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Some Apple Employees Seriously Concerned About Mixed-Reality Headset as Announcement Draws Closer
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In truth Apple hasn't had many hardware flops. The original HomePod may be one of the only recent examples.
And I have to wonder if AirPods Max are headed for an update or discontinuation. The lack of rumors doesn't bode well...
In 2008 the net was anything but fresh and basic. That's another 10-12 years back!exactly, thats why i said "probably"but lets not forget 15 years ago, we had no such leaks and so many rumours...internet was still fresh and basic, the "sneak peakers" were still young and un-experienced
These rookies don't remember the days of Compuserve.
I don’t understand why this “virtual workspace” use case keeps coming up. Unless Apple has made some revolutionary advance that delivers photons to your eyes without using pixels, any such “virtual” workspace will be a fuzzy, blurry mess compared to a real workspace with actual monitors. Could Apple have made such a breakthrough? Maybe. If so, I would love to see it in action. If not, this headset is nothing more than an “also ran” product.
Depends upon where the emphasis is there. The "VR== gaming" mindset set drifts toward the creation of fake people so that real people can interact and cooperate. That groups tends to want to tilt AR toward artificial reality (as opposed augmenting the one folks are actually in). If it is more augmented reality 'co-presense' where two (or more folks) share a reality space (as opposed to a mostly fake/artificial) one to do collaboration on real world issues ( as opposed to operting in a fake, escapist world), then there is some upside.
For example sharing a plain normal whiteboard across separate locations as opposed to creating a fake white board and fake people .
But Apple consistently has not been stressing VR. They have stressed AR (and not the 'artificial reality' version).
It sounds like there has been a bit of debate of just how narrow of an overlap with VR that Apple should pursue, rather than Apple 100% commitment to VR.
Apple has put AR abilities into iOS/iPadOS so they wouldn't be starting from scratch. The headset would add a handsfree aspect to that. (i.e., don't have to physically hold the iPhone/iPad to point it at something. Just use your eyes. ). But not leaving behind that foundation that the handhelds lay down.
Part of the problem has been some folks keep mapping the "VR==gaming" stuff onto what Apple 'has to do". Apple has to cover Meta. It is likely closer to Apple is covering what Microsoft did (or failed to do ) with Hololens.
( the CPU/GPU/compute of the Hololens has largely been relatively limited. Microsoft has an augment processor for the more specialized compute, but the baseline abilities are rather limited. )
AR is more ignored than dead. Telemedicine has done a huge uptick over the last 4-5 years. Teleconferencing same thing.
Case Western Reserve Univ has a mixed reality anatomy teaching tool ( replace physical cadavers with an AR one)
https://case.edu/holoanatomy/
Some results so far show that student retain more anatomy information better over a longer term using the tool. Two or more people can point at the same thing and talk about it collaboratively. Not surprisingly learning a 3D object structure is better when looking at an accurate 3D structure (why cut up bodies for last couple of centuries. ) .
There are lots of jobs where folks have to learn stuff about real world ( as opposed to escapist world ) objects. Being their intended future job tends to make them pretty well motivated to learn it.
The 'motivation' thing is far, far , far more so about entertainment for the escapist , fake world which largely (broad scale ) isn't career oriented or very natural humanistic socializing. The escapist fake world Metaverse is largely about sucking folks in where they can be monetized.
As Steve Jobs said when releasing the iPad, the new devise needs to be able to do certain things better that what’s already available, otherwise there’s no reason for it to exist. Assuming Apple have ‘mastered presence’, what Apple applications/services can this product do better?!
- FaceTime could be a lot better in VR if done right - if presence is mastered and it genuinely feels like you’re sitting around a table talking, eating, etc., # MealTime, DateNight, etc.
- SharePlay could be a lot better, imagine sitting on a couch watching a film with somebody and being able to turn and talk to them, # MovieNight
- Look Around in maps could be a lot better in VR, image walking around a city (including with friends).
- Handoff could be a lot better in VR, pick up your phone, or look at your Mac, and they’re rendered in the visor (not pass-through video).
- Freeform was likely designed with VR in mind, imagine a Matrix style loading room and a project taking form around you.
- AppleTV could be a lot better in VR, I presume their production company is creating a new format all Apple TV shows will be shot in - think the video equivalent of spatial audio.
- Games could be a lot better in VR, I’ll bet No Mans Sky is not released yet so that it can be reworked to create an insanely great gaming experience, and I’ll bet they’re working with other developers.
- And so forth - and that’s before the App Store opens up (dating apps spring to mind).
I can understand the feeling of indifference for the Port being on the bottom, but "love"? Seriously?
Hip mounted battery would also mean a cable running between the battery and goggles, wouldn't it?
Apple hasn't been a trendsetter in at least a decade.
How many competitors' products are rumored to be priced at $3,000+? The issue with the other headsets (and has been well documented, a simple google search will bring it up) was the price for what you were getting. Not to mention they are much cheaper than apple's implementation. Again, comparing a cellular device to a VR headset that is super niche is laughable.
Frankly it's not just the charging but the fact that the Mouse is not very ergonomic and hasn't changed its design in over a decade. I can't accept that Apple can't create a new, better mouse design.
Odd cause they removed the headphone jack during the last decade and others followed. Then they added the dynamic island and others followed. Sounds like trendsetting to me. I am sure there are more examples but that's off the top of my head.
Apple information leaks all the time. In fact, I can't recall a time when modern Apple actually released something that we didn't already know about.
That doesn't mean we should dismiss criticism of all devices going forward. A VR headset with a hip battery is a very different thing from a cell phone, something most people already owned and were dependent on in 2006, or a music player.
This product is Apple literally "thinking outside the box"—outside rectangular 2D display "boxes".
Of course, chronic naysayers will jump on to poo poo it. Of course it's too expensive—like the original iPhone which was $600.
But think about it: Science fiction's purpose is to postulate future reality. So, just where does anyone start to implement Star Trek's Holodeck—and what would ITS cost be???
I remember visiting Macromedia's Chicago office one day back in the late '80s to see that they had bought at least one 36" CRT display. It was a monster with what must have been very thick glass to support the huge external atmospheric pressure pushing in on its internal vaccuum tube CRT. Just imagine what THAT sucker cost!!
Corporate entities will fork over cash happily for useful devices. This will likely be one of them—and $3K ea would be peanuts!!!
Ok so the PSVR2 was a step forward. However the resolution is still a blurry mess. If Apple can make it perfect, they will succeed and I will gladly plop down $3k
What’s the last Apple product that was trashed by anonymous former and current employees before its release? To me it’s a red flag that this product either isn’t ready for prime time or they don’t have a compelling reason for why it exists and why someone would want to own it.
Research & Development is never wasted if it contributes to the success of future products. Unfortunately, the uninformed often view things in a vacuum. It doesn't matter if the first, second or third generations of the headset fail to gain market share, because all of that research and development will eventually contribute to success in other ways.