palegolas

jas99 said:

palegolas said:

I think it'll be like the Apple TV. Very satisfied users, with a small market share.
Sounds like they'll be introducing a Matrix world, which we will be sucked into, and probably never wanna leave. Sometimes I even end up watching the Apple TV screensavers, just watching the beauty of the world. Apple is great at producing these beautiful experiences. But it's dangerous territory to tread. 1984 hello.

This isn’t dangerous at all. It’s not like 1984. This has nothing to do with a totalitarian future. 

It’s a liberating, immersive, flexible tool that allows creative people to do whatever the want to with it.

Stop the fear mongering; it’s ridiculous.

I don't think foreseeing risks is ridiculous at all. Exploitation and "VR-holism" will happen whether we foresee it or not. Let's say a certain percentage of the users will be using VR/MR/AR, this liberating, immersive, flexible tool, for creativity… and another percentage will be using it to consume. I'll assume the split to be 0/100% rounded to the nearest integer. And since the vast majority of the users will be on the consumer side, they will be the target of every developer, well intended or malicious alike. And even the well intending developers will get users hooked because this all-immersive technology is much more powerful than other mediums.

I've been working with HTC Vive a couple of times at some different conferences. I have been the artist, the crazy dude, displaying what can be done with VR, in a few tech conferences. Both on stage and during conferences lasting for a few days. Once in the VR world, I get kinda disconnected. And in there I can create everything. It's liberating and immersive. And before I know it, I have lost track of the world going on outside. It only took me a day to realise that I actually didn't see a reason to leave the VR environment. And the software I was using wasn't even that good.

Let's say Meta creates the most compelling social network VR app for adults, Roblox creates the most compelling VR app for kids, Apple creates the most compelling lifestyle app for health aware target audience. I would assume that Meta and Roblox does everything to keep the users hooked, and Apple does this "perfect lifestyle with perfect lighting, beautiful mentors and no flaws " vibe that they've started to employ in their presentations in the last couple of years... I think there's reason to stay on the alert.

Once you take off the visor and see the real world with flaws and all, I think a lot of people will prefer to stay in "the matrix". And THAT'S why I think VR is a dangerous territory to tread. The 1984 reference is bad enough, but I'm not that afraid to be under totalitarian surveillance… Google and everyone else does that already, so we're already there.

Anyhow, I'm SUPER EXCITED about this. As an artist I'm of course wondering what kind of tools they'll be investing in. I know for instance that Apple has helped in optimising Blender for Apple Silicon. Could we see a Blender demonstrated on day one? Might be difficult to have kept an open source platform completely secret?

I can't see a single type of scenario where 2 hours of use is enough. Even just watching a single movie, or a few episodes of a TV series will easily surpass 2 hours. That's just sad. If the battery pack is external, I would assume you could get a bigger battery if you like. Hoping for this rumour to be false.

I think it'll be like the Apple TV. Very satisfied users, with a small market share.
Sounds like they'll be introducing a Matrix world, which we will be sucked into, and probably never wanna leave. Sometimes I even end up watching the Apple TV screensavers, just watching the beauty of the world. Apple is great at producing these beautiful experiences. But it's dangerous territory to tread. 1984 hello.

twolf2919 said:

"It's expected that Apple's first headset will be reminiscent of skiing goggles, in overall shape and perhaps size." - if it is expected to look that way, it's only because every single rumor article over the last 2 years - whether it's about an upcoming AR or VR headset - has an accompanying render of such skiing goggles.  A render that wasn't even a leak from anywhere - just someone's imagination.

Yeah, and that most frequent concept render doesn't even accommodate space for the nose, which has been annoying me for years 😅

I think VR is mostly used for high end gaming, followed by productivity, and watching movies.
As Apple is not a high end gaming platform, that leaves productivity and watching movies.

They can make the most amazing UI designed for walking around, and everyday life, but as long as it isn't a modestly designed true AR headset, I feel like that part will simply be just for show, and as future reference for when the true AR headset eventually matures.

I would say that if they team up with for instance Blender.org and other high end productivity app makers, they could probably market this as a very nice professional tool. Perhaps they'll launch it alongside a next generation Mac Pro, and it'll all be a pro initiative altogether. Creating 3D in VR is manyfold more intuitive and efficient than on a screen in my opinion.

I can even see them openly acknowledging that it is a stop gap product, kind of like they did with the developer unit of the first M1 prototypes. Acknowledging that this is the developer platform for what's to come. I think I'd be more prone to get one if I knew straight from Apple that it was a developer platform, and true AR is in the works. Then I'd feel safe that they wouldn't abandon the platform.

I think the worst thing they can do is to do the obvious: Make an amazing dreamy product presentation and ad where the users live in a tight apartment, puts on the headset and dreams away to far away places, through movies and interactive yoga trips with perfect instructors, and floating in space. Creating a perfect dream world will set the stage for the 1984 Macintosh ad all over again… just with reversed roles.