Apple allegedly 86’ing Vision Pro

[Chew Toy McCoy]

I'm a huge VR user. Getting ready to hop in now in fact. I've never tried the Vision Pro, but I don't think it's for me.

I think the biggest problem is that Apple took a gaming device and tried to turn it into something that isn't a gaming device. Cool idea. But so far gamers seem to be the only major group interested in VR. Most people don't want to put on a headset to answer emails and read texts or do any other non-gaming things. Not in large numbers. I know some people like to watch TV/Movies in their headsets, but I don't think that's a huge number of people either. Some people also liked 3D TVs. But clearly not enough people were interested to keep that business going.

Apple tried to create a new market and it seems no one is interested. Meta is discovering the same thing. They axed their business apps a while back. Now I've heard Horizon Worlds (basically social media in VR with games) is getting shut down. It seems the majority of their users are interested in gaming, but not much else beyond that. Finally the Quest will be serving one master (gaming) and it should be fantastic. They can strip the rest of the crap out of the OS and improve things a lot.

Sometimes Apple is able to exploit untapped markets to their advantage. This time I don't think the untapped market was nearly as big as they thought. I also don't think VR gaming is "about to explode" like I've been hearing for years. I think it will always remain a niche market. I know half a dozen people who have headsets and only one or two play on a regular (once a month) basis. The rest loved it for a while, then got bored with it.

I totally didn't think of the gaming possibilities because I'm not a gamer and I don't really recall Apple focusing on that on the release announcement. But that seems obvious now that you mention it.

Kind of related but not Apple specific, remember when the concept of smart glasses came out and everybody started freaking out over privacy concerns to the point of development being killed? It seems like they are right back at it and nobody seems to give a shit about privacy anymore. I think they might even be out on the market. Dunno. I just see headlines talking about different companies' smart glasses and not one headline hints at what they actually do or why I would want them. It's kind of bizarre. To me they still just seem like a personal subservience device ripe for abuse. Toss in some graphic AI and suddenly you're watching everybody walk around naked.

 

[Yoused]

Toss in some graphic AI and suddenly you're watching everybody walk around naked.

Well, there you go, then, the perfect tool for speakers who suffer from stage fright.

 

[Chew Toy McCoy]

Well, there you go, then, the perfect tool for speakers who suffer from stage fright.

With some "filters" they could also be used by out of shape people having sex without the need for alcohol. MAHA!

 

[Cmaier]

With some "filters" they could also be used by out of shape people having sex without the need for alcohol. MAHA!

Very expensive alternative to beer goggles.

 

[Chew Toy McCoy]

Very expensive alternative to beer goggles.

It’s a return on investment over time without the hangovers.

 

[Citysnaps]

If they were available and truly immersive, here are some potential VR walkthroughs that would entice me to purchase a next gen AVP:

Italy's Colosseum, the Louvre, the 20,000 year old cave paintings in Lascaux, France, visiting Niagara Falls, touring the Egyptian pyramids, seeing a collection of Diego Rivera's fresco murals, walking through some of architect Frank Gehry's buildings all over the world, participating in Formula One races, participating in a San Francisco marathon, and more.

 

[Chew Toy McCoy]

If they were available and truly immersive, here are some potential VR walkthroughs that would entice me to purchase a next gen AVP:

Italy's Colosseum, the Louvre, the 20,000 year old cave paintings in Lascaux, France, visiting Niagara Falls, touring the Egyptian pyramids, seeing a collection of Diego Rivera's fresco murals, walking through some of architect Frank Gehry's buildings all over the world, participating in Formula One races, participating in a San Francisco marathon, and more.

I'd like to see something with the natural wonders of the world. Seems like it would be easy enough to pull off with a drone and 360 camera.

 

[Roller]

If they were available and truly immersive, here are some potential VR walkthroughs that would entice me to purchase a next gen AVP:

Italy's Colosseum, the Louvre, the 20,000 year old cave paintings in Lascaux, France, visiting Niagara Falls, touring the Egyptian pyramids, seeing a collection of Diego Rivera's fresco murals, walking through some of architect Frank Gehry's buildings all over the world, participating in Formula One races, participating in a San Francisco marathon, and more.

There's a fair bit of content like this already available. Many of Apple's free immersive videos are so good that I keep re-watching them. A documentary about my favorite primates, orangutans, was a case in point. Another recent film in the Elevated series is a whirlwind tour of NYC shot from above and at street level, and a Red Bull video about back country skiing in BC was excellent. You can learn how it was made here. Hugh Hou has also released a wide variety of content on his Spatial Film platform.

Six L.A. Lakers games have been made available in immersive format. A subscription was required to watch them in real time, but they were made available for free a day or so later. (I posted about my experience previously.)

I'm hoping that cameras capable of capturing high-resolution immersive 180 degree video eventually become available at a "reasonable" price.

 

[Citysnaps]

There's a fair bit of content like this already available. Many of Apple's free immersive videos are so good that I keep re-watching them. A documentary about my favorite primates, orangutans, was a case in point. Another recent film in the Elevated series is a whirlwind tour of NYC shot from above and at street level, and a Red Bull video about back country skiing in BC was excellent. You can learn how it was made here. Hugh Hou has also released a wide variety of content on his Spatial Film platform.

Six L.A. Lakers games have been made available in immersive format. A subscription was required to watch them in real time, but they were made available for free a day or so later. (I posted about my experience previously.)

I'm hoping that cameras capable of capturing high-resolution immersive 180 degree video eventually become available at a "reasonable" price.

Sounds interesting. Thanks for the heads-up!

 

[Vincent Hannah]

In the spirit of the iPod and first gen iPhone they should have just released a device that is primarily a movie theater experience on your face for 1/4th the price and depending on how that went start adding more features and increase the price accordingly.

I am sure to be one of the only actual AVP owners on these boards, and I can confirm that the “movie theater on your face” is indeed the killer app. It’s actually magical and no one can describe it to you without experiencing it. The audio is great too, even without AirPods.

When people ask me why I spent the $3500, I simply tell them it’s a mid-range home theater setup. I know people that have spent far more.

So it seems logical that Apple could have re-centered the AVP around movie/TV watching the way they recentered the Apple Watch around fitness, when they originally pitched the watch as a multi-purpose device with apps for everything.

But the problem is you still need almost all of the AVP’s hardware and features just for the movie watching experience. You still need the super tiny, high rez screens and all the cameras and sensors and gyroscopes and accelerometers and all the advanced software to make the field of view convincing. They could have lost the external display with the virtual eyes, but you’re still looking at $3K and a device that’s uncomfortable to wear by the time the credits roll.

 

[Vincent Hannah]

Six L.A. Lakers games have been made available in immersive format. A subscription was required to watch them in real time, but they were made available for free a day or so later. (I posted about my experience previously.)

I can confirm watching the Laker games on the AVP was absolutely bananas. I repeatedly gasped in astonishment during every game. You truly feel transported to court side seats. As an Angelino, I couldn’t get over the fact that I didn’t have to drive to Staples and spend $10K for the best seats in the house.