Use of the AVP in low light/darkness

[typecase]

Hello,

I was disappointed to find that the AVP said that tracking was disabled when the lights when down or it was dark and couldn't 'see' my hands. Is there a way to select stuff from the UI if you connect a trackpad or mouse? Or is the AVP simply non functional in the dark.

 

[ninethirty]

Yeah I was also disappointed by this. Settled into bed the other night and felt like watching a movie as if I was in a movie theatre, but no, it couldn't see my hands

 

[TypeMRT]

S

Yeah I was also disappointed by this. Settled into bed the other night and felt like watching a movie as if I was in a movie theatre, but no, it couldn't see my hands

Same. I ended up holding my phone screen on lowest brightness in one hand as a flashlight for the AVP to see my other hand.

 

[surferfb]

Obviously this wouldn’t work if you share the room with someone who is trying to sleep, but could you keep the lights on until you’re about to take it off? I have smart bulbs so, in theory, I could even use HomeKit to turn off lights before I take off the headset (don’t have a VP yet, so not sure if Home App is available in the device).

 

[pugxiwawa]

Apple really missed the boat on this one. Killer use case for me is to put on VP and AirPods Max on the bed and watch movie to sleep. Very disappointing that I can't do that, and VP is going back.

 

[AlastorKatriona]

Apple really missed the boat on this one. Killer use case for me is to put on VP and AirPods Max on the bed and watch movie to sleep. Very disappointing that I can't do that, and VP is going back.

Apple of the past would have killed the product if a limitation like this came up in development. Could also probably be said about 5 or 6 other aspects of Vision Pro.

 

[iStorm]

Surprised it doesn't have night vision or infrared cameras. I wonder if something like a handheld trackpad would work in situations like this when you want to use it in a dark room.

Speaking of low light/darkness, what about night flights when they dim the lights? Would the Vision Pro be usable, or would you need an alternate input device?

 

[typecase]

Surprised it doesn't have night vision or infrared cameras. I wonder if something like a handheld trackpad would work in situations like this when you want to use it in a dark room.

Speaking of low light/darkness, what about night flights when they dim the lights? Would the Vision Pro be usable, or would you need an alternate input device?

Exactly! Most of the time, they dim the lights at night. I'm seriously thinking of returning the device.

 

[SR71]

What’s weird is that this does work because I tried this in a pitch black bathroom and it worked for over 20 minutes tracking my hands perfectly with zero light. I tried it again later at night in my bedroom, and it didn’t work.

 

[chabig]

This review says it does have IR illuminators for your hands. So it should work in low light or dark.

I wore the Apple Vision Pro. It’s the best headset demo ever.

Apple’s new don’t-call-it-a-VR-headset is the best riff on some very familiar ideas, but still searching for a purpose.

www.theverge.com

 

[klasma]

Maybe some glow-in-the-dark gloves would help?

 

[klasma]

What’s weird is that this does work because I tried this in a pitch black bathroom and it worked for over 20 minutes tracking my hands perfectly with zero light. I tried it again later at night in my bedroom, and it didn’t work.

When lying in bed, the hands may be more difficult to distinguish from the body in infrared, due to proximity and body warmths.

 

[TypeMRT]

What’s weird is that this does work because I tried this in a pitch black bathroom and it worked for over 20 minutes tracking my hands perfectly with zero light. I tried it again later at night in my bedroom, and it didn’t work.

It likely has to do with the size of the room and the reflectivity of objects. I assume your bathroom is smaller and has more shiny objects (mirrors & tile) than your bedroom. The very small IR illuminators have a hard time filling a big space especially when you consider the light has to travel double the distance when it’s being reflected.

 

[TLewis]

Has anyone tried one of the IR illuminators designed for other VR headsets?

Like maybe this one?: https://www.amazon.com/Orzero-Illuminator-Compatible-Disturbance-Sensitivity/dp/B08SHPKSSM/

 

[anticipate]

I did not have any problems in near darkness. Like a night light on kind of darkness.

 

[AlastorKatriona]

Exactly! Most of the time, they dim the lights at night. I'm seriously thinking of returning the device.

I'm sure that's going to feel disappointing, but if it doesn't meet your expectations...return it. We Apple customers do way too much rewarding Apple for bad practices. We need to do more voting with our wallets, because it is the only thing that Tim Cook's Apple understands. We can be as unhappy as we want, but if we keep handing over money, they will not get any other impression.

 

[Ajrmatt]

I think the warning shown is to tell you that you will not be able to see your hands while in the headset, not that the headset will not be able to see your hands.

Or is there a different warning I have not seen yet?

 

[sunny5]

I guess you guys know nothing about the camera technology. There is no such thing. The camera technology is still not great especially with a small sensor which is a physical problem and it can not be overcome with current technology. So far, there is no new type of sensor to solve this problem and it won't gonna be beneficial with small sensors anyway. If you were expecting a night vision goggle, even a FF camera specialized in low light was not even close to it.

Just never use it in dark situation.

 

[G5isAlive]

Hello,

I was disappointed to find that the AVP said that tracking was disabled when the lights when down or it was dark and couldn't 'see' my hands. Is there a way to select stuff from the UI if you connect a trackpad or mouse? Or is the AVP simply non functional in the dark.

Mice dont connect, The Magic Trackpad does. As someone else suggested you can control Homekit with your APV so could set up a lamp with the right bulb to turn on and off with the APV on. And while I have gotten the message that low light could be an issue, i dont think it actually disables tracking and it seems to keep working for me but is more prone to lag and error. Not ideal to be sure so I usually turn on a nearby lamp.

 

[uiop.]

Has anyone tried one of the IR illuminators designed for other VR headsets?

Like maybe this one?: https://www.amazon.com/Orzero-Illuminator-Compatible-Disturbance-Sensitivity/dp/B08SHPKSSM/

Also curious if these help.

I did not have any problems in near darkness. Like a night light on kind of darkness.

Likewise. A Hue bulb in my bedroom set to 1% was sufficient for it to work.

 

[SR71]

It likely has to do with the size of the room and the reflectivity of objects. I assume your bathroom is smaller and has more shiny objects (mirrors & tile) than your bedroom. The very small IR illuminators have a hard time filling a big space especially when you consider the light has to travel double the distance when it’s being reflected.

I thought the same, but strangely enough it worked just fine last night in my pitch black bedroom just as it did in the bathroom. I still got the “tracking failed” message, but it went away after a few seconds and I was able to use the Vision Pro perfectly in the complete darkness while sitting up in my bed.

I guess you guys know nothing about the camera technology. There is no such thing. The camera technology is still not great especially with a small sensor which is a physical problem and it can not be overcome with current technology. So far, there is no new type of sensor to solve this problem and it won't gonna be beneficial with small sensors anyway. If you were expecting a night vision goggle, even a FF camera specialized in low light was not even close to it.

Just never use it in dark situation.

See my reply above. It works 100% fine in the dark as it has bottom facing IR illuminators and can easily see your hands. I’ve successfully used it in complete darkness in both a small bathroom and medium sized bedroom (no mirrors in my room either for the IR light to bounce around) for 20-30 minutes each time with no problems. Note that I still saw the “tracking failed” message, but it went away quickly and worked fine from then on.

So I guess this confirms that the “tracking failed” message is a bug and is being triggered in situations when it doesn’t actually apply, as it still works. Hopefully we’ll get an update that will fix this soon.

 

[krspkbl]

It's a first gen product. They'll improve low light performance in future models

 

[DPtheKid]

wrks fine for me

 

[AVP_NEWB]

wrks fine for me

Same here, I’m currently using this in complete darkness in bed, which I’ve done each morning. No night light, still dark outside. The passthrough is completely black, and I can’t see my hands when I hold them up. Still, the hand tracking and tapping seems to work fine.

Occasionally, my floating windows do get “disoriented “, and I have to summon them back. I think this is because in the low light it’s having trouble figuring out where they should float in the room. This has only happened a couple of times however, mostly it seems to work fine for me

 

[sunny5]

I thought the same, but strangely enough it worked just fine last night in my pitch black bedroom just as it did in the bathroom. I still got the “tracking failed” message, but it went away after a few seconds and I was able to use the Vision Pro perfectly in the complete darkness while sitting up in my bed.


See my reply above. It works 100% fine in the dark as it has bottom facing IR illuminators and can easily see your hands. I’ve successfully used it in complete darkness in both a small bathroom and medium sized bedroom (no mirrors in my room either for the IR light to bounce around) for 20-30 minutes each time with no problems. Note that I still saw the “tracking failed” message, but it went away quickly and worked fine from then on.

So I guess this confirms that the “tracking failed” message is a bug and is being triggered in situations when it doesn’t actually apply, as it still works. Hopefully we’ll get an update that will fix this soon.

I'm talking about "passthrough".