirable goal, which I happen to share.
It goes in waves for me.
He is a legend in NY, with a film crew in tow, so not surprised people were just standing around watching him waive around a donut.
I wasn’t referring to his etiquette, though. He seems like a thoughtful guy in his videos and if he did do something accidental to look like a jerk ( which would be easy given the lack of peripheral vision). I expect it would end up on the cutting room floor.
I found the Verge video review interesting. I swear it felt like it exceeded his expectations so much that I could see him moving the bar higher during the video. The one I recall without going back to review it again is the selection by squeezing and his realization that he didn’t have to lift his hands, but then by the end being so used to it that he complained that he would be disappointed when he squeezed out of the view and it didn’t select. I thought that was telling. Even the title “Magic, until it’s not”.
It felt like they moved the benchmark so much that I now want to see post-AVP re-reviews of the other companies’ VR products, so I can recalibrate my expectations.
Sorry, a technology rumour forum is not the place to hang if you are trying to cut down on time spent on Apple screens, and certainly not the place to waste more time stating that fact.
I am fine with the goal, though, and find it admirable, but I try to be self-aware enough to not delude myself that I am achieving it (or anything else) here.
Yeah it remains to be seen if this is vaporware, but they seem right on the verge of releasing it. I'm also a bit concerned about the price shifting and the lack of an app market. But the company makes no excuses, they say this is geared first and foremost for those who want multiple virtual screens out of their PC/Mac. The other stuff hopefully developers will fill in, but for the specs and price it's well worth it only for the virtual screens.
Now imagine if Apple had released something that looked like this, then I think the world would have gone crazy. Unfortunately this no name, no app market company probably won't get much traction with this.
I don't think he was moving the benchmarks, he clearly thinks it's magical...until it's not. That's a fair assessment IMO, it's incredible until you try and think how you will incorporate this into your reality. That's why VR headsets have found a somewhat decent niche in gaming, something you can totally immerse yourself into with no care or worry about reality. But once you need to incorporate reality, such as seeing and interacting with the world through a clunky headset and cameras, then that shine begins to wear off. Of course this is only the first gen, I can't wait for things to improve, but the pie in the sky with AR at least has always been simply clear lenses or transparent screens.
If they actually release a good product soon with those specs and can keep that price without going bankrupt, I expect they will get lots of traction. I would say the main risk seems to be time, as the Founder’s Edition is supposed to be shipped 6 months early and that is still sounding several months out, just like it did in September.
Did you watch Brownlee's review? Though AVP is not *perfect*, his bottom line was it offers the best experience with respect to reality in comparison to competing devices. You do have to pay for that, though.
I liken this to Apple's 1984 Mac. Not perfect with a small screen, little memory, and no ability to connect a disk drive. Two years later the Mac Plus had a SCSI interface, more memory, and a larger floppy disk. And more/better software.
He’s in charge of all the software and has been given too much to do. I don’t think it’s his idea to keep up this annual upgrade death march.
Unfortunately, I think as long as the yearly release of a slightly upgraded iPhone continues, the yearly iOS releases will as well. Got to keep the shareholders happy.