First Apple Mixed Reality Headset Rumored to Focus on Gaming, Media, and Communication

[jeanlain]

And that’s not true unless, what, they are actual mages or witches?

I would put things the other way around. Don't apply the word "magical" to standard tech products like mice and trackpads.
Regardless, I'm not sure what your point is. That this headset is going to be as convenient as glasses and that it will meet the success of the iPhone or Apple Watch, like some posters here imply?

 

[jweinraub]

Nerds told people in the 1980's that everyone would have a computer in their house in the future.
Techies told people in the 1990's that everyone would be using the Internet in the future.
Prosumers told people in the 2000's that everyone would have a cellphone in the future.
Most people have been using technology since the 2010's and here we are at the end of 2021, where there's no such thing as average consumers not using cutting-edge technologies anymore.

If the technology cycle is roughly the same then it means basically everyone will be wearing AR glasses by 2031~2041 and people without a pair will be seen the same way as someone without a smartphone in 2021.

I really don't think so and I really don't see why Apple and Tim Cook are so gung-ho about AR. I get it, it is the 'in' thing, and they don't want to be left behind. But beyond waving my phone around at an intersection to see where something might be in a walking city like NY, I don't see the point. Having it as a HUD on a dashboard mount will be too distracting. Stupid filters is somehting I can live very well without.

Why would I want to play a game where I see Goombas and Koopa Troopas on my desk? Beyond a niche thing like Pokémon GO I can't see the point. Nor will I think it is the killer thing of the future. The glasses will be overpriced. I am sure for people that need Rx lenses will make the cost even more astronomical. There is no way this will replace the cell phone. I don't care what some analyst says, in 2030 you will be using some sort of hand-held device to communicate, consume media, create media, and do whatever.

 

[davidako]

“Some people say, "Give the customers what they want." But that's not my approach. Our job is to figure out what they're going to want before they do. I think Henry Ford once said, "If I'd asked customers what they wanted, they would have told me, 'A faster horse!'" People don't know what they want until you show it to them. That's why I never rely on market research. Our task is to read things that are not yet on the page.” ― Steve Jobs

After experiencing a few AR demos through my iPhone SE 2, as well as playing games on a PS4/PS VR setup, I can't wait to see what the future is going to be. I see a lot more potential for AR glasses than phones, tablets and watches. AR glasses are the only thing that do not require to be held with your hand(s) and have a huge display area that also doesn't require you to lose focus of what's around you. It's the merging of the digital world on top of the real physical world.

This rumoured headset, while expensive, is only the first step, like the first iPhone. Compare that first iPhone to what we have today. The future is coming a lot faster than most people think.

Maybe people really did want a faster horse though. Rather than a business model that’s led to modern slavery, a climate apocalypse, and a globalisation fuelled pandemic.

 

[hasanahmad]

For those of us who don’t like voice control, nor want a vision-restricting gizmo strapped to our faces, how exactly will this replace the iPhone?

similar reactions when people reacted to an all touch screen with no physical keyboard , with no sd card slots.

 

[nwcs]

Maybe people really did want a faster horse though. Rather than a business model that’s led to modern slavery, a climate apocalypse, and a globalisation fuelled pandemic.

Not to mention the whole "faster horse" thing is entirely apocryphal.

Henry Ford, Innovation, and That “Faster Horse” Quote

“If I had asked people what they wanted, they would have said faster horses.” We’ve all been in conversations on the topics of creativity and innovation when Henry Ford’s most famous adage is (excuse the pun) trotted out, usually accompanied by a knowing smirk and air of self-evidence. Battle...

hbr.org

 

[Chlloret]

My nephew was born a few weeks ago and I already know he'll probably have his first romantic experiences with a digital avatar in a VR headset.
Hugely depressing, but I guess every one is a product of his or her time.
I'm the computer generation, that's becoming obsolete as a concept now, and mg grandmother didn't understand how I spent 60% of my life using the computer.

We'll see.

Well, if he was just born he will not be bothered with antique tech like wearable´s by the time he goes for his first romantic experience. By then (2035-2039) he will have a chip implanted stimulating the optic nerve directly.

 

[Chlloret]

I own a Oculus (Meta) Quest 2 and payed $400 for it, a long time ago. That thing is awesome, nothing like lying in bed and watching a 3D movie on a 200" screen, playing a light game or doing city tours in 360 VR. The Apple device has to be WAY better then that for the same price to beat this device.
So it has to be better then 4k and preferably a larger fov (Quest is 100 degrees) but otherwise it is great for the money. This can not be a $1000+ Device because it is hardly ever used. Maybe 10h a week if that. so it is a nice to have, not a necessary tool like a phone or computer.

 

[sideshowuniqueuser]

Imagine my surprise.

What else would you use it for?

Well, porn is the usual first use-case for new tech.

 

[sideshowuniqueuser]

Well, lets me honest, Apple has not had a G4 Cube, iPod Hi-Fi or trash can Mac Pro type dud in years. So, maybe this is the next one.

Just wait until they put out the Apple Car

 

[sideshowuniqueuser]

Seems like a wild privacy violation.

All the available current Apple tech can already perform these "wild privacy violations."

 

[Yvan256]

I agree with the concept, but the implementation is hugely different. A computer I the house isn’t a big leap from a tv. A smart phone is no leap at all from a mobile - which in itself isn’t a far cry from a portable music player or a wallet or anything else in your pocket. A watch is a watch, for example. Requiring an actual headset which replaces real world sight is a big step away from normalcy.

What you are describing is a VR headset that blocks your view but has cameras to let you see what's happening outside the headset.

Proper AR glasses would not replace your real world sight, it would layer virtual objects on top of what you see using transparent displays.

 

[boss.king]

All the available current Apple tech can already perform these "wild privacy violations."

Can they? How do I see the names of people around me on my watch? Or even my phone for that matter?

I know I can see the names of some Apple devices around me on AirDrop, but that’s not what the user was suggesting (at least from what I understood).

 

[seek3r]

Well, lets me honest, Apple has not had a G4 Cube, iPod Hi-Fi or trash can Mac Pro type dud in years. So, maybe this is the next one.

You forgot about the original homepod, before the mini

 

[JippaLippa]

Well, if he was just born he will not be bothered with antique tech like wearable´s by the time he goes for his first romantic experience. By then (2035-2039) he will have a chip implanted stimulating the optic nerve directly.

Thanks!
More food for paranoid thought ?

 

[citysnaps]

Light AR glasses, why not. But we're talking about a device with a fan, dual processors and two 4K displays. This has absolutely nothing to do with iPods, iPhones and Apple watches. If the specs are accurate, this thing is going to be very, very expensive and will be heavy, no matter what. Apple can't do magic, despite what they say.

"We" are? I certainly am not.

A fan? Hah, that's rich!


"If the specs are accurate, this thing is going to be very, very expensive and will be heavy,"

Nope.

 

[astrocramp]

If it follows the Apple playbook, it will be a great design, have very narrow focus on a specific use case, not as powerful or flexible as the competition, but do one or two things very well. If you think about the Apple Watch, it was beautiful, limited in features, did a few things better, and priced above the competition. Same as AirPods Max.

 

[FaustsHausUK]

similar reactions when people reacted to an all touch screen with no physical keyboard , with no sd card slots.

I have been an early adopter of so many new technologies since my uncle brought home a VIC 20 in the early ‘80s. Voice control - whether from Apple, Amazon, Google or otherwise - is still wildly inaccurate, and not convenient to use in public spaces (unless you are an oblivious, loud arsehole). Even the best AR/VR headset will hamper my peripheral vision. This isn’t coming from a place of being a luddite, sometimes inferior interfaces are just inferior.

 

[Brien]

It won't.

The render below is a VR/MR headset with niche users who don't mind wearing a strap-on on their face and looking like a dork. It feels absolutely awful to use these things for over an hour and really screws up your face and hair at the back of your head. I had to shower and blow dry every time I finished using Oculus just to get my hair style back.

You walk around the street with this on your face you'll be walking into a lot of things and get run over by a bus so it is an indoor device only.

Covid isn't going away anytime soon. Imagine wearing that AND a mask. Look ridiculous.

AR should look like a totally normal pair of glasses with nothing impeding the user.

VR and mixed will need to look less like that too for mass market appeal, IMO.

 

[jeanlain]

"We" are? I certainly am not.

Then I'm not sure what you're talking about. I supposed you were talking about the device described in the article you were commenting. If you were talking about light AR glasses that can provide an iPhone-like experience, I'd say these are at least a dozen years away.
That's not what the "naysayers" your refer to are talking about in this thread.

What's predicted has nothing to do with the first iPod, which was smaller and held much more songs than competitors, at an affordable price.
That rumoured headset is even supposed to have an fan! I'm not sure its competitors (oculus and co) have one. And as opposed to its competitors, it will have no game to take advantage of at the start. There's exactly zero Mac and iOS VR game.

"If the specs are accurate, this thing is going to be very, very expensive and will be heavy,"

Nope.

You may have missed the "if".
Look at the price of the MacBook Pros.
This thing is supposed to have more than twice the pixels and a similar SoC (to power them), a reasonably large battery (how do you power these displays and a M1-class SoC without it?), at dozen of sensors and cameras...
I price it at ≥$2000.

 

[xpaulso]

The youngins will love them. It will take 10+ years to get “great” and smartphones will stick around. Initially people will be using them mostly around the house but interacting remotely with other people.

 

[xpaulso]

Bought my teenage son an Oculus two years ago. It’s still sitting in the box.

Can I have it?

 

[xpaulso]

I really don't think so and I really don't see why Apple and Tim Cook are so gung-ho about AR. I get it, it is the 'in' thing, and they don't want to be left behind. But beyond waving my phone around at an intersection to see where something might be in a walking city like NY, I don't see the point. Having it as a HUD on a dashboard mount will be too distracting. Stupid filters is somehting I can live very well without.

Why would I want to play a game where I see Goombas and Koopa Troopas on my desk? Beyond a niche thing like Pokémon GO I can't see the point. Nor will I think it is the killer thing of the future. The glasses will be overpriced. I am sure for people that need Rx lenses will make the cost even more astronomical. There is no way this will replace the cell phone. I don't care what some analyst says, in 2030 you will be using some sort of hand-held device to communicate, consume media, create media, and do whatever.

AR on phones and iPads is really just training for the dev tools and applications. A headset is the only reasonable way to use AR.

 

[ds2000]

“Some people say, "Give the customers what they want." But that's not my approach. Our job is to figure out what they're going to want before they do. I think Henry Ford once said, "If I'd asked customers what they wanted, they would have told me, 'A faster horse!'" People don't know what they want until you show it to them. That's why I never rely on market research. Our task is to read things that are not yet on the page.” ― Steve Jobs

After experiencing a few AR demos through my iPhone SE 2, as well as playing games on a PS4/PS VR setup, I can't wait to see what the future is going to be. I see a lot more potential for AR glasses than phones, tablets and watches. AR glasses are the only thing that do not require to be held with your hand(s) and have a huge display area that also doesn't require you to lose focus of what's around you. It's the merging of the digital world on top of the real physical world.

This rumoured headset, while expensive, is only the first step, like the first iPhone. Compare that first iPhone to what we have today. The future is coming a lot faster than most people think.

Agree, I love PSVR. Astrobot is one of the best games I have ever played, it was incredibly fun and immersive

 

[Abazigal]

I mean… yeah.
What else would they focus on?
Also honest question here.
I’m a completely blind Apple user.
Every device of there’s, from the iPhone and iPad to the Mac to the Watch to the Apple TV and even the HomePod are extremely accessible, the leaders in their field.
If these glasses are truly the iPhone killer, how is Apple going to sell these things to someone like me?
How do you make Apple Glass a fully accessible product like an iPhone or a Mac

My guess is that a pair of AR glasses will initially be marketed as an iphone accessory, very much like the Apple Watch.

The endgame is that the iphone may not be replaced by one product, but by a collection of products. I envision a future where the Apple Watch is powerful enough to power the AR glasses on its own. So it’s the brains, the glasses is the display, AirPods for siri input.

 

[citysnaps]

My guess is that a pair of AR glasses will initially be marketed as an iphone accessory, very much like the Apple Watch.

The endgame is that the iphone may not be replaced by one product, but by a collection of products. I envision a future where the Apple Watch is powerful enough to power the AR glasses on its own. So it’s the brains, the glasses is the display, AirPods for siri input.

Exactly. Processing power to handle AR already exists in modern iPhones, working well with ARKit. No fans, no bulky headsets, plenty of battery for AR processing where it's needed. Just a UWB bidirectional link to transport video in both directions between Glasses and iPhone.