I’m just slightly creeped out on a conceptual level about this whole thing

[transpo1]

I think eventually “augmented reality” will just superimpose a more pleasant “reality” over the real one. If you step outside your house with your AR glasses on and you see homeless encampments on the sidewalk, the glasses will replace them with an image of beautiful flower gardens. It sounds like a joke, but I could totally see it happening.

I agree. Unfortunately, when people spend more time in augmented or virtual environments, the desire and will to improve the real world will decrease and those homeless encampments (and many other things) will get worse.

 

[aibloop]

This technology is happening wether we want it to or not. There is a revolution happening with metamaterials, allowing for technology that is ridiculous and very "sci-fi" in 4-5 years.

Just search metalens or superlens. And the reason for Apple releasing this now becomes clear.

The technology is proven and in Apples labs today... They likely have working prototypes of Apple Vision glasses that are just regular glasses TODAY. Since the tech is available for prototyping but NOT commercially available until 2026 (nanoscale lens technology)

Apple needed to release a development platform, because it is the right option strategically. They needed to hit the pavement and start running with active development.

Version 3 of Apple Vision will be just glasses/sunglasses. But not until 2027/2026.



Why did they need to release inferior tech? As in glass lenses and a bulkier device then what CAN be successful in the mainstream?

I think it was a calculated decision, and a right decision. IF Apple had not released this now. They would risk 2 things happening before 2026.


1. The entire field of technology died on the vine. This was becoming a bigger and bigger threat as FB/Meta stumbles around and the entire field was starting to die. HOW would a sleek Apple Vision device be received in 2026 IF the entire field is DEAD? Getting the traction to start from below zero would have been so costly and almost impossible for Apple if the field of Spatial Computing or AR/VR was completely gone...

2. The competition would have too great a lead to catch up... Active public development beats development in a lab... Getting real world exposure to a technology matures it and lends the entirety of the worlds attention towards solving bugs and features (And yes, 3rd party software development)



I think Tim Cooks strategical decision to release this now was veryvery smart... And it is a testament to how sly of a fox he is as a businessman. He is no marketing computer visionary genius like Steve Jobs. But do not doubt his business acumen... And he wields a mighty weight to throw around with Apple to make this real.

 

[Rainshadow]

This is vastly different from the theater or TV: with any of those, people in your vicinity can experience what you experience by merely being there. With any VR or even AR headset, they will not, unless _maybe_ they don one too and _maybe_ they have access to a shared experience.

The same with that ‘father recording the birthday’: if you use a regular iPhone to snap photos or video of some event or a trip, you already risk not really being in the moment but at least you are still ‘there’ with others being able to see you. Not so much with that thing on your head.

If not executed right, tech like this has the ability to make us even more disconnected from reality than many of us already are (if you hadn’t noticed, things aren’t going all that well with the warming, the forest fires, the Amazon in near irreversible decline, …). Add to that the ever declining level of education across the Western world and well…

At least Apple are still trying to maintain connection between the wearer and others via the transparency features or the exterior ‘eye projection’ screen and I hope they focus on some productivity focused apps.

The Metaverse set of commercials are much more disturbing in my view…

In any case:

All of those things (fires, warming etc) have nothing to do with someone watching a movie. Things aren’t going to be fixed faster or slower because you watched a movie. And just because some people think the world is ending or all bad, doesn’t mean we all have to think that.

In terms of connectedness, that’s just a hyperbole about Ar headsets. As others have said, whether the screen is on your face or in your hands, you do NOT engage with others when consuming media. You don’t. That’s the same farce used when people say they want to spend “quality time” with family members and sit and watch a tv series. Viewing a large screen should not masquerade as some level of human interaction. It isn’t.

You could maybe say the headset is just a bit more honest, but I still couldn’t imagine how it would decrease my interaction with my own world in any significant way.

 

[aibloop]

ok... So

If someone lights a cigarette in the car... Would you say this affects the air you breathe as passenger in the car?


Now. Have a look at our planet. There is a fairly thin amount of atmosphere held on-top of our planet by gravity. Merely 14km or some what 24miles? of breathable air.


Say we took a giant cigarette about the size of the moon, and lit that thing on fire.


It would get pretty smokey all around the planet, and we would all be having a good old time not needing to smoke at all! Save a ton on tobacco!


Now, if you take that one moon sized cigarette, and imagine that is what humans have been doing since around 1880 when the industrial revolution started for real. We have been puffing on that thing, to make manufacturing easier, to make motorized vehicles that go fast and far AND release more smoke...


We have lit a moon sized cigarette and let the smoke just marinate our entire amount of breathable air. And the passengers are getting sick and about ready to puke and get off the ride...


Now what is worse... Since we are humans, what we do when we have problems like famine and disease from the environment... We go to war! Why? Because it has always helped when we face hunger and disease to reduce our numbers!

But this time, it wont help... Because the war will be a huge puff of that moonsized cigarette. And it will make the ride in the car soooo much worse...


Me for one, I dont want my kid to ride in a car with cigarette smoke. I think we need to put the cigarette out and make sure our kids do not need to suffer in a smoked out car and then have no choice but drive around in the stinky mess after I die from cancer!

Its only common sense!


Apple Vision and technology like it CAN help us quit the habit... Maybe...

 

[subjonas]

We need technology that can bring us together from ways away. We need to be able to communicate better.



Apple had one good sentence about Vison Pro that I believe they will hammer home more and more... Namely that this is technology where you:

"Look through the device" and are able to do computing while looking at people. I see this sentiment reflected by people who have tried it.

The difference is subtle and easy to miss, but it is substantial and I believe WHY Jony Ive wanted there to be a screen in the front that shows your eyes. Your eyes are very important for communication with people around you. AND as such, the fact that Apple is taking this into account (successfully or not) IS a major sign that Apple sees this technology as a means of Social computing and not "Isolating and anti-social"




Yes, this technology HAS the potential to be very antisocial since it gives you the option to completely shield yourself from people.

But is it more anti-social then putting on sunglasses and earphones? ...IF the experience becomes as normal as iPhones, well yes, we would be living in a world where people can absolutely completely ignore other people out in the world AND in their home.

I AM encouraged by the fact that Apple puts a whole other display and invests in technology to have your eyes appear in the front. It shows a design intent to make it be SOCIAL. And that is not insignificant. And I believe that them doing that will influence other companies to explore the idea aswell.


Now that I know their implementation, and can see more clearly the possibilities they offer, I think Spatial Computing is going to be more social then computing with a display or a smartphone.. Why? Because you can share your computing space if the other people also have a way to see it.

With todays technology of 2d physical screens, you are MORE isolated when you work. Your 2d screen is more personal and it requires your eyes to be fixed at it, and so avert your eyes from other people. I do this all the time, if I feel like I do not want to socialize, I will go to my Mac and not share what I do hardly at all on my computer, with my wife and my kid. Rarely do I share stuff. BUT, if my space is easily shareable, and my wife has a way to access my Space OR we have a shared space for Apple Vision in our home, the computing experience is MORE social.

Example: I find a certain kind of house that I love, and I am looking at buildings and designs in Apple Vision in our livingroom. If me and my wife both have Apple Vision devices, I could share my experience with her and she would easily be able to see what I am seeing. And we could have a conversation about it ad-hoc. BUT, if I do this on my Mac Display or iPhone, I have to bring the device infront off her, or I have to ask her to come look at my display. YES sure, I would send her a link. But that is just a web page or a video, it requires her to start on a discovery she is not ready or able to at a moments notice. IF she can just join my Visual experience effortlessly, then me explaining and showing her is MUCH easier AND social.

We will learn that Spatial Computing is much more social because we can see through the content and interact while seeing it and sharing our vision and vice-versa.


Apple is on the right track, and they are actively looking to make this technology a SOCIAL experience. And I believe we will see their marketing get more focused as this reality sinks in across Apple.

If multi AR headset households become a thing, I could see something like a wife and husband sitting on a couch, and the wife is watching a Korean drama on a big virtual screen and she has the option of making the screen viewable to everyone if she wants her husband to watch with her, or to only herself if say he is doing some work using his headset. (He would have to make his work screens viewable to her because she doesn’t trust him and rightly so.)

The kind of cool thing is the headsets allow them to be close to each other and talk while doing very different tasks, whereas before they would have likely had to be in separate rooms.

 

[aibloop]

If multi AR headset households become a thing, I could see something like a wife and husband sitting on a couch, and the wife is watching a Korean drama on a big virtual screen and she has the option of making the screen viewable to everyone if she wants her husband to watch with her, or to only herself if say he is doing some work using his headset. (He would have to make his work screens viewable to her because she doesn’t trust him and rightly so.)

The kind of cool thing is the headsets allow them to be close to each other and talk while doing very different tasks, whereas before they would have likely had to be in separate rooms.

Exactly. It has the potential to be a more social way to use computers and the internet and so on...

As you say, the sharing of their spaces would have to be able to be either defined by area or based on the content they wish to share and or as granular as one would like.

 

[subjonas]

Spent last evening, for 3 hours, alongside a river in the mountains under clear skies watching the sunset and light fade into a starry night

That’s the kind of “Vision” I’m interested in

Not a scuba mask to jam Apple Apps in front of me at relative 100” screen sizes

Until that last part, I actually thought you were talking about what your Vision Pro experience of choice would be lol.

 

[4389842]

All of those things (fires, warming etc) have nothing to do with someone watching a movie. Things aren’t going to be fixed faster or slower because you watched a movie. And just because some people think the world is ending or all bad, doesn’t mean we all have to think that.

In terms of connectedness, that’s just a hyperbole about Ar headsets. As others have said, whether the screen is on your face or in your hands, you do NOT engage with others when consuming media. You don’t. That’s the same farce used when people say they want to spend “quality time” with family members and sit and watch a tv series. Viewing a large screen should not masquerade as some level of human interaction. It isn’t.

You could maybe say the headset is just a bit more honest, but I still couldn’t imagine how it would decrease my interaction with my own world in any significant way.

Everyone is entitled to their opinion of course. Mine is that we are collectively getting dumber and that it is easier to retreat in a cocoon consuming an endless stream of media than it is to face the real world, connect with people and work on making the world a better place.

But if watching things on your goggles floats your boat, knock yourself out!

 

[aibloop]

This is a 3 year old video on metalens technology. It is currently slated to hit mass production in 2026. I would imagine Apple will be one of the 1st out the door with these super thin devices.


...Also, this the tech that the other engineering team was saying apple should wait for. (and subsequently were the engineers upset that Tim Cook and others decided to push the conventional lens tech based Apple Vision out 1st)

I think the run-up to 2026 with Apple Vision is very important for Apple to be competitive in what will be a veryvery dense market from that point on.

 

[Scott Baret]

I am going to be a holdout on this technology and may never adopt it. Call me closed-minded and old-fashioned, but I won't be getting this or any similar product.

I just don't see the point in VR for everyday use. I have a friend who has a VR headset for gaming and I've tried it a few times. While it certainly is interesting and the game he had me try was a bit on the addicting side (it was called Budget Cuts if any of you are familiar with it), I just don't see the point in using it for anything but that, and I'm at a point in my life where there are far more things I need to be doing than saving an office building from some boss (which is, as I recall, what Budget Cuts was about).

A MacBook Pro takes care of all my work needs just fine and I like being able to look away from the screen to give my eyes a break. Those breaks are very valuable. Apple certainly doesn't know how to do anything about eye strain with their products (if they ever offered a matte screen again I'd buy it immediately). If I need an extra monitor, I can always plug in the one in my closet or use the iPad.

I also don't like the idea of living in some virtual world. We already are citizens of two worlds: the physical world we live in and the online world as-is. We don't need an alternate reality that we also have to be a part of, especially because it's void of what makes us human. I'm that person who greets his friends with warm hugs and enjoys being out in nature. I'm not going to give that up anytime soon.

I don't care what extra services these VR sets may provide in a business context, as I'll be able to market myself as a fully human, in the flesh educator for people who don't want to be strapped to a headset all day.

I refuse to wear one of these things, whether it's a pair of "shop goggles" or a pair of glasses. I'll take my human interaction and looking at the world as it is, thank you.

 

[Kierkegaarden]

I am going to be a holdout on this technology and may never adopt it. Call me closed-minded and old-fashioned, but I won't be getting this or any similar product.

I just don't see the point in VR for everyday use. I have a friend who has a VR headset for gaming and I've tried it a few times. While it certainly is interesting and the game he had me try was a bit on the addicting side (it was called Budget Cuts if any of you are familiar with it), I just don't see the point in using it for anything but that, and I'm at a point in my life where there are far more things I need to be doing than saving an office building from some boss (which is, as I recall, what Budget Cuts was about).

A MacBook Pro takes care of all my work needs just fine and I like being able to look away from the screen to give my eyes a break. Those breaks are very valuable. Apple certainly doesn't know how to do anything about eye strain with their products (if they ever offered a matte screen again I'd buy it immediately). If I need an extra monitor, I can always plug in the one in my closet or use the iPad.

I also don't like the idea of living in some virtual world. We already are citizens of two worlds: the physical world we live in and the online world as-is. We don't need an alternate reality that we also have to be a part of, especially because it's void of what makes us human. I'm that person who greets his friends with warm hugs and enjoys being out in nature. I'm not going to give that up anytime soon.

I don't care what extra services these VR sets may provide in a business context, as I'll be able to market myself as a fully human, in the flesh educator for people who don't want to be strapped to a headset all day.

I refuse to wear one of these things, whether it's a pair of "shop goggles" or a pair of glasses. I'll take my human interaction and looking at the world as it is, thank you.

It doesn’t seem like you understood what was being presented, unless you are just confused about the terminology. What Apple presented is an AR device — not VR. These are two different technologies, with different applications.

Neither one is designed to replace human interaction, in the same way that using a MacBook, iPad, or iPhone doesn’t either.

 

[happygodavid]

Makes you wish you bought $AAPL on 20-Jan-2009 for $78.20.

Its Pre-Split Share Price today would be $5,066.88 per 20-Jan-2009 share with a quarterly div of $6.44.

So say you bought 4,000 shares in 20-Jan-2009 for $312,800.00.

That specific portfolio would be worth $20,267,520.00 by now. Even more than that during WWDC 2023.

Quarterly dividend would be $25,760.00.

Not a bad div for a single person without dependents living in a poor nation where min wage is $1.00/hr.

You just reminded me to look up what my AAPL would have been worth. I worked for Apple retail at that time and during 2009 put extra every penny I had into buying thru their ESPP. Just did the math, and my shares that I spent less than $2000 on would now be worth over $130,000. I cashed them out to pay rent during grad school in 2013. Oh well. At least I stopped working retail.

 

[donblanco]

I'm guessing that VP will not allow you to walk around without showing you most, if not all, of your surroundings. Otherwise everyone would run into things or walk into traffic. In other words, unlike VR, you can keep the headset on while doing other things in the real world. I can't do that with my iPhone. I occasionally try to look something up on my iPhone during my morning walks, but almost always have to stop in order to do it without tripping over myself or someone else. VP would allow me to listen to my podcast and also Google some things via voice while maintaining full awareness of my surroundings.

 

[0339327]

Don’t get me wrong the tech is amazing. But I dunno.. the whole ‘look at this fake lake while the real world is falling apart‘ aspect of the presentation gave me a bad vibe. Also the part with having it on while your kid is interacting with you.

Just sitting in your house producing and consuming content with this thing on your face.. it’s the perfect metaphor. ‘Just be happy and don’t think about it’

Am I alone in this, or is anyone else feeling this?

I agree and have said this several times recently. Moving away from real life to virtual only further dehumanizes our society that is already suffering from too much fakery.

We need to return to spending more time in the real world. Yes, many don’t want to hear this, but the pitfalls and psychological issues must not be ignored.

I’m all for technology and all for using technology to better our world. We must, however, be cognizant of the damage that too much technology brings.

 

[212rikanmofo]

Don’t get me wrong the tech is amazing. But I dunno.. the whole ‘look at this fake lake while the real world is falling apart‘ aspect of the presentation gave me a bad vibe. Also the part with having it on while your kid is interacting with you.

Just sitting in your house producing and consuming content with this thing on your face.. it’s the perfect metaphor. ‘Just be happy and don’t think about it’

Am I alone in this, or is anyone else feeling this?

Totally agree with you. Soon we won't know what reality is anymore. Do we even know what it is now? Technology and all this AI stuff is getting way out of hand and is just going to make society worse.

 

[MecPro]

I agree, it’s a big no for me.

I have the HoloLens for work purposes and I have zero desire for it to creep into my personal like. I’d rather play with my kids, let them see and feel me in the physical without computerised reactions or something stuck to my head.

I do hope governments start monitoring and restricting the future of AR/VR/AI too, as it’s all in the hands of Silicon Valley, and we know they are far behind the bastions of doing a thing that isn’t self serving.

 

[Kuckuckstein]

Don’t get me wrong the tech is amazing. But I dunno.. the whole ‘look at this fake lake while the real world is falling apart‘ aspect of the presentation gave me a bad vibe. Also the part with having it on while your kid is interacting with you.

Just sitting in your house producing and consuming content with this thing on your face.. it’s the perfect metaphor. ‘Just be happy and don’t think about it’

Am I alone in this, or is anyone else feeling this?

This is exactly how I feel about it. And it does seem so non Apple to me. It is now tech for tech sake rather than technology that connects us and lets humanity do great things.

Now it is mainly “you in a perfect rendered world” and even you get rendered. And I think the more they wanted to tell the opposite in their ad, the more it got creepy and showed the weird side of it. Isolation …

So yes, I am with you on that.

 

[klasma]

I'm guessing that VP will not allow you to walk around without showing you most, if not all, of your surroundings. Otherwise everyone would run into things or walk into traffic. In other words, unlike VR, you can keep the headset on while doing other things in the real world. I can't do that with my iPhone. I occasionally try to look something up on my iPhone during my morning walks, but almost always have to stop in order to do it without tripping over myself or someone else. VP would allow me to listen to my podcast and also Google some things via voice while maintaining full awareness of my surroundings.

I would assume that googling some things would have you stop regardless of whether you do it on the iPhone or the Visual Pro. Your visual and mental focus is on the displayed information in either case, and your peripheral vision sees the surroundings in either case. I assume that the information displayed by the Visual Pro won’t be smaller than the part of your view that is taken up by the iPhone. Regarding googling with voice commands, that’s also possible with the iPhone.

Another interesting question is if it will even work while walking. The current concept is that the app “windows” in the Visual Pro VR stay fixed relative to the surroundings. Meaning that if you move, they don’t move with you. The digital crown button is used to re-center the content (active window?) in front of your eyes, so you’d have to rapid-fire that button when walking. It’s not clear if there’ll be an alternative “continually keep things in front of me” steady-cam mode.

 

[JapanApple]

READY PLAYER ONE movie by Sony.........Just like what explain.


"Please explain why this post was edited." by a moderator?

 

[JimmyHook]

Don’t get me wrong the tech is amazing. But I dunno.. the whole ‘look at this fake lake while the real world is falling apart‘ aspect of the presentation gave me a bad vibe. Also the part with having it on while your kid is interacting with you.

Just sitting in your house producing and consuming content with this thing on your face.. it’s the perfect metaphor. ‘Just be happy and don’t think about it’

Am I alone in this, or is anyone else feeling this?

That applies to all VR, not just Vision Pro. Maybe you meant that, but I've seen some tech journalists and companies call out this product even tho others do the same thing. For instance, Zuckerberg called it out for "isolating" people. His headset is far more isolating than this.

 

[senttoschool]

I guess the ultimate goal would be some sort of glasses or contact lenses like 50 years from now.

I think that's the goal within 5 years. The goal for 50 years would just be something like a device that injects information into your brain. The goal for 100 years would be to upload your brain into a computer.

 

[subjonas]

I would assume that googling some things would have you stop regardless of whether you do it on the iPhone or the Visual Pro. Your visual and mental focus is on the displayed information in either case, and your peripheral vision sees the surroundings in either case. I assume that the information displayed by the Visual Pro won’t be smaller than the part of your view that is taken up by the iPhone. Regarding googling with voice commands, that’s also possible with the iPhone.

Another interesting question is if it will even work while walking. The current concept is that the app “windows” in the Visual Pro VR stay fixed relative to the surroundings. Meaning that if you move, they don’t move with you. The digital crown button is used to re-center the content (active window?) in front of your eyes, so you’d have to rapid-fire that button when walking. It’s not clear if there’ll be an alternative “continually keep things in front of me” steady-cam mode.

At worst you could probably pinch (basically hold) a window as you walk. But that’s not much less silly than rapidly pressing the centering button. I would think a window fixed to user’s view (small, on the side) would be an option since there would be many useful scenarios for that (eg. certain types of tutorial videos)

 

[ApplesAreSweet&Sour]

Don’t get me wrong the tech is amazing. But I dunno.. the whole ‘look at this fake lake while the real world is falling apart‘ aspect of the presentation gave me a bad vibe. Also the part with having it on while your kid is interacting with you.

Just sitting in your house producing and consuming content with this thing on your face.. it’s the perfect metaphor. ‘Just be happy and don’t think about it’

Am I alone in this, or is anyone else feeling this?

I get where you're going and what you're worrying about.

But I see the hordes of people constantly looking at or thinking about grabbing their phones or glued to a TV or home office monitor as much more isolated than a person wearing Vision Pro.

Yes, people are definitely going to be using these headsets for a kind of "virtual" vacations to get away from their irl physical and mental scenarios.

The notion that anyone is going to be walking around outside and simultaneously blocking out reality seems highly unlikely as it would put you in a great amount of danger from all of the moving subjects and obstacles around you.

I see products like Vision Pro and other more simple Google Glass-like AR tech as ways to have people be more aware of their surroundings while also getting their perpetual device checking fix in.

Potentially these devices could even enhance awareness if sensors can get to a level where it senses traffic and all moving subjects surrounding the wearer.

Perhaps not any less scary but definitely safer than having people looking down at devices and hardly ever having more than one hand free.

 

[AL2TEACH]

I know exactly how you feel

Ah, Morpheus, I was wondering where you were.

 

[AL2TEACH]

I and a few others posting are probably older than most. Some seem to think the goggles are deadlier than a piss poor Congress, pollution, book bans in some schools and etc...
Our species has improved over the course of our history on this planet. Granted, things do need to improve all over our globe but a high tech goggle will not kill, keep another down in the dumps, starve them, make you fear another because of a belief system, create poverty or anything that would cause harm to someone else and etc...If a gun is absent of blame then surely the same thinking could/might apply to a high tech goggle. Makes one wonder what the horse riders said about the car, lol.
Sorry for the all over the place thought.