New Vision Pro demo experience

[zach-coleman]

I went back and did another demo today. The employee told me they had upgraded parts of it in the past few months. According to him they also just recently made a specific script for people doing a second demo. In general, this one was a lot less railroaded.

The most major differences I noticed:

1) They changed to a significantly more comfortable head strap, the old one made me feel like the headset was vice gripping my face, this one I barely even felt like I was wearing the headset at all.

2) Added ability to send up to 10 of your own photos/videos onto the demo unit using a QR code, the employee said his screen was blacked out during this part and the photos were deleted when app closed. The spatial videos from the iPhone 15 were incredible, it has a shocking amount of depth for how close together the cameras are. It was very cool to see my own shots instead of marketing images.

3) There are now some third party apps included on the Home Screen, I got to mess with Star Walk(?) and some app that included alternate history museum pieces.

4) The immersive video at the end was completely recut, there were a few unique nature shots, shots from the parkour video, and tons of sports clips (are sports streamed in immersive video yet?)

5) I felt like text was even easier to read than how I remember it from the first time. I’m sure nothing changed and it’s just my memory… Do people really get eye strain reading text on this thing?

—
Despite me living in a less populated area and it being the middle of a weekday, there were still 2 people in front of me in line. I found that kind of weird that the demos are still drawing interest this many months after launch.

The employee that showed me was super excited about the VP, he told me he owned one and showed me screen recordings of him using it in the airport (long flight delay 😬) and on a plane.

If you already did a demo and don’t yet own one, I recommend trying again. It was very cool to see my own photos on there. Almost worth it just for that.

 

[Konrad]

To kill time (while picking a new phone for my teen) I reluctantly took a demo yesterday at the Glendale Apple Store. First, I had no clue about the application, the amicable man told me that I am just about to experience a still unreleased demo. The first set of goggles was messed up and I ready to reset(?) was replaced by a spare which somehow required a second correction lens measurement. Later I was informed that the Apple Store has an entire box of zeiss corrective inserts to try to best match one’s prescription. The match was not bad, but imperfect. At the time of purchase a customer brings his prescription and the right product is dispatched, according to A. Next, the calibration which took a a minute or two and the contraption was in sync with my eyes. Because it’s much about the eyes where the system actually with good precision knows what one is looking at. Most of the time. The two finger tapping, I am sure can be rapidly mastered by anyone, but to others may look a bit goofy at first.

The current version supports only 1080 and generally it’s not bad except for a visible latency in a refresh rate so there is a component of slight annoyance. I liked the 15pro-generated 3-d clips of a drooling baby, a woman waking a high rope, some not quite 360 panoramas and other cute selected content, but the suggested idea of watching a movie on the plane or working on a computer in complete privacy given the size and weight of the device was not a selling point to me.

The pitch included a comparison, fair or not, to a large OLED screen vs the $3500 starting point depending on storage capacity choice. It was admitted that content needs to be developed, how great it would be for sports with subminiature body cams, partnerships with NBA and the likes…The latter I read as a forward looking statements as the also non-sharing aspect of the device including todays costs makes it currently more of an interesting gadget than a popular Christmas gift for most teens.

In summary, IMO, it has a limited market and perhaps next generations will be of larger interest. I would also strongly suggest to anyone who has 30-40 minutes to take a demo to see what it is. Enjoy.

 

[HDFan]

At the time of purchase a customer brings his prescription and the right product is dispatched, according to A.

The Zeiss inserts are a separate order shipped directly from Zeiss. Not available from the store.

The current version supports only 1080

? The VP is ~4K+ ...

 

[lellis2k]

I'm booked in for my demo in the UK this weekend, is there anything I should do to prepare my media/account to get the most out of it?
I took some spacial videos in Croatia last month, so maybe adding those to a dedicated album for easy access?

 

[zach-coleman]

I'm booked in for my demo in the UK this weekend, is there anything I should do to prepare my media/account to get the most out of it?
I took some spacial videos in Croatia last month, so maybe adding those to a dedicated album for easy access?

You can search by spatial video, but I had them in an album. I was planning to ask if I could airdrop some of my photos onto it and was pleasantly surprised it had become an official part of the demo.

Since the demo is seemingly hard capped at 30 minutes max, you will probably get more time to use it if you have all 10 ready to go ahead of time. If you have any panoramas, make sure to have a couple of those handy as well. It almost feels like you're standing where you took it again.

 

[Konrad]

The Zeiss inserts are a separate order shipped directly from Zeiss. Not available from the store.



? The VP is ~4K+ ...

Yes, the corrective lenses are supplied by Zeiss. The A. store, or stores doing demos have them on site for the demos. I am not sure who ships what from where at the purchase time. As the 4K, the A. Demo person told me that it supports only 1080 and the content didn’t not appear to me to be 4K. I didn’t check any further into this as I have no interest in the device.

 

[fatTribble]

If you have any panoramas, make sure to have a couple of those handy as well. It almost feels like you're standing where you took it again.

Panoramic photos are one of my favorite bonus features!

 

[MisterSavage]

1) They changed to a significantly more comfortable head strap, the old one made me feel like the headset was vice gripping my face, this one I barely even felt like I was wearing the headset at all.

That's great to hear. When I did my demo last month I put it on, adjusted it, and it felt comfortable. The employee then requested that I make it tighter, which was going into the vice grip territory you mentioned.

 

[ddvmor]

I did a demo in the UK earlier this week and was pretty underwhelmed (by the demo, not the hardware). I essentially got to watch a few immersive videos, but there were no other notable apps installed - I didn’t get to try it with a laptop, or try out a FaceTime call, both things I’d have loved to do. They didn’t offer to let me view any of my own photos, although I only have an iPhone 14, so I guess there’s not much to see there anyway.

 

[XboxEvolved]

My daughter and I went and did the new demo today at an Apple Store and I have been pretty critical of AVP for several reasons in the past, it was still fairly incredible. She seemed to like it quite a bit, especially the parts where you are unclose to rhinos and elephants. The Apple guy and I theorized about when a cheaper version came out, and the price, both of us agreeing that if sometime in 2026 a $1500-2000 version of what we already have came out, that it would probably be a fast selling product. Of course the apps and content still needs to get there. I still don't agree with the notion that it is an actual Pro device, and it's mostly a content consumption device, imo even more so than the original iPad was when it was first introduced. Still I am hopeful it will come down to $1500 by 2026 because honestly that is the price it would have to be for me to even consider buying one.

 

[MisterSavage]

She seemed to like it quite a bit, especially the parts where you are unclose to rhinos and elephants.

That's the part that really made me gasp.

I still don't agree with the notion that it is an actual Pro device, and it's mostly a content consumption device, imo even more so than the original iPad was when it was first introduced.

I don't know, a friend of mine just took an overseas trip and was able to work on coding his app on a giant virtual screen during it thanks to the AVP.