This product is lacking a mainstream vision and a purpose. Maybe the board is saying we really don’t have a play in gaming hardware (ie XBOX, Playstation and Nintendo). So maybe this is their narrow answer to that.
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Apple's AR/VR Headset Nearing Completion as Board Gets Demo
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Especially as Apple has been working closely and collaborating with Stanford University's VR/AR Lab for more than six years.
As an aside, I'm still betting on glasses.
No TV on the ceiling, a good stack of pillows or an adjustable bed work for viewing, and yes to laying on my side to watch TV. (laying on my side is what I do most, even for sleeping.
As is, it is a write-off for me. We'll see about a future version.
Perhaps Apple finally found the killer app? Or they can just throw it out there like the watch and iterate as we make sense of it.
Maybe maybe not, but Apple tends to cut down features and functionality when they lower their price-point. Rarely does Apple lower the price while fully maintaining an existing feature-set. The HomePod is the only recent example I can think of and even lowering the price wasn't enough for Apple to hit the sales figures they were hoping for, leading to the product being axed. Assuming the initial $3k price is correct they could cut the price by a third and you'd still be looking at an insane $2k per head.
$3000 would put it in direct competition with Microsoft HoloLens 2. And the HoloLens 2 is used heavily in medical training and manufacturing industries. I would think Apple's focus is on the consumer side and thus the price range would be in reach for the average person to purchase it.
What are those “all sorts of other things” and how are they better when compared to doing the same thing on a monitor?
Asking as nobody really qualifies that statement with decent use-cases that are exponentially more profound compared to a monitor.
I could see things like Microsoft Flight Simulator being cool.
TheYayAreaLiving 🎗️
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This is much more broad than a console. The main problem is it's going to be very expensive and a high-end product.
Uh, what?
AR/VR is the most innovative space you can be in right now in terms of consumer products. It's early and so much is still undefined. No one has released the mouse and keyboard of AR/VR yet.
First, it better not look like that render. (I’m sorry, but y’all need some better imagination. Just because other AR / VR sets look like that doesn’t mean they have to.) I’m not a fan of thinness for thinness sake in Apple’s phones and laptops, but if Apple doesn’t come out with a form factor closer to a pair of sunglasses, this is going to be an extremely niche product.
Second, I hope Apple has a clear idea about who they’re marketing this to and why. Corollary with this is the “killer app” necessity which is the only way this can become more than an expensive toy for hobbyists. Whether it’s geared toward industry or consumers, you need this to add value to customers that wasn’t there before. Otherwise, it’s just going to flop.
Second, I hope Apple has a clear idea about who they’re marketing this to and why. Corollary with this is the “killer app” necessity which is the only way this can become more than an expensive toy for hobbyists. Whether it’s geared toward industry or consumers, you need this to add value to customers that wasn’t there before. Otherwise, it’s just going to flop.
Those other usecases involve all the other areas of gaming (FPS, Horror, Platforming, Action, RPG etc), areas outside of gaming like telepresence, exercise, and socialization/communication.
Those are the things most people are using VR for today, and because VR is as immersive as it is, it improves many of these greatly over a monitor and allows a new level of agency in terms of the interaction capabilities of VR over a mouse and keyboard.
How could you possibly know that of a product that is not even finished yet, and all you know about it is rumors???
Comparing this to the iPhone doesn’t make sense, phones in various forms had been used for decades and by millions/billions and Apple clearly enhanced the capabilities.
aR/VR are a total niche today and even in gaming are today. In order for this to become a consumer device it will have to replace the iPhone, people (most) will not spend another $1k+ for yet another device.
Anyway, history will tell, let’s talk in 5 years
It's expensive because it's from apple, not because it's av/VR
I got the first Watch and loved it but there where alot of small problems that they did fix with series 3 and updates to WatchOS.
This product I don’t really get at the moment but I am interested in what it can become in the future. Right now I believe it’s almost only games for consumers and that isn’t really Apple’s strong side. But who knows what they got cooking? They could really surprise us.
This product I don’t really get at the moment but I am interested in what it can become in the future. Right now I believe it’s almost only games for consumers and that isn’t really Apple’s strong side. But who knows what they got cooking? They could really surprise us.
I'd agree that it's best not to compare this device category (MR headsets) to the iPhone.
I was speaking more about Apple specifically, and their intent to use this as a stepping stone to AR glasses, though that likely won't take off for 10-15 years.
If I were to compare MR headsets as a whole to something, it would be the PC. A new paradigm built from scratch - that's what these devices are essentially.
I enjoyed VR when I got to play with it on Samsung phones for free. But man oh man this is too rich for my blood!
The Mac Pro is also an extra-expensive niche product that appeals to a small audience, but as a professional tool, it's a viable product line.
I think what we're seeing here is the AR/VR Pro -- intended as a professional tool, with use cases in design and CGI.
I don't think this is intended as a consumer product yet. And the price and the specs reflect that.
I think what we're seeing here is the AR/VR Pro -- intended as a professional tool, with use cases in design and CGI.
I don't think this is intended as a consumer product yet. And the price and the specs reflect that.
I don't know what it is, but I love the possibilities of AR/VR! Maybe it's because I read "Ready Player One" about 7-8 years ago and, in spite of the mediocre movie, I have been unable to stop thinking about the Oasis presented in the book. Imagine being able to do everything VIRTUALLY, in a computer-generated reality where everything looks and feels almost real. I'm not talking about a computer game. I'm talking about true virtual reality...where you really get the EXPERIENCE of being in a different place or being a different person, while you escape the reality we all live in. I know the technology is not there yet...but imagine what it will look like in another decade or two! Sign me up!
VRChat is probably the best showcase of this so far. You can already do all of the activities described in the RPO book and movie in VRChat. The difference is that the hardware/software fidelity and scale of the simulation is much lower. We don't have thousands or millions of people roaming in one area with photorealism, but we do have this at a smaller scale and fidelity.