Yup. And AR is going to deepen that integration/infection/addiction.
It’s going to change the world nearly as much as the smartphone did.
With AR, literally the whole world is a screen.
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Apple's Headset to Bring Continuity Features into 'Extended Reality'
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It’s going to change the world nearly as much as the smartphone did.
With AR, literally the whole world is a screen.
Including raising and lowering volume. I could even see them using the “already on the market sensor enabled (including tapping) Apple Pencil” as a control device. How far does it transmit?
Agree on the book, however sometimes I felt like it was a “This is how much I remember/know of the 80’s. How much do YOU know?” Never knew there was a second book.
It’s going to take a while but it will be some day. Not sure if that’s good or bad. Probably not good. 😉
Careful, you’re going to trigger the “You don’t know how to use the technology! Go see Apple! Siri/handoff/Airplay works great 99.9% of the time!” crowd. 😂
Continuity Features into 'Extended Reality'
Yep. I can see it now.
Yep. I can see it now.
If you've used a VR headset without this, you'd understand why things like this are necessary. There should be nothing stopping you from setting do not disturb, but needing to remove a headset to do something as simple as checking your phone or watch is really annoying. Although this patent is about continuity which goes a bit beyond that, it makes sense. One of the few Apple VR rumors (well patent in this case) that actually may address current VR shortcomings.
I don't disagree. I have two kids 12 and under and their future seems quite a cluster. But, my parents thought the same about my future, their parents thought the same about their kids' futures, and so on. It has been that way since we first crawled ashore. As one who was born before the internet, I feel one of my roles - aside from working to ensure my kids don't turn out to be ******* adults - is to ensure they unplug, get outside, go camping, gaze at the night sky, ride a bike, get lost, slow down, know and appreciate the power that boredom, etc. In an increasingly digital world, there is a lot of energy placed on analogue in our house. But we're not luddites - they each have iPads. My son just got his first Mac (mini M2) for xmas. These tools and experiences are also part of their world (thank you Screen Time management system!!). Hopefully, we can establish a healthy human, soulful foundation that they can take into their digital spaces and experiences.
Truth is, there is no stopping evolution: warts and all. "Social media" is the new "rock n roll." While it has exposed some of our worst characteristics and impulses, it has also illuminated some of our best. "Social media" isn't actually the problem, it's just a tool - one you can pick up and use when/if needed. Can be used for good or evil - not unlike a hammer. The problem is humans. While we have capacity for phenomenal, mind-melting achievement, the majority seem more inclined toward small, short-sighted, reactionary thinking, awful behavior and destruction. Apple making an AR/VR headset is not going to change any of that. It's just another tool. One that carries a lot of exciting potential, both + and -. I'll be interested to see what we do with it. If history is any indicator, a lot of awful will come from it. But so too will some magic. I've always looked at the headset as the evolution of how we interface with our tech. From keyboard to mouse to styli to trackpad to touch to gestures to this.
The way I see it, the Universe has a giant pendulum. It slowly swings side to side. Left to right. Black to white. But it always swings. So while the pendulum has swung to the side of being constantly connected (and all that comes with that), it will swing back to a space where we'll crave more face-to-face human connection and soulful experiences. That is our natural rhythm. And we can only stray from nature so far, for so long. Honestly, I feel we are starting to see early indicators that the pendulum is starting to swing back toward a more human experience. We hit a tipping point leading up to 2020 (and a little beyond). The nastiness hit an all-time high. And for the most part, we've had enough. Can only take so much awful. One key thing to remember about all of this - we have choice. We don't have to doom scroll Instagram. Hell, we don't even have to sign up for an account. We can leave our phones at home on a hike. We can chose to uplift others in forums. We're more in control of this than some seem to believe, understand, remember, accept or know. Striking a healthy balance with all of the things truly is up to us.
I can understand that, much like folks long ago that were used to riding horses might be able to understand the real value of an automobile, while finding all the things involved not only in driving but also upkeep of an automobile overwhelming. They’re going to have to find a market in “folks who aren’t overwhelmed” that crosses with “finds the value of the experience worth the cost”.
The problem with that is it ignores the ways in which social media and its algorithms are deliberately designed to be addicting. Once something becomes an addiction, it starts to veer outside the territory of "it's up to you". It's especially problematic when people get hooked in their formative years (I've seen many a toddler scream like a banshee when their parent tries to take away their iPad--after which the parent capitulates and gives it back because "hey, it keeps them quiet!"). I also worry about the extent to which online "connection" is replacing real-life connections. We don't have to doomscroll, but many will choose to do so if they have no alternatives (no worthwhile relationships or connections, nothing that gives their life meaning apart from being told what to blame for their sad state by increasingly extreme algorithm-generated content). The "loneliness epidemic" is more real and more harmful than we estimate.
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This is really a necessity for any type of mainstream acceptance of VR in a collaborative work environment.
Currently there isn’t really a good workflow for team collaboration in VR. Sure, you can talk while being in a VR space, but if you need to check an e-mail, respond on a Teams chat, change some C# code and push to a repo, edit a PDF and show it to the team while in VR, etc. it really doesn’t work.
IMO, this sort of “continuity” is a key milestone in VR adoption and collaboration.
Currently there isn’t really a good workflow for team collaboration in VR. Sure, you can talk while being in a VR space, but if you need to check an e-mail, respond on a Teams chat, change some C# code and push to a repo, edit a PDF and show it to the team while in VR, etc. it really doesn’t work.
IMO, this sort of “continuity” is a key milestone in VR adoption and collaboration.
I agree with a lot here…but I resist the tendency to view technology and especially social media as neutral detached tools…in that they are/were designed in certain contexts by certain people for certain ends. Claiming that these are neutral tools is like saying a casino environment is a completely neutral place, when aspects of it are expressly designed to have certain outcomes. Obviously, that doesn’t mean we can’t resist those design choices…I’m just saying when we argue that these ”are just tools” it presents an illusion of neutrality that isn’t really there.
Absolutely! This has been one of the things I've been most looking forward to seeing from Apple since the earliest rumours of a headset. Early attempts at other-device interoperability (or just awareness) were so bad the XR industry's almost entirely given up. But this user experience and handoff stuff has been a central focus of Apple and I'm very curious to see what they implement.
As a basic example, consider what you need to do to send someone a screenshot of something you're looking at in VR right now. There's typically some arcane process of finding a share sheet or button combo, figuring out how it decides what you're looking at, finding where it's stored, hoping it's in some format that's recognizable on a flat screen, copying that onto a PC - possibly by wire - so you can access it with normal editing and communication options, etc. And good luck if you want video! Outside of some streamers on YouTube, it's just hardly ever done.
But Apple's in a position where they could allow you to take out your phone, see its screen in real-space from within the headset, choose your camera, and point-and-shoot an image or video to your camera roll/iCloud of whatever you're aiming at within VR and text it to someone.
Taking a screenshot isn't the most interesting UX thing, of course, and yet think about how complicated it would be for any other company in XR (Meta, Sony, Microsoft, etc) to get working in such a straightforward way. None of them have that level of control across different hardware platforms, and established methods for interaction between them, and it gives Apple a huge advantage in reducing friction across just about every practical task in a device like this.
I haven't even watched this movie, but I came to share a sentiment that I think is similar to what it's getting at.
I'm surprised that Apple may be the one to 'capture' what the 'true future' of these headsets will be: an 'upgraded interaction' with our reality, NOT a replacement of it.
This article's angle on the Headset has me interested in it. Meanwhile, I have zero interest in that Metaverse / video game immersion-assimilation nonsense. I still want to interact with reality — just with an upgraded experience.
I agree, this sounds (kind of) cool, but also ripe for bugs and other incontinuities. If it works, great, but it might take a while to get right.
I am very curious what the form factor of the headset would be. From all I have heard, the first version will be not something the average user would like, but more a version for developers to prepare software for a follow up version that less heavy.
Yes, this, I agree! I miss dashboard, used it every day.
Agree 100%. As a go-between, try the audio book of RP1 with Will Wheaton as the reader. His narration might also help get you through RP2, but yes, not as easy as RP1.
