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Apple Technology

How Apple's 'Reality Pro' Headset Will Work (9to5mac.com) 66

Posted by BeauHD from the what-to-expect dept.
An anonymous reader quotes a report from 9to5Mac: Apple's first AR/VR headset could be unveiled sometime this spring, and rumors continue to offer more information about what Apple has in the works. A wide-ranging new report from Bloomberg now offers a slew of details on Apple's "Reality Pro" headset, including that the "eye- and hand-tracking capabilities will be a major selling point" for the product. Using external cameras, the headset will be able to analyze the user's hands, while internal sensors will be used to read the user's eyes.

The report explains: "The headset will have several external cameras that can analyze a user's hands, as well as sensors within the gadget's housing to read eyes. That allows the wearer to control the device by looking at an on-screen item -- whether it's a button, app icon or list entry -- to select it. Users will then pinch their thumb and index finger together to activate the task -- without the need to hold anything. The approach differs from other headsets, which typically rely on a hand controller."

More details on the hardware of the headset include that there will be a Digital Crown similar to the Apple Watch for switching between AR and VR. The VR mode will fully immerse the wearer, but when AR mode is enabled the "content fades back and becomes surrounded by the user's real environment." This is reportedly one of the features Apple hopes will be a "highlight of the product." To address overheating concerns, the Reality Pro headset will use an external battery that "rests in a user's pocket and connects over a cable." There will also be a cooling fan to further reduce the likelihood of the headset overheating. "The headset can last about two hours per battery pack," Bloomberg reports. The battery pack is "roughly the size of two iPhone 14 Pro Maxes stacked on top of each other, or about six inches tall and more than half an inch thick." Another tidbit from the report is that the headset will be able to serve as an external display for Mac. "Users will be able to see their Mac's display in virtual reality but still control the computer with their trackpad or mouse and physical keyboard," reports Bloomberg. Apple is also "developing technology that will let users type in midair with their hands."

Additionally, FaceTime on the headset will "realistically render a user's face and full body in virtual reality."

A team of more than 1,000 people have been reportedly working on the first version of the device for the past seven years. It's slated to cost "roughly $3,000" when it debuts sometime this spring.
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How Apple's 'Reality Pro' Headset Will Work More

How Apple's 'Reality Pro' Headset Will Work

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  • It will magically separate you from your money! As you pull the bills out of your pocket, the headset will transform what you see - you'll believe you're providing meal vouchers to homeless veterans.

    • I think it will probably magically place more ifans in water fountains.

      https://www.youtube.com/watch?... [youtube.com]

      • Though... too many outward-facing cameras may bring the demise of the whole genre of Failarmy videos of VR-goggles-wearers walking into things/destroying their TV sets/hitting bystanders. What a shame.
    • $3000 !! LOL

      • $3000 !! LOL

        You do realize there are a LOT of people out there, that to them, $3K is merely pocket change...

        • Same people that have so many monthly bills, including a $1000/mo car payment, that they are actually 2-3 paychecks from living on the street. Just because they have the income does not mean they did not stretch themselves may beyond their means, signed up for payment plans of things they should have saved up for instead, etc. The only debt I personally carry is my Mortgage. Everything else is just service (internet, electric, water, etc). Given how many people have $1000/mo leases on 8k lb SUV, I would not
        • Not the people intended to drive VR into the mainstream.

          • Not the people intended to drive VR into the mainstream.

            Well, maybe so...?

            I mean, with EV's....they started out $$$, you had pricey versions to start with that were 'sexy' and pricey like the Tesla Roadster.

            The people with $$ to spend on new cutting edge tech start first and eventually it spreads to the masses....

            Maybe this is akin to this too?

    • Sounds a lot like Disney

  • Here's hoping. (Score:4, Interesting)

    by Immerman ( 2627577 ) on Monday January 23, 2023 @08:47PM (#63234016)

    Here's hoping.

    I know it's popular to hate on Apple, and *I* am certainly not the target market for a $3,000 VR/AR headset.
    BUT...
    They are usually pretty good at turning existing technology into polished, popular products. Whose design the rest of the industry can then riff on to great effect.

    If they think they can turn VR/AR from a nerdy niche product into something with mass appeal, I wouldn't bet against them.

    • My thoughts exactly. Nobody else has their eco system and nobody wants to be on the Facebook train.

    • If they think they can turn VR/AR from a nerdy niche product into something with mass appeal, I wouldn't bet against them.

      You're not necessarily wrong, but that was under Jobs, who for all his failings didn't release products until they were ready, and the description of this headset sounds hilariously stupid.

      • I would take any of these report details with a grain of salt as pure speculation. Didn't Bloomberg also say that the VR headset would be ready this year but Apple has stated that it will not be. Whatever the details are when/if it is released, some people will be upset the VR headset is not their personal AI assistant while some people will declare it the product of the century.

    • I know it's popular to hate on Apple, and *I* am certainly not the target market for a $3,000 VR/AR headset.
      BUT...
      They are usually pretty good at turning existing technology into polished, popular products. Whose design the rest of the industry can then riff on to great effect.

      $3,000 isn't going to make a popular product. Most people won't pay that for an Apple laptop any more, they're going to pay that for this even less. Apple's reputation for quality high-end hardware has been tarnished by flops like the butterfly keyboard. This doesn't affect lesser markets like iPhone, but those people aren't going to buy a product that expensive.

      If they think they can turn VR/AR from a nerdy niche product into something with mass appeal, I wouldn't bet against them.

      At $1,000 I might not. At $3,000 I absolutely will.

      • I was using popular in the sense of "desired", not necessarily "acquired". Like with sports cars or porn actresses.

        Apple has never been about getting most people buying their products. They're more about making their products desirable enough to be perceived as a status symbol by people willing to fund their huge profit margins.

  • A cooling fan *and* an external battery pack with a cable?
    This sounds very un-Apple to me.
    I might suggest that whoever has seen the headset in this state has only seen a working prototype. I can not see Apple going with extra cables and a noisy fan in a headset. I could be wrong, but it's more like Apple to wait another year or two for the tech to mature and build it all into a single piece of hardware.

    • Thing with Apple is a bet a significant number of those people working on it were involved in making it "not look stupid" and there was a breaking point where the designs with the battery integrated looked worse than the with the cable (which can be pretty easily hidden and i bet is similar to an iphone charge cable). I can absolutely see apple choosing a sleek design + cable over bulky and heavy, even if like you say they are are probably not happy about it and it'll be gone in a few generations. (and th

      • coming soon, iBattery for your ipod, iphone, ipad, macbook, macbook air, macbook pro, or reality pro!

    • A cooling fan *and* an external battery pack with a cable?
      This sounds very un-Apple to me.
      I might suggest that whoever has seen the headset in this state has only seen a working prototype. I can not see Apple going with extra cables and a noisy fan in a headset. I could be wrong, but it's more like Apple to wait another year or two for the tech to mature and build it all into a single piece of hardware.

      If it's Apple, the fan will be vewy, vewy qwiet.

      A pocket/beltclip battery keeps the weight of the goggles down; which helps a lot with user fatigue. It is a "non-Apple" sort of a design; but that's where we are with batteries and the rest of the necessary hardware bits.

  • The Quest doesn’t play well with desktop and though it has improved a lot, it still doesn’t feel native. They made an announcement awhile back about a partnership with Microsoft but we haven’t seen anything resulting from that yet.

    If Apple brings their product lines together and the UI magic turns out to be real I’ve never used FaceTime before but I would give it a shot.

    My question is what other use cases does it have?

  • There is absolutely zero chance this product will be anything other than a gigantic money suck on Apple. They are 7 years too late and entering a completely saturated market. They haven't had a hit game since they let Halo slip away, and I just doubt they can catch up with the lessons learned by Oculus, Valve or Sony. It's destined to flop, hard... You can tell even Tim knows it! He's just too scared to kill the project, I don't really know why.

    • Re:Apple's Albatross (Score:4, Insightful)

      by DogFoodBuss ( 9006703 ) on Monday January 23, 2023 @10:05PM (#63234164)
      Saturated? The market hasn't even been tapped yet! Everyone on the planet is potential customer. The only thing Apple could learn from Meta, Valve, and Sony is how to make a headset that nobody wants.

      • The only thing Apple could learn from Meta, Valve, and Sony is how to make a headset that nobody wants.

        That's apparently all they have learned, because one of the commonest complaints is the cost, and their headset is even more expensive. And what does it offer that the others don't, gaze tracking? That's just what I want an element of the panopticon to offer!

        • No - cost is only an issue in the context of gaming. The real complaint about VR/AR is that there's very little you can do with it outside of playing a limited selection of games. If anyone can crack mainstream with this tech, it won't be with more games or 'better specs'. It will be with real software, and a robust ecosystem that integrates with other devices and services. If the rumors are true about this Apple thing having a desktop-class SoC that can do more than any laptop and phone combined, they won'

          • cost is only an issue in the context of gaming

            What? Only gamers have to pay for hardware, everyone else gets it for free? I missed that memo.

            • What I'm saying is that gaming alone isn't enough to justify the supposedly high price point. However, consumers spend more than $3000 on all sorts of other goods and services when they see adequate value; that's the hurdle Apple has to clear with the headset. Anyway, all indications are that the mass-market version if this will be substantially cheaper.

              • What I'm saying is that gaming alone isn't enough to justify the supposedly high price point. However, consumers spend more than $3000 on all sorts of other goods and services when they see adequate value; that's the hurdle Apple has to clear with the headset. Anyway, all indications are that the mass-market version if this will be substantially cheaper.

                The Reality SE!!!

      • No, "everyone on the planet" is abso-fucking-lutely NOT a potential customer. Especially at *three thousand dollars* (!!), when their competition has put great wireless headsets into the hands of millions of happy gamers for 10% of that price. lol

        --
        We will soon have the option to harvest our farts, so we can post & comment on stats about them.

      • Saturated? The market hasn't even been tapped yet! Everyone on the planet is potential customer. The only thing Apple could learn from Meta, Valve, and Sony is how to make a headset that nobody wants.

        Exactly!

    • There is absolutely zero chance this product will be anything other than a gigantic money suck on Apple. They are 7 years too late and entering a completely saturated market.

      I don't know. .People have said that before about Apple products: "The iPhone will never be a success. . .", "A watch that requires a charge every day--no one will buy it."

      • We'll see. Meta was practically giving the Quest2 away to get where they are. Apple users are so enamored with fashion I don't see them rushing to get a big dopey box for their face. Especially not for 3K. But we'll see.

        This is just like Stadia, Nvidia Shield, Apple TV, Zune, and Bitcoin were. All of those are/were clearly stinkers, right from the start... Same as this product nobody wants, from a company 7 years too late to the game.

        The iPhone was clearly and obviously the right product. This is not t

        • This is just like Stadia, Nvidia Shield, Apple TV, Zune, and Bitcoin were

          I am confused. Can you not buy an Apple TV these days? Why lump Apple TV in there when it is still a product that exists.

          Same as this product nobody wants, from a company 7 years too late to the game.

          Apple was more than 7 years late to the smart phone market.

          The iPhone was clearly and obviously the right product. This is not that. Not by a mile. And you need look no further than Tim himself whenever the subject comes up. I don't see ol' Timmy walking out on stage triumphantly with this thing strapped to his face.

          You can't strap a desktop Mac to your face. Nor an Apple TV. Nor an Apple HomePod. You could also say that about why Satya Nadella is not wearing an Xbox Series S these days. There are products that are not meant to be worn everywhere.

          And the watch IS stupid. It's COMPLETELY stupid. Who the hell wants a watch that can't last a day?

          According to estimates [statista.com], 60 million people in 2022 alone.

          No, fashion is what the watch is. Not utility. People buy fashion. But a big box on your face is like anti-fashion so no... It's doomed.

          And yet Apple sells more and more of thes

    • There is absolutely zero chance this product will be anything other than a gigantic money suck on Apple. They are 7 years too late and entering a completely saturated market. They haven't had a hit game since they let Halo slip away, and I just doubt they can catch up with the lessons learned by Oculus, Valve or Sony. It's destined to flop, hard... You can tell even Tim knows it! He's just too scared to kill the project, I don't really know why.

      Apple plays the long game.

      When this is released, it won't be some janky, nausea-inducing, claustrophobic, clusterfuck with a braindead UX. It will be smooth and responsive, with a gorgeous display and a list of features both useful and well-executed.

      7 years of 1,000 Hardware and Software Engineers is a big-ass Project in anybody's estimation. I feel that this will show those other guys how it's done.

  • I was hoping Apple was working on a true pair of AR eyeglasses: they look like a pair of normal (on the big side) eyeglasses, and with your prescription. Wirelessly tethered to an iPhone. And I'm sure they still are, but they have clearly hit a huge wall: battery size/life. This Reality Pro sounds like a beta test of the UI more than anything. And even if the RP came with the eyeglasses I described, the idea of carrying a brick in my pocket to power it for only two hours is just nuts. I'd say we're 5-7 yea

  • [from the summary] Users will then pinch their thumb and index finger together to activate the task -- without the need to hold anything. The approach differs from other headsets, which typically rely on a hand controller.

    Correction: "the approach is 100% copied from the Microsoft Hololens controller, which also uses pinched fingers. Arguably it's the inevitable and only feasible approach for an AR headset."

    • Well good thing Microsoft just abandoned VR and AR entirely [extremetech.com] so it's free for Apple to use...

      • So what you're saying is Microsoft is a genius at developing these things and Apple blatantly copies it, but it's totally ok since it's Apple and Microsoft put the project on pause?

        • So what you're saying is Microsoft is a genius at developing these things and Apple blatantly copies it,

          Mostly yes.

          Having used a HoloLens (do not actually own one), I can say that Microsoft's work on it was pretty excellent.

          What is wrong with Apple copying good aspects of it, since you seem to present that in a negative light?

          it's totally ok since it's Apple and Microsoft put the project on pause?

          Well it was really OK anyway, but it's really even more OK because why should a good idea die just because the

          • I don't want humanity to stagnant. That's the real difference between you and me. You want humanity to stagnant unless it has Apple behind it, I want humanity to move forward regardless of which company.

            I want you to have to think and realize that other companies can be innovative, and it's not the "only Apple can innovative" narrative that you are always pushing here. Do you think it's a fluke that people here make fun of you for being so blindly pro-Apple? It's not.

            As you mentioned, you've used a Holo-Len

            • You want humanity to stagnant unless it has Apple behind it,

              I want humanity to advance by any and all means, don't care if Apple is involved... that's why I was pretty happy with what Microsoft did with HoloLens.

              The ACTUAL difference is that you selectively acknowledge who is doing the advancing, so you will always be operating with incomplete data, and seem kind of mad that Apple has taken up the baton. A poor look.

              knew about the battery being external was a Microsoft innovation.

              Never claimed that was an

  • Comment removed based on user account deletion
  • Wall-E got it so right with the way plug body and mind into tech would create a generation of obese dumb entitled youth. I walk around my town centres and you have relatively young fattened on Covid lockdown restrictions and diet parents with their pale bespectacled kids who when not sitting at the table in McDonald's are sat on the sofa at home glued to their phones, Nintendos, tablets or consoles. Apple are about to make this all worse and with it, some horrific privacy issues. If the tech is for vertical

  • No way you can have a reasonable and readable display without at least an 8K per eye display, minimum (the math is .. 20/20 vision = 60 pixels per degree. 4K spread out over a 120 degree FoV is only 32 ppd. Starting. Also, there's no way 4K per eye is enough for movies. I'd have to believe Apple tested their headset enough to know that, which makes me still hold out some hope that it will be 8K per eye. Note even 8K per eye is not optimal .. optimal is 12K per eye. The GPU requirement is less than HD though

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by DrXym ( 126579 )

      Screen door effect is the worst problem with headsets and low res displays. Being able to see lines or gaps between pixels is distracting.

    • No way you can have a reasonable and readable display without at least an 8K per eye display, minimum (the math is .. 20/20 vision = 60 pixels per degree. 4K spread out over a 120 degree FoV is only 32 ppd. Starting. Also, there's no way 4K per eye is enough for movies. I'd have to believe Apple tested their headset enough to know that, which makes me still hold out some hope that it will be 8K per eye. Note even 8K per eye is not optimal .. optimal is 12K per eye. The GPU requirement is less than HD though, if they can implement foveated rendering.

      Well, they reportedly have pupil-tracking; so foveated rendering at that point is relatively straightforward.

      And whatever resolution it takes, I can guarantee it will meet or exceed that threshold.

      Remember, Apple has been bringing-up a Display Division; my guess is they aren't just Developing iPhone Displays.

  • I suppose hand tracking might be fine in virtual meeting rooms or whatnot to wave your hands around. But if you using tools or playing a game then making pew pew shapes with your fingers will be stupid and simply won't work for anything remotely complex.

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