Kuo: Apple 'Well Prepared' for Headset Announcement Next Month

[HobeSoundDarryl]

Right, I've worn several VR headsets but what I am saying is this doesn't make me feel anymore at the game than watching it on TV does, because I'm not at the game either way. It might be more immersive overall, but I still don't feel like I'm really there. Anyway, I appreciate our discussion and I enjoy listening to different view points. It's not about right or wrong to me, it's about learning and broadening horizons.

Yes, not about right or wrong either for me. I'm just trying to show some counterpoint to some concepts.

Yes, I've also tried VR headsets from others and while some of them were interesting, they didn't blow me away either.

However, now we're talking about an Apple VR headset... that they've been working on for 6-7+ years... with conceptually unlimited resources available to them. That makes me leap of faith that the experience will be superior to anything I've seen before. Rumors of 4K per eye would certainly be far more detailed than anything I've ever tried before. Etc.

If it is only about the same as what I've tried upwards of years ago from other players, I will swing to the pessimist camp. However, Apple has impressed me enough times with brand new products, that I'm choosing "half full" vs. "half empty" until I get to see if there is anything or perhaps everything in that glass.

We'll all learn what THIS is soon enough. Personally, I have 0% expectations that it will mostly be "the same" of what is already out there with VR branding on it. If it's mostly the same, I'll be immensely confused about what took mighty Apple 6-7+ years to roll out an Oculus with an Apple logo on it.

 

[Jensend]

I agree with a lot of what you've posted, but when it is all said and done, donning a headset and pretending you are at a Broadway show or pretending you are sitting first row on the 50 yard line at the Super Bowl is just that, pretending. You're not really there, and you didn't really go to the Super Bowl. Are you going to tell people you actually went to the Super Bowl because you put on an VR headset? I certainly hope not. Just because you put on a VR headset doesn't mean you are sitting courtside. You are sitting in your house or wherever you donned the headset, plain and simple. I guess I'm just not that into pretending, and I haven't been since I was around 11 years old. The VR experience will be nothing like actual reality in our lifetimes, and who knows how much longer after that, if ever. How would they ever handle just smell alone. Not happening.

For sporting events, having a fixed seat isn’t even really an optimal way to view a game. There’s a reason TV broadcasts of sporting events don’t just use a single camera fixed in place to broadcast events.

And 360 video isn’t really fully VR. You can’t be sitting down, and then stand up and get a perspective change. You can’t even tilt your head to the side without the 3D effect breaking.

The microphone probably wouldn’t be placed in the same location, because what if an annoying person is sitting next to the camera?

And any of this would work as well with current low-end VR headsets, and 180 or 360 video hasn’t really taken off with VR users, except for maybe one use case that I won’t mention.

I think people want VR to be awesome so badly because their reality is not good.

ehhh. You could replace VR in that sentence with anything. A car, a new house, a new non-VR Apple device.

I'm not saying you are one of these people by the way. But someone posted a twitter response earlier in this thread about someone thanking a VR company for saving their life and their wives life. Anyone of sound mind has to wonder, what kind of life were they living prior to throwing on a VR headset.

Similar to my above response, people credit many seemingly mundane things for saving their lives.

 

[spinedoc77]

Depending on which rumor you ascribe to this is going to basically be a dual M2 desktop class computer with huge 4k micro OLED displays. The pricing does make sense, but I still think it's going to be a corporate/healthcare/logistics type of product at that price point. That still doesn't bridge the gap where this falls for the consumer, but with rumors of a "low end" model you can tell that Apple is basically generating hype and creating a vertical market at the high end in preparation for what they will offer to the unwashed masses.

 

[devins]

Seems plausible to me for 2 reasons:

1. All rumors and logic implies that these will need a great deal of intense processing to work better than existing competition. M-series offers great power while demanding low energy. This could be where PPW matters most. M3 will be able to deliver more processing punch while sipping even less energy. That seems very important to this type of product.
2. Rumors of late are implying big reveal at WWDC but not launching until "this Fall" or later. By this Fall or later, M3 may be ready to roll (some still think maybe the rumored air just might go M3 at WWDC). Apple will certainly have functional M3s by now in limited quantities, so this could use M3 for the demos and then roll out with M3 when M3 is ready to roll out in volume later this year or early next.

i just don't think they'll announce the M3 in any product before the fall...

 

[steve09090]

Most of this country’s population can’t hardly afford their groceries, you think that this will be a guaranteed buy for the bulk majority of the population or the 1-2%? Transforming the world would mean EVERYONE has access to it.

It absolutely has the potential to disrupt the world through health. It doesn’t have to gain a massive market share when it could change lives through virtual surgery or assist the blind or nearly blind. And that’s only a single market. Law enforcement, safety the list would be endless.

Why do people think this is going to be a consumer video game? Small
Minds or think big? Think of the potential.

 

[HobeSoundDarryl]

i just don't think they'll announce the M3 in any product before the fall...

Maybe. There's no big secret about M3 coming to those dug in deep enough to worry about a number painted on a chip they'll never actually see.

Since the whole product is a rumor, perhaps it will have an xR7 chip in it. Since a number can get us so wound up, 7 is much greater than 3, so Goggles must be great!

Joking? Yes... but actually, it's just as plausible since we really know nothing about this product. Several rumors suggest it gets its own OS, why not its own SOC name too: A series, M series, xR series. I doubt that myself but it could happen.

 

[richinaus]

I agree with a lot of what you've posted, but when it is all said and done, donning a headset and pretending you are at a Broadway show or pretending you are sitting first row on the 50 yard line at the Super Bowl is just that, pretending. You're not really there, and you didn't really go to the Super Bowl. Are you going to tell people you actually went to the Super Bowl because you put on an VR headset? I certainly hope not. Just because you put on a VR headset doesn't mean you are sitting courtside. You are sitting in your house or wherever you donned the headset, plain and simple. I guess I'm just not that into pretending, and I haven't been since I was around 11 years old. The VR experience will be nothing like actual reality in our lifetimes, and who knows how much longer after that, if ever. How would they ever handle just smell alone. Not happening. I think people want VR to be awesome so badly because their reality is not good. I'm not saying you are one of these people by the way. But someone posted a twitter response earlier in this thread about someone thanking a VR company for saving their life and their wives life. Anyone of sound mind has to wonder, what kind of life were they living prior to throwing on a VR headset.

How about considering the potential of bringing something special that is local to you, global?

And no, travel isn't for everyone all the time. It is bad for the environment and expensive.

I would love to attend all world cup football matches, but I cant for many reasons. But what if I can for 90 minutes?

 

[Halopend]

Just so you know, the stereoscopy provided by HMDs is not exactly the same as a scene in the real world. I no longer remember all the technical details, and probably didn't understand all of them fully in the first place, but the upshot is that many persons who wear glasses will find they do not need them in VR. The depth at which the image in the HMD is perceived is generally in a "mid" range (apps that measure IPD now generate a Near, Far, and VR IPD reports to accommodate exactly this.) Basically, if your mid-range is in focus, you will be OK with VR. If not, you can often add inserts to accommodate lenses, or you may be able to use contacts.

Actual 3d light exist in a "field" of light going in multiple directions/angles.

This requires "focus" to bring things near/far into clarity (due to the nature of our eye's/camera's which combine an adjustable lens with a "flat" capturing surface that can only understand intensity/count of light hitting the sensor). The effect is subtle, but if you hold your hand in front of your and alternate your focus between the close hand and something far away you'll notice the blurring of whatever you aren't looking at. This is because our lenses adjust automatically to compensate and distinguish between near/far (which is important info to have).

This "field" of light is actually why light-field cameras are so special and allow you to shoot a scene and change the "focus" afterwards (they capture intensity/orientation simultaneously and as such don't need an "adjustable" lens to distinguish between near/far).

With VR, the displays are only capable of controlling the intensity of light emitted (not orientation per-pixel) because up to now they are based on traditional displays. They can still be 3D, as our brains use the fact we have 2 eyes to largely work all that info out (which is convenient as the focal method can only contrast near/fear by switching our focus overtime and stereoscopy is realtime 3D distinguishment ). It's actually kind of crazy when you think about the fact we evolved to the perfect amount of eye's to do all this... but being able to tell near/far is insanely powerful in terms of survival in the wild so it makes sense.

 

[H.E. Pennypacker]

It absolutely has the potential to disrupt the world through health. It doesn’t have to gain a massive market share when it could change lives through virtual surgery or assist the blind or nearly blind. And that’s only a single market. Law enforcement, safety the list would be endless.

Why do people think this is going to be a consumer video game? Small
Minds or think big? Think of the potential.

Virtual surgery, assisting the blind to see? Do you believe the apple car will fly as well or be outfitted with the flux capacitor? Dream big.

 

[blwest78]

I hope they don't use the same material for the pads that they do for the AirPods Max. Itchier than a 80's wool sweater.

The face rashes will be entertaining to see.

 

[blwest78]

Because of what it may do. You don’t have to be an Einstein to explain or understand how 12 cameras can work to realise depth without actually seeing.

As far as 4K per eye goes, you have to be darn close to pick out pixels on a 4K 65” TV. I doubt you'd be able to distinguish anything other than the image in a headset.

It’s not about what it looks like, it’s what it does. No one knew what "Retina display" was before they bought it.

It's a factor of eye distance, display and pixel size.

I knew what "Retina" was before I bought it. Catchy marketing lingo for high PPI displays.

 

[blwest78]

If it actually turns out to be a good product I still wouldn't buy it until we get a few hardware revisions. I'm not spending silly money on 1st gen hardware. And I wear glasses so I'm screwed anyway.

"Apple expects to sell just one headset per day per retail store"

🤣

Remember the OG apple watch in fancy metals? $10,000 - $17,000. A watch that lasted less than 4 years.

 

[steve09090]

It's a factor of eye distance, display and pixel size.

I knew what "Retina" was before I bought it. Catchy marketing lingo for high PPI displays.

And are all pixels the same size? It makes a difference you know.