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Apple Rumored to Announce 'Game-Changer' AR/VR Headset in January 2023
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Hopefully there will be a (much cheaper) VR version too. I have no interest in AR at this point, nor am I willing to spend that much.
Would have already bought the new Oculus Quest 2, had it not require me to be connected via Facebook all the time.
If Apple gives us a good alternative here, it would be great.
Would have already bought the new Oculus Quest 2, had it not require me to be connected via Facebook all the time.
If Apple gives us a good alternative here, it would be great.
I can't wait to enter this new world with Apple. The journey will be incredible.
No way not for me. Im addicted to my watch and all its heath functions
Come on - this is waporware like many of the other “speculative” products Apple may or may not be looking into.
Gogles have no large scale marked because it is not comfortable, effective or in any other way usefull to wear them except for very specific usecases like gaming or training/education.
No way people will start wearing these, and in most homes it’s at best going to be a “novelty” to try out.
If they launch whey will be a niche gaming product, and perhaps for the ducation market. But apple is not fond of Niche products so I REALLY have my doubts - I think its waporware.
Gogles have no large scale marked because it is not comfortable, effective or in any other way usefull to wear them except for very specific usecases like gaming or training/education.
No way people will start wearing these, and in most homes it’s at best going to be a “novelty” to try out.
If they launch whey will be a niche gaming product, and perhaps for the ducation market. But apple is not fond of Niche products so I REALLY have my doubts - I think its waporware.
and that's the great thing... only Apple can truly answer this
Their pitch and demo will be the make or break
I will be interested to see what it is but I remain skeptical. The bar is very high to get me willing to buy such a device.
I am definitely interested in this, but at $3000 I find it very hard to believe that this will be an industry game changer. I couldn’t even get people to pony up the extra $100 for the 256gb Oculus when I was working retail.
This is a subjective point of view that doesn't meet reality (no pun intended). Facebook, a troublesome company but social juggernaut have bet their entire future on this market. A consortium was formed of the biggest names in tech and the likes of the Quest 2 are sold in every major electronics retailer in existence.
There was no real use case for the internet in the mid 90's until people with a new vision carved out a new future. There IS a market, a very large one but nobody has solved the major pain points of such a product.
- Weight and comfort is number one. Goggles only look silly to people on the outside. The comfort and adaptability is what affects the users themselves.
- Power and efficiency (see Apple's recent advances)
- Optical clarity. It is essential that resolution and peripheral vision are vastly improved to remove the pixellated window affect. Creating true immersion.
- Creating integration and harmony between your digital world and the physical world around you. You need to be able to move seamlessly between your digital environment and your real one without ignoring family members, tripping over coffee tables and so on. This is key to the product's success.
- Digital representation of self. You need a leap forward in visual self in these shared digital spaces. Avatars need to take a generational leap to allow 'face to face' communication between digital people. Memoji on steroids.
- Power. like iPhones, iPads and Apple Watches. We need to aim for all day battery life. That may come later though!
I’m somewhat interested in the AR headset, but have no interest in VR.
The AR headset probably wouldn’t be anything like the renders MacRumors keeps posting (good for full VR, but people wouldn’t want to walk around in public with that) so I’m curious what it would look like.
The AR headset probably wouldn’t be anything like the renders MacRumors keeps posting (good for full VR, but people wouldn’t want to walk around in public with that) so I’m curious what it would look like.
It sounds like their initial goal is mixed reality (full size iPod) so wouldn't be of as much interest to you until later when intense product and market development gets them closer to more compact, AR focused glasses (the nano)
Well I think you are absolutely right. There is a “good” sizable marked for gaming/education VR (and AR for that matter).
But a combined VR/AR product immidiately disqualifies itself from the mass consumer/daily usage marked because the VR part makes them huge, unhandy and with all the drawbacks you listed.
A pure AR product ala. Googles glasses likely has a very big potential - If that is what Apple is bringing to marked, then we might be in for quite a game changer. But a VR capable product is niche simply because of what they does: Isolate you physically from other people/the world, and therefore is only really usable in a confined space or sitting/lying on some furnature. Even if it does AR too, it still no good, because the VR part makes them big and by default “isolates” your view and interaction freedom with your surroundings - even if they are see through looking when straight ahead (in AR mode).
So I stand by my argument. If it’s a VR/AR device its likely waporware. If not it will only be a niche product.
If it’s a pure AR device, then Apple has my interest….
Once again, VR is not a new thing, it's the evolution of displays into a wearable, no different than stage speakers to airpods. XR gives you control over your visual experience like headphones do for audio.
I'm really hoping this thing is light enough that ear hooks are sufficient for casual use.
I'm very concerned about the software; I'm hoping Apple treats it like an input/output rather than app-driven.
I'm really hoping this thing is light enough that ear hooks are sufficient for casual use.
I'm very concerned about the software; I'm hoping Apple treats it like an input/output rather than app-driven.
By that definition, I feel that nothing is a new thing.
Mentioned this a few times now:
VR is great for certian areas. I would love to be able to use it with the upcoming X-Plane 12 on a Mac!! For education, exploration etc. it is super-cool.
AR has very good every day usages: directions, add info on "what you see" spot airplanes, you name it...
I wear glasses. I wouldn't mind a thin Apple AR wearable with my prescription glasses in there!
But for VR...? I am sure Apple needs to solve the aesthetics of such a device first.... I wonder what Apple can come up with. The fact that no-one seems to have any idea on how / what is fascinating.... did Apple actually double down on the secrecy here?
VR is great for certian areas. I would love to be able to use it with the upcoming X-Plane 12 on a Mac!! For education, exploration etc. it is super-cool.
AR has very good every day usages: directions, add info on "what you see" spot airplanes, you name it...
I wear glasses. I wouldn't mind a thin Apple AR wearable with my prescription glasses in there!
But for VR...? I am sure Apple needs to solve the aesthetics of such a device first.... I wonder what Apple can come up with. The fact that no-one seems to have any idea on how / what is fascinating.... did Apple actually double down on the secrecy here?
I can’t wait to see people driving with them in with their airpods on too. Just so everyone knows they own Apple stuff. LOL
I really do not get the massive hype around this stuff. Just give my games and content that works on normal displays and inputs. I’m tired of things attempting to move to these type of things (Wii, Kinect).
Since getting my first headset, an HTC Vive in 2016, I new the path to great AR/VR was clear - pass through video. I had played with AR headsets, like Holo lens and the experience is terrible. You are trying to add light to light which always makes the experience horrible.
But if you had a headset that had excellent tracking and support clear, crisp pass through video then you could really do stuff that was mind-blowing. Take an indoor laser tag maze with blank walls. You could dynamically reskin the maze to be anything you want it to be. You could place people, creatures and devices anywhere you want and it would be amazing. And that is just a gaming application - there are so many applications.
AR, processing power, amazing display tech, excellent video, and rock solid tracking. Apple seems to have all this technology in the bag.
Even with the HTC Vive and its old, crappy screen - the effect of VR is mind blowing. It was just a pain to setup: lighthouses, tethered to a PC etc. A standalone device with pass through video AR will be 'iPod/iPhone" like in its adoption. Just go back and read the comments in forums when those devices were released - the have the exact same criticism that you see aimed at this product today. The first iPod was criticized because people couldn't fathom taking most of their music with them - 5 years later they couldn't fathom NOT taking most of their music with them. The form factor of the iPhone was heavily criticized. Today nearly EVERY single phone looks like an iPhone.
If Apple gets the tech and software right - this will be an amazing product. I actually don't care who makes the product - as long as they do it right. It just seems the Apple has all the pieces of the puzzle - they just need to assemble it.
But if you had a headset that had excellent tracking and support clear, crisp pass through video then you could really do stuff that was mind-blowing. Take an indoor laser tag maze with blank walls. You could dynamically reskin the maze to be anything you want it to be. You could place people, creatures and devices anywhere you want and it would be amazing. And that is just a gaming application - there are so many applications.
AR, processing power, amazing display tech, excellent video, and rock solid tracking. Apple seems to have all this technology in the bag.
Even with the HTC Vive and its old, crappy screen - the effect of VR is mind blowing. It was just a pain to setup: lighthouses, tethered to a PC etc. A standalone device with pass through video AR will be 'iPod/iPhone" like in its adoption. Just go back and read the comments in forums when those devices were released - the have the exact same criticism that you see aimed at this product today. The first iPod was criticized because people couldn't fathom taking most of their music with them - 5 years later they couldn't fathom NOT taking most of their music with them. The form factor of the iPhone was heavily criticized. Today nearly EVERY single phone looks like an iPhone.
If Apple gets the tech and software right - this will be an amazing product. I actually don't care who makes the product - as long as they do it right. It just seems the Apple has all the pieces of the puzzle - they just need to assemble it.
Let your mind and imagination wander. It's OK to do that. Even doing a bit of research on your own. The audience is broad as are the applications for AR.
Started with iWatch 2 and have had all models since. The health monitoring is a plus for me. It also functions as a cell phone and can display weather alerts. It is a super Dick Tracy device from over 50 years ago in the comic books.....
The exact same thing was said about digital music and MP3 players. Just like early MP3 players - they were lacking in one area or another. Size, interface, getting access to digital music, and connectivity (some early players took HOURS to transfer music onto). Digital music was a fad. I can't state that clearly enough - most people thought it was a fad or at best a small market that was full of pirates (which at that time it was).
iPod - with firewire, click wheel interface, an easy way to rip your CDs and eventually a digital music store with $0.99 songs completely revolutionized music for at least the next decade. While all this has changed again with streaming music, the iPod brought BILLIONS of dollars of revenue to Apple - every quarter. It also allow mainstream music to become digital.
I feel VR/AR is in the same space right now as MP3 players were before the iPod. A excellent product will break the market wide open. Its no guarantee, but Apple's headset might be that product - hence the excitement.
If it can't be used with PCVR via a link cable or virtual desktop, it's dead. Otherwise they better have some damn good reasons to convince people to spend an absurd amount of money on this HMD, especially with PSVR 2 coming soon. VR developers rely so much on the open nature of the Quest 2 and PCVR, and if Apple doesn't support that, they'll have no reason to go over to them when the other platforms have a much larger install base.
The Facebook account requirement is in the process of being removed