Apple Vision Pro is Apple's New AR Headset (theverge.com) 360
Apple has announced an augmented reality headset called Apple Vision Pro that "seamlessly" blends the real and digital world. "It's the first Apple product you look through, and not at," CEO Tim Cook said of the device, which looks like a pair of ski goggles. From a report: As rumored, it features a separate battery pack and is controlled with eyes, hands, and voice. Vision Pro is positioned as primarily an AR device, but it can switch between augmented and full virtual reality using a dial. The device is controller-free, and you browse rows of app icons by looking at them. You can tap to select and flick to scroll, and you can also give voice commands.
On top of that, the headset supports Bluetooth accessories and lets you connect your Mac to use inside the headset. You're also not, Apple promises, isolated from people around you. The headset will display your eyes with a system called EyeSight, and if you're in full VR, a glowing screen will obscure them to suggest you're not available. The device uses passthrough video that lets you see the real world in full color, but you can also project 3D objects into real space, including pulling objects out of a message thread into the real world. Starting price: $3,499.
On top of that, the headset supports Bluetooth accessories and lets you connect your Mac to use inside the headset. You're also not, Apple promises, isolated from people around you. The headset will display your eyes with a system called EyeSight, and if you're in full VR, a glowing screen will obscure them to suggest you're not available. The device uses passthrough video that lets you see the real world in full color, but you can also project 3D objects into real space, including pulling objects out of a message thread into the real world. Starting price: $3,499.
I figured if anybody could make an non-dorky... (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
Killer app? A knife. Club will do in a pinch. (Score:5, Insightful)
You see someone wearing one of those, you know they have money to burn and not much common sense not to carry it around.
Simply threatening them should do the trick.
Alternatively, convince them that being mugged is the coolest new thing and that anyone who is anyone is doing it.
Re: (Score:3)
Re:I figured if anybody could make an non-dorky... (Score:5, Funny)
it's porn.
the killer app is porn.
now being an apple device, it would only appeal to about 10% of the population at large. but still
PRAISE STEVE! Finally! (Score:2)
All you also-rans can give up and go home! [microsoft.com]
Killer App (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:Killer App (Score:5, Insightful)
The iPod was worse than many of the devices that came before and after it... Never underestimate Apple's ability to sell crap.
Re: (Score:2)
Yep. I was at the university this afternoon and all the kids stopped working to watch the presentation.
Re: (Score:2)
Yep. I was at the university this afternoon and all the kids stopped working to watch the presentation.
Not at all surprised.
Meta stock to be delisted in 3..2..1
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
Creative Nomad. More space, WiFi, superior.
It's one of the oldest Slashdot memes.
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
Non replaceable batteries were a crime against humanity.
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
What was better than the iPod when it was released?
Burning your pirated music to CD-Rs and playing them on a cheap portable CD player.
Hard drive based MP3 players were an overpriced niche product for quite awhile. People tend to forget that the iPod didn't really become a runaway success until Apple released iTunes for Windows and made a few price cuts.
Re: (Score:2)
The iPod was worse than many of the devices that came before and after it.
The product category of "portable audio players" was already well-established at the time it was released. The iPod may have not been the best hard-drive based modern (at the time) evolution of the Sony Walkman, but it entered a market that already existed.
VR/AR on the other hand, has been a tough sell thus far. Yeah, Apple had amazing success transforming smartphones from a product for businesspeople and geeks into something with mainstream appeal, but I have significant doubts they'll get lightning to st
Re: (Score:2, Insightful)
Apple's earbuds are actually really great, though? Like, I wear a set of Beats Fit Pro because they feel good in my ear, don't fall out, have active noise cancellation and transparency mode. They're really good. Independent reviews often put them near the top of the noise cancelling earbud market, though often a little below Sony's options. But that's still awfully good. And they're not any more expensive than Sony's earbuds either.
I don't think anyone is going to be convinced that the Vision Pro LOOKS good
Re: (Score:2)
There's a lot of very sophisticated tech in that device, whether you happen to like Apple or not. I don't think even Apple thinks these things are really for walking around in. 90% of the use cases they modelled were in your own living room on your couch. Aesthetics matter a lot less if you just want an at-home big screen TV experience.
Precisely This.
Re: (Score:3)
I have a nice OLED TV at home and yeah, it's nice. But the biggest TV you can easily buy these days is about 75" and the virtual size of the screen on the Vision Pro is much larger than that. I also can't bring my TV with me on a plane.
Look, I'm not saying this is a mass consumption device, but I don't think there should be any doubt that the sense of the size of the screen on the headset will be bigger than the TV in your living room.
Re: (Score:2)
I am sure people will convince themselves that these look great, because Apple.
Apple often provides a good user experience but somehow that means masses of people are defective. Super cool.
Re:Killer App (Score:4, Insightful)
What does this enable that wasn't previously possible?
How about real-time correction of visual field defects like macular degeneration? People with conditions like this will gladly put up with the dorky look for improved vision.
Re: (Score:3)
What does this enable that wasn't previously possible?
How about real-time correction of visual field defects like macular degeneration? People with conditions like this will gladly put up with the dorky look for improved vision.
No such thing as correction (realtime or otherwise) for AMD. There are low vision aids that can help one leverage what vision they do have - such as magnifying lenses which, arguably, this could do but for 1000x the cost and 2h battery life.
Besides, this headset isn't being sold as an accessibility device and magnifying things isn't exactly new technology.
Re:Killer App (Score:5, Informative)
Re: Killer App (Score:3)
Re:Killer App (Score:5, Interesting)
What does this enable that wasn't previously possible? Unless your a technology enthusiast that just buys new products to try them out, why would I want to spend money on this as opposed to anything else? For the asking price I can purchase plenty of other things that could augment reality even more effectively while providing just as much use.
Infinite display area, seamless blending of reality and generated content, non-hokey AR and VR, a serious stab at eliminating motion-sickness inducing display lag (ultra critical to believable AR), Realtime Spatial Audio (which is getting better and better), the promise of some truly spectacular games, Video conferencing and Facetime sessions that are much more engaging, especially with Vision Pro at both ends, effortless integration of your Mac screen with other virtual "displays".
Show me another consumer AR/VR goggle that provides all that (and more!). I'll wait.
Re: Killer App (Score:2)
Re: (Score:3)
So basically most other vr headsets. Gotcha.
Except 1000% better. Sure.
Re: (Score:2)
Thats what we expected from blind apple worshipers. Bullshit presented as facts.
What about blind Apple Haters.
Name a better, more well thought out consumer-grade AR/VR device.
Didn't think so.
Re: (Score:3)
Over 3 times the resolution of the Quest 2 though. That starts making movies more watchable in the headset. Also functions as a 3D camera to share immersive video with others.
Re:Killer App (Score:5, Insightful)
Yes, but apart from VR porn and Beat Sabre, what are you doing to do with it?
Re: (Score:2)
It's Apple VR glasses. So you can download VR chat from the appstore and won't have to hobby around with 3D graphics settings to get it to work.
Also it has the Apple logo so it will automatically get huge adoption so some people will probably make some useful apps for around the house with the "AR" features. Not much different from ipad stuff, but more immersive.
Re:Killer App (Score:5, Insightful)
Three things, mostly.
1. Standalone functionality. It's not running Safari off your MacBook, it's running Safari on the headset. You CAN have your MacBook as a window on the headset, if you want, but you don't need to. It senses your hands for input without the need for controllers.
2. Extremely high resolution displays. Other VR headsets have pretty low, chunky resolution. That ends up being important for alleviating motion sickness.
3. Mixed reality. It's an independent overlay on the world with a pretty sophisticated looking pass-through.
Every other VR headset I've tried (only a couple, to be fair) has been a single-app experience driven by an off-board computer into a completely black headset.
I think this is a big step forward for the space. I expect in a year or two we'll see comparable options from other companies, but everything else in the wearable headset market looks really primitive by comparison at the moment.
Re: (Score:3)
It's not even out until next year. Time to catch up, and time for Apple to cancel it.
I wonder if it even works. Why else would it not be available for at least six months, missing the lucrative Xmas period?
Re: (Score:2)
I think this is a big step forward for the space. I expect in a year or two we'll see comparable options from other companies, but everything else in the wearable headset market looks really primitive by comparison at the moment.
I agree with everything in your Post except for the 2-3 year competitor catch-up.
Sorry; Apple is just too far ahead in this, even at Version 1.0. In 2-3 years, we'll have Reality Pro 3.0 (likely already in Development).
Just like with other people's ARM SoCs; always a few generations behind.
And now Apple is going into the Display Business for themselves. . .
Re: (Score:2)
Apple is just too far ahead in this....
Apple has definitely mastered charging WAY too much for something only the Apple faithful will ever use. That thing looks like it took a trip down to Uncanny Valley and decided to give a master class in creepiness. I laughed out loud when I saw the headset screenshot on the Verge. It looks absolutely terrible, like something a child molester might wear to entice children into his van.
Re: (Score:3)
I don't think it looks great, but most of the use cases seemed to be in the house. The eyes were REALLY weird at some angles, though, I agree. And the digital avatar was SO Uncanny Valley I literally said, "Eugh," out loud. But other than that, a lot of that stuff looks really great. If they can get the price down another couple thousand bucks, I'll start thinking about saving up for it.
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:3)
they mentioned facetime in an article I saw this morning...but would that not also require some other asshole to also have sunk $3500 on a set? It seems like an expensive 2-cans-and-a-string limited item for now. You would be shelling out a whole heap for something with the hopes that one day it will be rather useful, but initially, albeit cute, quite trivial.
Nope. They addressed that.
It just better (obviously!) with Vision Pro at both ends.
Re: (Score:3)
I mean, the whole 'floating video' of a person you're talking to is either NOT using a VR headset (there's no self-facing camera) or it's a virtual rendering of them and not actual video (so much for showing off the new tattoo I got or any special finger gestures).
They make it seem like you're getting an immersive face to face AR video chat but that's simply not possible with their offering unless you are also standing in front of another video camera. Oh wait, it'll just be a $499 add-on accessory.
ps. the
Re: (Score:3)
What does the other person see? You with a diving mask strapped to your face? Does it produce a creepy reproduction of your face, with just the eyes being live video?
It's not out until next year, and I bet these are the things they are still scrambling to sort out.
Re: (Score:3)
Re: (Score:3)
The video clarified that as well. They scan your face as an avatar to combine with face tracking to make a... pseudo-realistic avatar of you.
I'll give them credit, I assume they presented it exactly as-is because it looks... off in the promotional video. I would probably not use that feature as it's too much uncanny valley.
Oh my... (Score:4, Insightful)
Those look worse than Google Glass - and that's with the benefit of a decade's technological advancement. On the plus side, we can start using the term "glassholes" again.
I know its Apple so there will be at least some buyers, but - come on.
Re: (Score:3)
Re: (Score:2)
It looks like a dive mask, so I guess you could add a snorkel and pretend you're just going to the beach. Uhm. Well. Maybe not.
When I look across an average group of humans these days, do I see faces? No. I see crooked necks staring down at screens.
No matter how nonsensical you may feel something is or appears, I promise addiction can defeat it.
Re: (Score:2)
It looks like a dive mask, so I guess you could add a snorkel and pretend you're just going to the beach. Uhm. Well. Maybe not.
So, genius, how do you propose to do all that in a more svelte package?
Re: (Score:2)
Those look worse than Google Glass - and that's with the benefit of a decade's technological advancement. On the plus side, we can start using the term "glassholes" again.
I know its Apple so there will be at least some buyers, but - come on.
There will be more sales in the first month than Oculus has had since day one.
And unlike 99.998% of other AR/VR devices, these won't end up in a drawer in a month after purchase.
Mark my words.
Re: (Score:3)
No, he actually believes this. He's made an unbelievable amount of posts about how "Apple is so far ahead" even though the only proof he's got is a slick marketing video and a promise that some hardware might be available in 6 months for the price of a small used car.
They aren't ahead of anyone until they actually SHIP.
Re: Oh my... (Score:5, Informative)
Enter ye olde... (Score:5, Funny)
. No wireless. Less space than a nomad. Lame.
Nomad (Score:3, Insightful)
For shame, slashdot, for shame.
Re: (Score:2)
A dozen comments in, and no one has yet to say "No wireless. Less space than a Nomad. Lame." ?
This attitude will change as soon as the first Linux-based knockoff comes out. It won't work properly, but it will be a tinkerer's dream.
Does It Require Perfect Vision? (Score:4, Interesting)
Re: Does It Require Perfect Vision? (Score:5, Informative)
Re: (Score:2)
A question that hasn't been addressed is how well (if at all) this device works for people like me without perfect vision. Do I cram my glasses inside this thing or what? How do glasses or contacts affect the eyeball scanning it does? Will my floaters swim around crazily like when I try to look at an object in the sky on a cloudy day?
You didn't watch the Demo.
They have partnered with Zeiss to develop a corrective lens pair that magnetically fits to the inside of each display. Details to follow; but they have thought of that.
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
my floaters swim around crazily
I recommend you go see an eye doctor immediately. Floaters mean you risk retina detachment which can render your eye blind. If you start seeing flashes in the dark, well that's your retina tearing off and your eye will become blind within days. With a small surgery the doctor will use a laser to fixate your retina back into its original position and save your eyesight.
Funny; my Ophthalmologist friend was completely nonplussed when I told him about my "flashes", and that was nearly 15 years ago and no retinal detachment.
Floaters are also remnants of the blood vessel that feeds corneal (IIRC) development in the womb. Unless they suddenly increase, they are nothing to be concerned with. I first noticed my floaters at about age 3.
That outside display reminds me of something ... (Score:2)
That outside display looks suspiciously like the one Facebook demonstrated in their lab (fish eye lens array + display gives a low resolution 3d image).
I'll wait (Score:5, Funny)
I'll wait until I can get a magic eyeball like Alasdair Moody of the Harry Potter series. Being able to see out of the back of my head would be trip. Errr....so would peeking...never mind...
I hate Metabook as much as I hate Apple... (Score:2)
Persuade me not to!
Re: (Score:2)
Ask around and you will most likely find someone who will happily give you one for free. The pointing devices are so imprecise, that it renders the device pretty much unusable.
Re: (Score:3)
Persuade me not to!
I've tried:
Nintendo's attempt back in the mid-90s
Disney's VR at their (now closed down) DisneyQuest indoor theme park
Samsung's goggles for their Galaxy S6
It all just feels like strapping a display to your face. I'd personally rather just sit in a comfy couch and play a video game on a TV.
They didn't mention VR FPS games much.. (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
They said the head tracking has a 12ms delay on it. That gives a frame rate of at least 84Hz.
battery that lasts up to two hours (Score:3)
"battery that lasts up to two hours"
Aaaaaaaaaggggghhhhh! 2 hours? That is so feeble. However appealing the features people who own this are going to get very, very bored of low battery warnings and having yet another damn thing to charge, especially if it's several times a day.
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
"battery that lasts up to two hours"
Aaaaaaaaaggggghhhhh! 2 hours? That is so feeble. However appealing the features people who own this are going to get very, very bored of low battery warnings and having yet another damn thing to charge, especially if it's several times a day.
I assume home and office users will just use an AC adapter cable, and third parties will offer 4-6 hour battery packs.
Unaffordable iSh*t (Score:3)
So it's a HoloLens? (Score:2)
Usual Slashdot response (Score:5, Insightful)
I’m guessing all the instant hate comes from people who just sat through a two marketing pitch, so they could validate their Apple hatred.
To me it looks like Apple have solved most of the issues with current VR headsets, but I still don’t know why I would want one.
spite (Score:2)
A lonely future (Score:3)
Looks like the future has no human interaction - even Facetime is fake. No sharing of a space for couples/families? Cool for when you are alone, but maybe only for a few hours a week, not most of my day.
state of the art.... (Score:3)
83 frames a second. Greater than 4k per eye. Special lens for everyone (pile of sku's). Special forehead cushion for everyone (more sku's). Iris based secure unlock. It doesn't look like you share this and take turns like you would a VR headset playing the latest game. This is made for a single person as their singular main device.
If this was iPhone price range it would sell sell sell. At this price....not many can afford $3500 and you don't have the cell phone companies subsidizing it or monthly payments. So rich people buy V1. 20-somethings living alone on the 40th floor in NYC buy it. Who else? Or $1000 down and pay us over the next 3 years? Maybe trying it at the apple store and people will open their wallets?
For business with the right software, it might be a game changer. Can you stand to wear it to code all day? Is it worth putting on?
I'm not sure the facetime machine learning avatar will fly. Looks like Zuckerberg thought it up. Placing a 3rd party camera in the room and generating it that way combined with the VisionPro might work better. But that's more clunky.
They really thought about it and it doesn't look rushed out the door (it's not even out the door yet). Just admire the hardware and software integration. No one does it better (after others did some of it before). We shall see if that's enough....
Re:dear gawd (Score:5, Insightful)
What's the killer app?
Rule 34.
Re: dear gawd (Score:3)
For 3k more than the competition, it would need to provide a hands free experience....
Re: (Score:3)
For 3k more than the competition, it would need to provide a hands free experience....
Your vision is too limited. Imagine a non-solo use...
Re: dear gawd (Score:4, Funny)
For 3k more than the competition, it would need to provide a hands free experience....
Your vision is too limited. Imagine a non-solo use...
That works better without a headset. Trust me on this - you should try it.
Re: (Score:2)
Hey, Siri...
Re: (Score:2)
For 3k more than the competition, it would need to provide a hands free experience....
It does.
Re: (Score:2)
What's the market for AR? What's the killer app? Walk around and see adds plastered over items or on businesses? no thank you.
This is the million dollar question. At $3500, this is not a consumer product, even considering the Apple brand and the walled garden. If it's an enterprise product, then Apple will have necessarily have made significantly headway into the significant technical challenges that currently hinder adoption of headsets broadly.
The two biggest highlights from the Apple PR [apple.com] are the invention of the term "spatial computing" and the focus on design. The PR mentions "experiences." Perhaps that means applications,
Re: (Score:3)
The two biggest hardware challenges they've solved are display resolution and independence. Aside from having to carry a battery around, this is a completely independent computer (as you'd hope for something with an M2 driving it). It's got a full desktop CPU in there, and you don't need to plug it into your Mac to drive it. So you can run Safari right on the headset. Or Excel or Teams or Disney+.
The other stuff they've solved (sound, vision correction, latency) are all kind of offshoots or integrations wit
Re: (Score:2)
What's the market for AR? What's the killer app? Walk around and see adds plastered over items or on businesses? no thank you.
This is the million dollar question. At $3500, this is not a consumer product, even considering the Apple brand and the walled garden. If it's an enterprise product, then Apple will have necessarily have made significantly headway into the significant technical challenges that currently hinder adoption of headsets broadly.
Yes, but what challenges are hindering adoption? It's not price. If enterprises found significant enough productivity gains in AR, $3500 would be an impulse buy. The issue is nobody needs AR to do their current job, and AR adds little or nothing of value to productivity for those jobs. This is literally the case of a solution in search of a problem.
You could make the argument that uses for AR will inevitably follow the introduction of such a product. I would agree...if that product were priced low enou
Re: (Score:2)
This things are hideous, cumbersome, and rather pointless. What's the market for AR? What's the killer app? Walk around and see adds plastered over items or on businesses? no thank you.
Infinite display real estate, for one.
Re: (Score:2)
Apple employees who were forced back to the office need a way to watch porn on the job.
They eye transparency thing is great for taking a nap while looking attentive during a pointless meeting.
Re: (Score:2)
Within 15 years, it will replace most laptop and many desktop displays. A lot of people thought the iPhone was a dumb idea too.
Re: (Score:2)
Within 15 years, it will replace most laptop and many desktop displays. A lot of people thought the iPhone was a dumb idea too.
Exactly!
I've been waiting for the "coding wall" for about 30 years. This may actually do it!
Could it be? (Score:2)
Re: (Score:3)
Is this the ugliest Apple product ever?
Trashcan Mac Pro has entered the chat.
Re:Nope. (Score:5, Insightful)
Yes, I'm sure wearing these will improve my sex life. [/sarcasm] Please go away, Apple's AR division.
No, but Vision Pro will sure as hell improve your porn experience.
Re:Nope. (Score:5, Funny)
....
No, but Vision Pro will sure as hell improve your porn experience.
I'm not so sure I'd want to buy a used one...
Re: (Score:3)
I'm sure wearing these will improve my sex life. [/sarcasm]
Perhaps not look at the bright side, incel. This device will show you what you can't get more realistically than ever!
Re: (Score:2)
Yes, I'm sure wearing these will improve my sex life. [/sarcasm] Please go away, Apple's AR division.
You first.
Re: Device Envy Much? (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
And if you believe the demo videos, then you're delusional. Every single "revolutionary " ad has been a lie. The lawsuit for a voice assistant not teaching you to play an instrument or give handjobs i believe concluded in a loss... this ignoring all the other lies
They still have nearly a year to sand off the sharp edges. But they must be pretty close; or else they wouldn't give the competition a nearly hour-long, pretty damned detailed "Design Document" to Develop-against.
Re: (Score:2)
And you thought Apple was going to miss out on the dummy load and hot air buzzwords.
Perhaps they can make "smart clown shoes" to compliment their hard wear ecosystem.
Jealous much?
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
Our first AppleTV was the pre-HD version, which was pretty shit. Then the first generation HD 1080p version. That one was half-decent, and played quite a few games that the phones could play. Oceanhorn on the big screen was a blast.
We haven't bought a newer generation one since we don't upgrade TVs very often and saw no need. If we ever move to 4k, I'll probably do something else. I've bowed out of Apple except for my current "still works" products like the iPad I use for drawing and the phone I pack around
Re: (Score:2)
What a bunch of cunts.
No.
They learned their lesson with the iPod.