The State of iPhone VR... Will Apple Not Release a Headset Until iPhone 8?

[MICHAELSD]

On a whim I purchased a Mattel Viewfinder having never experienced true VR yet (although I came close to trying a HTC Vive, and would have if there wasn't over an hour long line), and see the potential but was expecting much better out of an ironically cheap toy than I had gotten. It's practically unusable for more than thirty seconds but the potential is there. The sad part is I was able to experience the full, horrendous iPhone VR experience in a matter of minutes whereas Samsung devices have the Gear VR, which I hear comes as close to an Oculus Rift for $99 (or even free with deals) as it can.

Sure, there are slightly better optics available for the iPhone but not much to do in terms of apps. Samsung devices have a full Oculus app that has features such as allowing them to watch any movie loaded onto the device in VR or even 3D. I would love for Apple to create a complete virtual reality experience and interface on-par with or better than Oculus, but I feel like Apple won't adopt this trend until the iPhone 8 at the soonest. There are some shortcomings with the iPhone now: I don't feel the 1080p LCD display is sufficient and would much prefer a ~ 4K OLED display. Knowing Apple, I feel they'll try to create a better experience then charge $199+ for it rather than $99 as Samsung does. Heck, I'd be happy if they were to partner with Oculus.

The future of VR is smartphones since they have the performance and eventually the display to drive it. But I don't feel like waiting another three generations for Apple to make the iPhone capable of good VR. Hopefully it's sooner down the pipeline.

 

[willmtaylor]

What's the point of VR?

Remember when 3D TV was a thing?

No, but seriously: what's the point of VR?

 

[MICHAELSD]

What's the point of VR?

Remember when 3D TV was a thing?

No, but seriously: what's the point of VR?

Fair enough to ask, but VR is not a fad like 3D TV. In fact it will finally make 3D worthwhile.

VR transports you to another place if done right. The future of video games is VR, and probably the distant future of movies as well.

 

[Rigby]

What's the point of VR?

Remember when 3D TV was a thing?

No, but seriously: what's the point of VR?

It's hard to explain to someone who hasn't tried it. It's a whole new ballgame. But to get the full experience, you have to use a real headset, preferably the HTC Vive (because the Oculus Rift currently doesn't have tracked hand controllers and supports only a very small tracking space). It's pretty amazing, even though there are still a number of technical limitations (such as the need to run a cable to the headset, relatively low screen resolution, and the need for a PC with a very high-powered graphics card). The phone-based headsets don't even come close (no positional tracking, no hand controllers, much lowering rendering power).

PS: Here's a recent video showing an early version of a VR game for the Vive:

 

[jasie02]

I would prefer Apple come out with real VR headset, rather than another VR want to be combine a cellphone with an adapter.

It is like 3D tv, it will never, never replace large screen IMAX movie theater like experience.

Real is always better than cheap imitation.

 

[lordofthereef]

It's hard to explain to someone who hasn't tried it. It's a whole new ballgame. But to get the full experience, you have to use a real headset, preferably the HTC Vive (because the Oculus Rift currently doesn't have tracked hand controllers and supports only a very small tracking space). It's pretty amazing, even though there are still a number of technical limitations (such as the need to run a cable to the headset, relatively low screen resolution, and the need for a PC with a very high-powered graphics card). The phone-based headsets don't even come close (no positional tracking, no hand controllers, much lowering rendering power).

PS: Here's a recent video showing an early version of a VR game for the Vive:

Have we seen utility outside of gaming? Serious question, because gaming is always brought up when i ask about this. If I were ten years younger and still dumping $1000 a year into PC upgrades I could get excited about this. Unless it somehow expands my every day life (not just entertainment), it's not something that I see myself caring one way or the other about.

 

[Rigby]

Have we seen utility outside of gaming? Serious question, because gaming is always brought up when i ask about this. If I were ten years younger and still dumping $1000 a year into PC upgrades I could get excited about this.

I'm like you. My most active gaming days are 15+ years behind me. But when I tried the Vive it blew me away and I have one on preorder now. The games that are built on "roomscale" motion in VR are something I have never experienced before, and I'm very curious to see what else we can do with it.

The main applications will be games for the next few years. But people are exploring other applications. Some examples:

- Interactive experiences that let you relieve events in VR, like for example this one
- Placing you in remote environments that have been scanned using photogrammetry, which could e.g. be used for "virtual tourism"
- Audi is using the Vive to build virtual showrooms and show customers exactly the car they have ordered
- Microsoft just demoed how presence built on VR and AR could look in the future

It's early days, but I think the potential is enormous once the technology matures a bit more.

 

[ocnitsa]

Have we seen utility outside of gaming? Serious question, because gaming is always brought up when i ask about this. If I were ten years younger and still dumping $1000 a year into PC upgrades I could get excited about this. Unless it somehow expands my every day life (not just entertainment), it's not something that I see myself caring one way or the other about.

VR offers more personalized, embodied communication. If it's cheap and ubiquitous, industry and education will use it for meetings where parties can't travel for f2f meetings, interviews, etc. Many companies had a presence in Second Life, which was pretty horrendous. This feeling of "being there" is hard to explain in terms of the draw...but it would provide a very different kind of online education that (in my opinion) would be more effective and compelling than our current system.

As the ability to replicate real locations in VR and with additional AR functionality and innovative camera systems evolve, I could see it be used to bring medical students into the operating room where an expert surgeon is working...They could move around, without disturbing the people in the real room and watch from whatever angle they wanted. In VR, they can have a more "hand's on" approach with different surgery simulations, models for anatomy, dissections of virtual cadavers, etc. Can this stuff be replicated through other means? Yes. But, there are some advantages with VR. It's cheaper, for one.

Gaming and entertainment will likely matriculate to it IF it is cheaper and ubiquitous, like I said. Probably they will have stuff like sports events you can log into and be there in the stadium. New media forms that blur the boundaries (even more) between movies/TV shows and games, etc. The big question is whether FB can get some momentum going with the Oculus. I think mainstream will only be cracked if social media gets people on board with the technology.

I believe if they can overcome the hurdles...create cheap systems with high resolution that are wireless and don't make you look like a complete dork, it will become a thing. But, I'm not sure any of those things relate to your every day life.