AR/VR/Spatial computing

Lumeinshin

I had basically not kept up with the Apple Vision Pro at all since its announcement and that (IMO) creepy trailer but I watched the MKBHD video that just came out out of curiosity to see how good any of its features are. I do think its maybe the first case of Apple actually doing the thing everyone says they do where they arent the first to market with something but put a twist on it that actually makes it quite cool and area defining even.

For me its the static positioning, it is very impressive that it can keep its windows in the same space you place it, regardless of where you look..
I wont be getting one any time soon, but for a first gen device its very cool

Heres the guy who gets all the tech stuff early's video

Otherwise feel free to talk about VR/AR stuff too 🙂

mechap

The last time I tried VR, it had exhausted my eyes to the point where I couldn't imagine myself wearing a VR headset several hours in a row, in spite of how useful it is regarding my workflow. I believe that AR fundamentally suffers from the same limitations. While apple is advertising it as a sort of virtual layer added on top of perceived reality I can't help thinking how unlikely it is to communicate with real people while wearing one: it is just dehumanizing, and even though you may see the eyes of the person in front of you wearing it, it's far from being comparable to the real experience imo.
That being said, I am quite impressed by its technical capabilities (given that it's just a head set, not a pc tower) : it can easily apply reflections and shadows from the environment to the rendered windows. I don't know if the heat gets unbearable at some point tho.

kurisu

I'm not sure how good or bad reading will be with AR headsets. The last time I tried out a Quest 2 I was incredibly disappointed because everything looked very blurry to me, more than usual when I'm not wearing glasses. The text was almost unreadable. Though to be fair, it was a shared unit, and I probably didn't adapt it too well to my eyes. Tried out some HoloLens too, though I had an incredibly brief time so I didn't do much with them, didn't even get to wear them comfortably.

As long as the "screen" is nice and clear, I can see the potential in it. Hell, "unlimited" "monitors"? Sign me up! Seriously, being able to place windows around me would be incredibly convenient, and I've been saying that we should be able to use physical keyboards in AR for ages!

I don't think I'd be the type of customer that would take it around, no surprises there if you check the comment that I wrote in the internet addiction thread, but I think it'd be great for domestic or work use in the office. I wouldn't do much with it by itself, so I wouldn't mind a unit with less power, since I'd always use it as an extension to my computer. Who knows? Perhaps the future of desktop computing is spatial. Note that I said desktop and not portable. Just... don't wear it when you're out there with your buddies, or when you're a bit bored, and please, don't be stupid like that one guy who drove with the headset on.

TLDR: the potential is there, but I see it more as a computer based accessory rather than some sort of "next iphone"

Lumeinshin

kurisu Yeah I can see cheaper versions of the tech, maybe by a set of chinese companies that have it do just enough where you can have multiple screens for your pc and maybe some other easier features working out well.
I found out that for those that do walk away and go elsewhere with the Vision Pro at the moment, there is no memory of the window layout per location, so if you go from home -> work and vice versa, you have to set up the windows again

EDIT: mark zuckerberg made a video on the differences between Vision Pro and Meta Quest 3

I was not aware that the Quest 3 basically does most of the things that the vision pro does, so i'll be interested to see the next gen Quest and whether thats worth a purchase (as if i have enough money to buy any of these lol)

friffri

Lumeinshin I was not aware that the Quest 3 basically does most of the things that the vision pro does,

Me too. Meta and Apple did really different marketing for their visors, I thought the Quest was basically only for videogames. It might also be because Apple is Apple, and I gave them more attention compared to Meta though.
A few weeks ago I tried the Quest 2 at a friends house. I'm one of those guys who suffer from motion sickness but it wasn't so bad, until I tried moving in Half Life Alyx. It's cool but definitely gimmicky, my friend told me he only uses it for beat saber.

kurisu As long as the "screen" is nice and clear, I can see the potential in it. Hell, "unlimited" "monitors"? Sign me up! Seriously, being able to place windows around me would be incredibly convenient, and I've been saying that we should be able to use physical keyboards in AR for ages!

Agree, that's the feature I like most

Mike

If they can get the frame rate up to useable levels, maybe upwards of 240Hz, it could work. I personally get super bad motion sickness with the oculus 2 and the quest 2. Perhaps if the pass through is really good it could help, but walking around with VR makes me hurl after 20 minutes. Also, like Kurisu said, text is often super pixelated and unreadable. I've tried adjusting it all over, but it's just hard to read in VR. I have light astigmatism and bad sea legs, so it won't work for me probably.
In terms of use, I think it's going to start with kids playing games together at home, and over time business types may end up using it. Problem is compatibility with software. There's no macros or anything in VR, so businesses may not adapt to it.

kurisu

Lumeinshin I was not aware that the Quest 3 basically does most of the things that the vision pro does,

I think here's where meta needs to push. Yes, I was aware that the Quest 3 was focusing more on mixed reality despite it still being mostly a VR headset. But seeing how people aren't very aware of this, they could just market the next gen quest as an XR/AR headset with VR capabilities, or focus on VR on Quest, and make a new line of headsets with AR/XR in mind.

What I mean is that people still recognize the quest as the VR headset from what used to be Oculus, I think that the former branding still has an impact in our association (tying Oculus with VR, Quest with portable VR). If they give it a new name and market it more, people will realize "hold on, zuck is doing XR now, and it's a good price point compared to apple". That's where they'll attract the attention of the general public.

I think that Apple has spread the word of AR/XR, now Meta is going to make it look affordable because of their good price points. Again, I'm not the target customer right now, but I think this will get interesting pretty soon. I can't believe that I'm rooting for zuck

They still have to change people's perspective and deliver the "hey, it's not ONLY VR, y'know?" message to the world somehow,

Lumeinshin

friffri kurisu
I'm glad to hear you both also didnt really know much about the AR stuff for Quest 3. Shows its not just me being painfully unaware and is actually a marketing thing.

I see Meta doing either a new one with ads focusing on AR or they could maybe do another quest but have all the marketing be AR. It does games and everything before AND that stuff apple are doing now.
Definitely seems like an easy win for them.
I wont buy most likely but I will admit it is very enticing...

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