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Apple's AR/VR Headset Could Be Less Than a Year Away
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After seeing what unreal engine 5 looks like. I think I will wait until graphics are that good to fork over thousands on this. At that price point they better have servers your lease time on that will do the bulk of the processing. Trying to fit an entire world on a headsets drive and ram space just limits what you can do with it. They will charge you to spend time in this world anyway, premium experiences will not be free on this thing. Probably have subscriptions for every world or you pay a larger fee for a pass that allows you into multiple worlds. It will probably be like Disney land at the beginning. Looking around and getting on interactive rides. But with Unreal 5 graphics, that may be worth it, but not with lesser graphics.
Fair enough but you're essentially describing an immersive FaceTime call that cost $3k for the hardware. I'm assuming Apple has much bigger plans for something this expensive.
As far as my knowledge goes, nowadays it's possible to have 8k screens at such size.
Eventually, when Apple has a true consumer product ready, they can bring the price down. At this point the tech is going to be expensive and have a lot of compromises. I expect this first version to be mainly bought by developers, early adopters, and people with business need for AR/VR. I think we will need to get to v2 to have something that is cheap enough to sell in large quantities.
My reasoning:
OPTION 1
Apple wants to sell as many of these devices as possible.
To sell many of them, they need millions of apps from developers.
Devs won't invest time and money into something unless the device in question is being used by lots and lots of people.
Therefore, Apple needs to develop as much native apps as possible.
But most importantly, price needs to be affordable for the majority of people.
OPTION 2
Apple just want to keep it as a niche product, for professionals only, who have the money to not only invest in the device, but also in the development of the app used in the company's specific field.
But then I wonder: how can Apple justify such a big investment of money and people in this project?
So that's why I think OPTION 1 makes more sense.
OPTION 1
Apple wants to sell as many of these devices as possible.
To sell many of them, they need millions of apps from developers.
Devs won't invest time and money into something unless the device in question is being used by lots and lots of people.
Therefore, Apple needs to develop as much native apps as possible.
But most importantly, price needs to be affordable for the majority of people.
OPTION 2
Apple just want to keep it as a niche product, for professionals only, who have the money to not only invest in the device, but also in the development of the app used in the company's specific field.
But then I wonder: how can Apple justify such a big investment of money and people in this project?
So that's why I think OPTION 1 makes more sense.
In a headset, the only costs are batteries, displays, and processors.
I could be wrong, obviously, but it seems ridiculous that with, say, $1500 you couldn't buy such mix of components, considering the fact that Apple would order millions of them, hence lowering the production costs.
I’m sure I will seem unbearably old saying this, but IMO we need to be moving back towards real world and in person experiences and interactions, and definitely NOT further towards a future where people are ever more plugged into a virtual world. (This is not a Covid comment but a real world vs online world comment)
As a big fan of Apple Products, someone who considers themselves a futurist and proponent of new technologies, and someone who has more disposable income than ever in my life, I should be a prime candidate for something like this. And yet I don’t give a crap.
Something doesn’t seem right here. Curious what the wow factor will be? I just don’t want to wear a big bulky expensive headset everywhere. I also have concerns about privacy and how these things will likely be running facial recognition on everyone they come into contact with. I desire a future where technology brings people into harmony with nature and their fellow man. The use cases I’ve seen for technology like this feels a bit too much on the dystopian side for my liking. Such as assigning everyone social scores and being able to manipulate people into liking you by pulling up everything about them in a box floating next to their head while using machine learning to tune your conversation in real-time by scanning their expressions, body temperature, breathing patterns, pulse rate, etc. Technology that is already in use by surveillance systems at large airports.
Something doesn’t seem right here. Curious what the wow factor will be? I just don’t want to wear a big bulky expensive headset everywhere. I also have concerns about privacy and how these things will likely be running facial recognition on everyone they come into contact with. I desire a future where technology brings people into harmony with nature and their fellow man. The use cases I’ve seen for technology like this feels a bit too much on the dystopian side for my liking. Such as assigning everyone social scores and being able to manipulate people into liking you by pulling up everything about them in a box floating next to their head while using machine learning to tune your conversation in real-time by scanning their expressions, body temperature, breathing patterns, pulse rate, etc. Technology that is already in use by surveillance systems at large airports.
Don't worry. A lot of people said the same thing about the iPod, iPhone, and iPad. What you describe in your last two sentences will not be coming from Apple.
Google Glass isn't AR. It's just a HUD, like if an Apple Watch was floating a foot in front of your face. For something to be AR, it has to place virtual items relative to the physical space it is in.
Metabookulous will be releasing a higher end model soon.
I think the key is to make it work well with existing content so you don't necessarily need a lot of developer support. Make a virtual movie theater app that works with any streaming service or purchased video. Spacial audio for music is a given. If the image quality is good enough, you should be able to open any app as a floating screen.
That was one of the selling points of the original iPhone, which didn't even have an app store — it could browse the real internet, and not some dumbed down version made for phones.
I'd expect a first-party fitness app, plus some enhanced versions of many of the apps that come on iPhones.
Not everything needs to take advantage of the fact it's in a 3D virtual space, but if the device is pleasant enough to use for current computer work, it could make the device popular enough that it will make more sense for developers to started adding fancy 3D interactions where that would be useful.
That was a hunch based on what my optometrist told me about spending too much time focusing on close objects. They told me, "Every 20 minutes look at something 20 feet away for 20 seconds." (to lessen myopia). However I haven't looked it up in the academic literature. So thanks! Here are some I found from a quick search. From my understanding scientists don't actually know if close work actually causes myopia, but they agree that time spent outdoors significantly reduces the development of myopia.
Some researchers think it's light from the sun, which causes the release of dopamine and prevents the eye from elongating. Other researchers are skeptical and think farther distanced objects outside reduces myopia. I don't know if the light from a VR headset would cause the release of dopamine in the same way as sunlight. In any case, it's probably best to limit VR headset use and spend more time outdoors.
The myopia boom - Nature
Short-sightedness is reaching epidemic proportions. Some scientists think they have found a reason why.
www.nature.com
Preventing Myopia
Nearsightedness (myopia) has become more common around the world recently, mainly because of changes in visual, educational, and recreational behavior. The question arises how the risk of myopia and its progression can be reduced. This would lessen the ...
www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
lol good sense of humour.
Honestly I doubt this rumour. This is NOT something Apple wants or should rush out. Oppo's try was probably the second half decent try - after Sony's real world looking AR glasses that don't look geeky from 3yrs ago.
Still 1 optical solution with an add-on seems like a smart way to go, just very very limited by Oppo.
I'm expecting Apple to give us something more like cultured AI movie that was on Netflix some 4yrs back.
Let’s be honest. So far VR is overrated and the majority of people see it as a gimmick, not too mention Apple will price this thing at some ridiculous number.
With that said and in a word, what is something people might want VR for? Porn. I know it crass, but also a reality. Of course big brother Apple will never allow that.
With that said and in a word, what is something people might want VR for? Porn. I know it crass, but also a reality. Of course big brother Apple will never allow that.
Might work then. I was thinking of a scenario, replacing a triple monitor setup. 4k is simple too low to replace three monitors even at full HD only, 8k does kind of enable 3x quad hd, when it comes to resolution at least, but of course peripheral vision would suffer.
Yes, the screens in VR headsets are only an inch or two from your eyes. However, the lenses in the headset adjust the apparent distance of the screens to a much greater distance. The focal distance of the Quest 2 is 1.3 meters, which is a greater distance than when using phones/tablets/notebooks and most desktop setups.
It's possible there are other potential issues for vision from using VR, but "too much time focusing on close objects" is not one of them. And there have been prototype headsets that have dynamic focal distance based on eye position.
Yeah, it's still gaming tho. Even if you say it's a gimmick. Then maybe try good games too. Like Astro Bot. If you think that game's a gimmick, even after experiencing it with your own eyes (watching 2D videos of it obviously doesn't count), I don't know what else to say to you.
I have my doubts on that. Hooks, either through software subscription, or reliance on other hardware devices are key to Apple's business strategy.
I'm still at the "I'll believe it when I see it" stage. If this is true though I'm interested to see Apple's take on it.
I don't think this will ever come out like the multidevice charge pad...if we even get a press release.
I think VR/AR is a passing fad, just like 3d tvs. I have yet to hear a Gen Z ask for VR as a gift. In my area most of the pandemic consoles were sold out but plenty of VR on the shelf. Both young and old most people around me have voiced that VR/AR glasses is the line they draw at tech integration. Too many people feel its a step too far towards the matrix.
This plus Americans have been living in smaller and smaller floor plans, to the point that people can't afford the free space to utilize VR properly.
I think VR/AR is a passing fad, just like 3d tvs. I have yet to hear a Gen Z ask for VR as a gift. In my area most of the pandemic consoles were sold out but plenty of VR on the shelf. Both young and old most people around me have voiced that VR/AR glasses is the line they draw at tech integration. Too many people feel its a step too far towards the matrix.
This plus Americans have been living in smaller and smaller floor plans, to the point that people can't afford the free space to utilize VR properly.