The Apple Vision Pro, also known as the Apple Sunk Cost Fallacy. :blobfoxthinkgoogly:
Seriously though, I'm baffled that Apple is actually going ahead with a consumer release for it. VR is basically useless for productivity and Apple is abysmal with gaming. I don't get who or what the headset is for.
@Rusty It’s decidedly not for VR gaming, it’s supposed to be for AR productivity which is also what Meta is pushing for right now
I definitely think there’s merit to it. This version really appears to be a devkit, the Pro moniker implying a future cheaper version more tuned to consumers
On a personal level, I’m definitely interested in something that lets me have multiple monitors of varying sizes wherever I am. Would be great for working while travelling
In the end, I think this is a clunky ugly goofy first gen of what Apple wants to make in the future: AR glasses
@lupomancer I think Microsoft and Meta have pretty thoroughly proven at this point that the idea doesn't really have much merit, or at the very least that the technology isn't really there yet. If you could get a multi-monitor display into a pair of standard bifocals the idea would have some merit in my mind, but strapping what's essentially a $3.5k iPad with a really nice display to your face doesn't seem altogether very useful. It's easy to say that this is the first revision and the technology will become better, cheaper, and smaller in the future, but billions of dollars have been poured into VR at this point with only incremental changes occurring in the space. The best VR headset on the market is still one that looks very similar to the original Oculus. For all the bells and whistles Microsoft, Meta, and Apple have poured into their headset, they haven't really beat the trusty spinning laser on a stick.
@Rusty Yeah, though I would argue that MS didn't really give a proper try (they never do with anything, haha. The hololens could have been great but they gave up) and Meta has been too unfocused.
Meta's Quest Pro is a really impressive piece of hardware both for VR users and AR productivity, but they marketed the thing so poorly that it sold terribly
The best headsets are the current quest because it's cheap, and the index because Valve had a focused and well targeted product on release. There are very few companies that I believe truly care about polish and good UX, Valve is one, and Apple is another
I think, much like the original iPhone it'll get a better sense of its own identity after a couple years of developer support, something that neither Microsoft of Meta really benefited from. Vision in its current iteration isn't a good buy for a consumer right now, but maybe in two, three gens, then we'll start seeing them around more. Think Airpods or the Apple Watch
@lupomancer I think AirPods and the Apple Watch had a more secure place in the market though. People had wanted truly wireless earbuds for years so there was definitely a market for it. With the Apple Watch, Apple has always positioned itself as a lifestyle brand more than a tech company, so it was a guaranteed success when they marketed it as a fitness and wellness tracker. With VR I don't really get the appeal of it for productivity. Apple has always made products with a clear focus and goal for what that product is supposed to do. In the case of the Vision Pro, their pitch is basically just... doing what you can already do on an iPad or a MacBook. It seems like it's already a bit starved for an identity, which isn't a great idea when you're trying to create a whole new industry.
Also, I love my Valve Index so much, but I don't know if I'd describe it as having good UX. :blobfoxthinkgoogly: I mean, it's nice when you're actually in VR, but man, that little tiny SteamVR window on the desktop drives me crazy. It leaves a whole lot to be desired. But yeah, that's the headset I was talking about when referencing the laser on a stick. The Quest's price point is great, but internal tracking still sucks for a lot of games.
@Rusty Yeah with the Index UX I was more talking about how it had all the stuff the people wanted out of a VR Headset on release. Stuff like finder sense, good, fast, near-bulletproof tracking, extensibility. SteamVR light houses released a little under ten years ago and it's STILL the best tracking method out there. I don't like how the industry is moving towards computer vision totally, it's way too fallible.
The lidar on the vision is part of what excites me about it, I'd like to see other things use lidar instead of just....cameras....
Like, I like to play VRC with the lights out in my room. I don't trust cameras in that environment
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