Apple Announces Apple Vision Pro AR Spatial Super Computer

[erek]

Wonder how it'll perform, sources are quoting this is as Apple's Post-iPhone attempt

"Extraordinary New Experiences
Apple Vision Pro brings a new dimension to powerful, personal computing by changing the way users interact with their favorite apps, capture and relive memories, enjoy stunning TV shows and movies, and connect with others in FaceTime.

An infinite canvas for apps at work and at home: visionOS features a three-dimensional interface that frees apps from the boundaries of a display so they can appear side by side at any scale. Apple Vision Pro enables users to be even more productive, with infinite screen real estate, access to their favorite apps, and all-new ways to multitask. And with support for Magic Keyboard and Magic Trackpad, users can set up the perfect workspace or bring the powerful capabilities of their Mac into Vision Pro wirelessly, creating an enormous, private, and portable 4K display with incredibly crisp text.

Engaging entertainment experiences: With two ultra-high-resolution displays, Apple Vision Pro can transform any space into a personal movie theater with a screen that feels 100 feet wide and an advanced Spatial Audio system. Users can watch movies and TV shows, or enjoy stunning three-dimensional movies. Apple Immersive Video offers 180-degree high-resolution recordings with Spatial Audio, and users can access an exciting lineup of immersive videos that transport them to entirely new places.

Spatial computing makes new types of games possible with titles that can span a spectrum of immersion and bring gamers into all-new worlds. Users can also play over 100 Apple Arcade games on a screen as large as they want, with incredible immersive audio and support for popular game controllers.

Immersive Environments: With Environments, a user's world can grow beyond the dimensions of a physical room with dynamic, beautiful landscapes that can help them focus or reduce clutter in busy spaces. A twist of the Digital Crown lets a user control how present or immersed they are in an environment.

Memories come alive: Featuring Apple's first three-dimensional camera, Apple Vision Pro lets users capture, relive, and immerse themselves in favorite memories with Spatial Audio. Every spatial photo and video transports users back to a moment in time, like a celebration with friends or a special family gathering. Users can access their entire photo library on iCloud, and view their photos and videos at a life-size scale with brilliant color and spectacular detail. Every Panorama shot on iPhone expands and wraps around the user, creating the sensation they are standing right where it was taken.

FaceTime becomes spatial: With Apple Vision Pro, FaceTime calls take advantage of the room around the user, with everyone on the call reflected in life-size tiles, as well as Spatial Audio, so it sounds as if participants are speaking right from where they are positioned. Users wearing Vision Pro during a FaceTime call are reflected as a Persona—a digital representation of themselves created using Apple's most advanced machine learning techniques—which reflects face and hand movements in real time. Users can do things together like watch a movie, browse photos, or collaborate on a presentation.

Even more app experiences: Apple Vision Pro has an all-new App Store where users can discover apps and content from developers, and access hundreds of thousands of familiar iPhone and iPad apps that run great and automatically work with the new input system for Vision Pro. Apple's developer community can go even further and take advantage of the powerful and unique capabilities of Vision Pro and visionOS to design brand-new app experiences, and reimagine existing ones for spatial computing.

A Revolutionary Operating System and User Interface
Built on the foundation of decades of engineering innovation in macOS, iOS, and iPadOS, visionOS was designed from the ground up to support the low-latency requirements of spatial computing. The result is a revolutionary operating system that delivers powerful spatial experiences that can take advantage of the space around the user, unlocking new opportunities at work and at home. visionOS features a brand-new three-dimensional interface that makes digital content look and feel present in a user's physical world. By responding dynamically to natural light and casting shadows, it helps the user understand scale and distance. To enable user navigation and interaction with spatial content, Apple Vision Pro introduces an entirely new input system controlled by a person's eyes, hands, and voice. Users can browse through apps by simply looking at them, tapping their fingers to select, flicking their wrist to scroll, or using voice to dictate.

Apple Vision Pro also features EyeSight, an extraordinary innovation that helps users stay connected with those around them. When a person approaches someone wearing Vision Pro, the device feels transparent—letting the user see them while also displaying the user's eyes. When a user is immersed in an environment or using an app, EyeSight gives visual cues to others about what the user is focused on.

Breakthrough Design
Apple Vision Pro builds on Apple innovation and experience designing high-performance products like Mac, iPhone, and wearables like Apple Watch, culminating in the most advanced personal electronics device ever. To achieve ambitious goals for performance, mobility, and wearability, Apple utilized the most advanced materials possible.

Apple Vision Pro has an astonishing amount of technology in a compact design. A singular piece of three-dimensionally formed and laminated glass is polished to create an optical surface that acts as a lens for the wide array of cameras and sensors needed to blend the physical world with digital content. The glass flows into the custom aluminium alloy frame that gently curves around the user's face, while the modular system allows for a tailored fit to accommodate a wide range of people. The Light Seal is made of a soft textile, and comes in a range of shapes and sizes, flexing to conform to a user's face for a precise fit. Flexible straps ensure audio remains close to the user's ears, while a Head Band—available in multiple sizes—is three-dimensionally knitted as a single piece to provide cushioning, breathability, and stretch. The band is secured with a simple mechanism, making it easy to change to another size or style of band.

Unrivaled Innovation in Hardware
Apple Vision Pro is designed to deliver phenomenal compute performance in a compact wearable form factor. Featuring a breakthrough ultra-high-resolution display system built on top of an Apple silicon chip, Vision Pro uses micro-OLED technology to pack 23 million pixels into two displays, each the size of a postage stamp, with wide color and high dynamic range. This technological breakthrough, combined with custom catadioptric lenses that enable incredible sharpness and clarity, delivers jaw-dropping experiences. Users with vision correction needs will use ZEISS Optical Inserts to ensure visual fidelity and eye tracking accuracy.

An advanced Spatial Audio system is core to the Apple Vision Pro experience, creating the feeling that sounds are coming from the environment around the user and matching the sound to the space. Two individually amplified drivers inside each audio pod deliver Personalized Spatial Audio based on the user's own head and ear geometry.

In addition to creating a breakthrough display and advanced audio experiences, the high-performance eye tracking system in Apple Vision Pro uses high-speed cameras and a ring of LEDs that project invisible light patterns onto the user's eyes for responsive, intuitive input. These groundbreaking innovations are powered by Apple silicon in a unique dual-chip design. M2 delivers unparalleled standalone performance, while the brand-new R1 chip processes input from 12 cameras, five sensors, and six microphones to ensure that content feels like it is appearing right in front of the user's eyes, in real time. R1 streams new images to the displays within 12 milliseconds—8x faster than the blink of an eye. Apple Vision Pro is designed for all-day use when plugged in, and up to two hours of use with its external, high-performance battery.

Industry-Leading Privacy and Security
Apple Vision Pro is built on a strong foundation of privacy and security, and keeps users in control of their data. Optic ID is a new secure authentication system that analyzes a user's iris under various invisible LED light exposures, and then compares it to the enrolled Optic ID data that is protected by the Secure Enclave to instantly unlock Apple Vision Pro. A user's Optic ID data is fully encrypted, is not accessible to apps, and never leaves their device, meaning it is not stored on Apple servers. Where a user looks stays private while navigating Apple Vision Pro, and eye tracking information is not shared with Apple, third-party apps, or websites. Additionally, data from the camera and other sensors is processed at the system level, so individual apps do not need to see a user's surroundings to enable spatial experiences. EyeSight also includes a visual indicator that makes it clear to others when a user is capturing a spatial photo or video.

Pricing and Availability
Apple Vision Pro starts at $3,499 (U.S.), and will be available early next year on apple.com and at Apple Store locations in the U.S., with more countries coming later next year.
Source: Apple"

Source: https://www.techpowerup.com/309654/apple-announces-apple-vision-pro-ar-spatial-computer

 

[DukenukemX]

Best response.

 

[erek]

Best response.

Apple's really fallen flat on innovation here ^^

Suppose this instead

"Creating a direct neural retinal projection system might involve several layers of technological advancement and integration. Here's a rough outline of what such a system could involve:

1. Optogenetics: This is a biological technique that involves the use of light to control cells in living tissue, typically neurons, which have been genetically modified to respond to light stimuli. The first step to creating a direct neural retinal projection system might involve using optogenetics to create a population of retinal cells that can be activated by specific light frequencies.

2. Bio-Integrated Photonics: Building on the optogenetic base, we'd need to develop an advanced photonics system capable of emitting light at the right frequencies and with sufficient precision to stimulate the optogenetically enhanced neurons. This system would have to be bio-compatible, possibly requiring the use of bio-inks and 3D printing to create a structure that could be safely integrated with the retina.

3. Brain-Computer Interface (BCI): The system would need some way to receive and interpret signals from the brain. For instance, users might want to control the AR projection with their thoughts or automatically adapt the projection based on their mental state. This would require a BCI, like the ones being developed by companies like Neuralink.

4. Advanced Machine Learning Algorithms: Given the incredible complexity of the visual system and the brain, managing this kind of system would likely require the use of sophisticated AI algorithms. These algorithms could help interpret the signals coming from the BCI, control the photonics system, and manage the overall operation of the AR system to ensure a smooth and naturalistic user experience.

5. Cybersecurity Measures: Given the intimate nature of this technology, strong cybersecurity measures would be necessary to ensure that malicious parties could not hack into the system and potentially harm users or misuse their data.

6. Ethical and Regulatory Framework: Finally, this kind of technology would raise many ethical questions and would likely require a comprehensive regulatory framework to ensure that it is used responsibly and ethically."

 

[erek]

Apple's really fallen flat on innovation here ^^

Suppose this instead

"Creating a direct neural retinal projection system might involve several layers of technological advancement and integration. Here's a rough outline of what such a system could involve:

1. Optogenetics: This is a biological technique that involves the use of light to control cells in living tissue, typically neurons, which have been genetically modified to respond to light stimuli. The first step to creating a direct neural retinal projection system might involve using optogenetics to create a population of retinal cells that can be activated by specific light frequencies.

2. Bio-Integrated Photonics: Building on the optogenetic base, we'd need to develop an advanced photonics system capable of emitting light at the right frequencies and with sufficient precision to stimulate the optogenetically enhanced neurons. This system would have to be bio-compatible, possibly requiring the use of bio-inks and 3D printing to create a structure that could be safely integrated with the retina.

3. Brain-Computer Interface (BCI): The system would need some way to receive and interpret signals from the brain. For instance, users might want to control the AR projection with their thoughts or automatically adapt the projection based on their mental state. This would require a BCI, like the ones being developed by companies like Neuralink.

4. Advanced Machine Learning Algorithms: Given the incredible complexity of the visual system and the brain, managing this kind of system would likely require the use of sophisticated AI algorithms. These algorithms could help interpret the signals coming from the BCI, control the photonics system, and manage the overall operation of the AR system to ensure a smooth and naturalistic user experience.

5. Cybersecurity Measures: Given the intimate nature of this technology, strong cybersecurity measures would be necessary to ensure that malicious parties could not hack into the system and potentially harm users or misuse their data.

6. Ethical and Regulatory Framework: Finally, this kind of technology would raise many ethical questions and would likely require a comprehensive regulatory framework to ensure that it is used responsibly and ethically."

"Essentially building upon the prior proposal, now including neo-cortical implants. Theoretically, this could potentially enable a more direct and integrated form of communication with the brain. Here's how it might work:

3. Neo-Cortical Implants: These implants, placed in the cerebral cortex (the part of the brain involved in high order functions like sensory perception, cognition, and motor commands), could serve multiple purposes. Firstly, they could be used to record neuronal activity and transmit this data to an external device, creating a more direct and sophisticated brain-computer interface than current technologies. This would allow the system to adapt to the user's intentions, emotions, and attention state.

In addition, these neo-cortical implants could potentially stimulate specific brain areas to enhance the perception of the retinally projected images, or to provide additional sensory input that complements the visual data. This could lead to more immersive and interactive AR experiences.

As always, these kinds of technologies bring with them many ethical and practical challenges, not least of which is the challenge of safely and effectively implanting devices into the human brain."

 

[UnknownSouljer]

People that don’t understand the tech will always be reductionist. It’s like Linus getting handed server hardware or criticizing RED.

That RED camera video he made a few years back complaining about price etc underscored his total mismatching of the market and not really acknowledging that a YouTuber at any level doesn’t need to be shooting on a cinema camera, because the gains aren’t there. In a very controlled lit environment, the difference between the output on a $6,000 camera and a $60,000 camera is marginal. He didn’t know why you’d buy a RED so he didn’t know what he was getting. He saw a price and complained about price. Pointed the camera, shrugged about how it looked the same.

It’s not much different from many VR vids related to Apples VR product that I expect to come out. A bunch of people that only use VR to game on will fundamentally not understand this device and who and what it’s for.

 

[kac77]

Apple's Vision Pro headset deserves to be ridiculed​

https://www.disconnect.blog/p/apples-vision-pro-headset-deserves

 

[kac77]

Wonder how it'll perform, sources are quoting this is as Apple's Post-iPhone attempt

"Extraordinary New Experiences
Apple Vision Pro brings a new dimension to powerful, personal computing by changing the way users interact with their favorite apps, capture and relive memories, enjoy stunning TV shows and movies, and connect with others in FaceTime.

An infinite canvas for apps at work and at home: visionOS features a three-dimensional interface that frees apps from the boundaries of a display so they can appear side by side at any scale. Apple Vision Pro enables users to be even more productive, with infinite screen real estate, access to their favorite apps, and all-new ways to multitask. And with support for Magic Keyboard and Magic Trackpad, users can set up the perfect workspace or bring the powerful capabilities of their Mac into Vision Pro wirelessly, creating an enormous, private, and portable 4K display with incredibly crisp text.

Engaging entertainment experiences: With two ultra-high-resolution displays, Apple Vision Pro can transform any space into a personal movie theater with a screen that feels 100 feet wide and an advanced Spatial Audio system. Users can watch movies and TV shows, or enjoy stunning three-dimensional movies. Apple Immersive Video offers 180-degree high-resolution recordings with Spatial Audio, and users can access an exciting lineup of immersive videos that transport them to entirely new places.

Spatial computing makes new types of games possible with titles that can span a spectrum of immersion and bring gamers into all-new worlds. Users can also play over 100 Apple Arcade games on a screen as large as they want, with incredible immersive audio and support for popular game controllers.

Immersive Environments: With Environments, a user's world can grow beyond the dimensions of a physical room with dynamic, beautiful landscapes that can help them focus or reduce clutter in busy spaces. A twist of the Digital Crown lets a user control how present or immersed they are in an environment.

Memories come alive: Featuring Apple's first three-dimensional camera, Apple Vision Pro lets users capture, relive, and immerse themselves in favorite memories with Spatial Audio. Every spatial photo and video transports users back to a moment in time, like a celebration with friends or a special family gathering. Users can access their entire photo library on iCloud, and view their photos and videos at a life-size scale with brilliant color and spectacular detail. Every Panorama shot on iPhone expands and wraps around the user, creating the sensation they are standing right where it was taken.

FaceTime becomes spatial: With Apple Vision Pro, FaceTime calls take advantage of the room around the user, with everyone on the call reflected in life-size tiles, as well as Spatial Audio, so it sounds as if participants are speaking right from where they are positioned. Users wearing Vision Pro during a FaceTime call are reflected as a Persona—a digital representation of themselves created using Apple's most advanced machine learning techniques—which reflects face and hand movements in real time. Users can do things together like watch a movie, browse photos, or collaborate on a presentation.

Even more app experiences: Apple Vision Pro has an all-new App Store where users can discover apps and content from developers, and access hundreds of thousands of familiar iPhone and iPad apps that run great and automatically work with the new input system for Vision Pro. Apple's developer community can go even further and take advantage of the powerful and unique capabilities of Vision Pro and visionOS to design brand-new app experiences, and reimagine existing ones for spatial computing.

A Revolutionary Operating System and User Interface
Built on the foundation of decades of engineering innovation in macOS, iOS, and iPadOS, visionOS was designed from the ground up to support the low-latency requirements of spatial computing. The result is a revolutionary operating system that delivers powerful spatial experiences that can take advantage of the space around the user, unlocking new opportunities at work and at home. visionOS features a brand-new three-dimensional interface that makes digital content look and feel present in a user's physical world. By responding dynamically to natural light and casting shadows, it helps the user understand scale and distance. To enable user navigation and interaction with spatial content, Apple Vision Pro introduces an entirely new input system controlled by a person's eyes, hands, and voice. Users can browse through apps by simply looking at them, tapping their fingers to select, flicking their wrist to scroll, or using voice to dictate.

Apple Vision Pro also features EyeSight, an extraordinary innovation that helps users stay connected with those around them. When a person approaches someone wearing Vision Pro, the device feels transparent—letting the user see them while also displaying the user's eyes. When a user is immersed in an environment or using an app, EyeSight gives visual cues to others about what the user is focused on.

Breakthrough Design
Apple Vision Pro builds on Apple innovation and experience designing high-performance products like Mac, iPhone, and wearables like Apple Watch, culminating in the most advanced personal electronics device ever. To achieve ambitious goals for performance, mobility, and wearability, Apple utilized the most advanced materials possible.

Apple Vision Pro has an astonishing amount of technology in a compact design. A singular piece of three-dimensionally formed and laminated glass is polished to create an optical surface that acts as a lens for the wide array of cameras and sensors needed to blend the physical world with digital content. The glass flows into the custom aluminium alloy frame that gently curves around the user's face, while the modular system allows for a tailored fit to accommodate a wide range of people. The Light Seal is made of a soft textile, and comes in a range of shapes and sizes, flexing to conform to a user's face for a precise fit. Flexible straps ensure audio remains close to the user's ears, while a Head Band—available in multiple sizes—is three-dimensionally knitted as a single piece to provide cushioning, breathability, and stretch. The band is secured with a simple mechanism, making it easy to change to another size or style of band.

Unrivaled Innovation in Hardware
Apple Vision Pro is designed to deliver phenomenal compute performance in a compact wearable form factor. Featuring a breakthrough ultra-high-resolution display system built on top of an Apple silicon chip, Vision Pro uses micro-OLED technology to pack 23 million pixels into two displays, each the size of a postage stamp, with wide color and high dynamic range. This technological breakthrough, combined with custom catadioptric lenses that enable incredible sharpness and clarity, delivers jaw-dropping experiences. Users with vision correction needs will use ZEISS Optical Inserts to ensure visual fidelity and eye tracking accuracy.

An advanced Spatial Audio system is core to the Apple Vision Pro experience, creating the feeling that sounds are coming from the environment around the user and matching the sound to the space. Two individually amplified drivers inside each audio pod deliver Personalized Spatial Audio based on the user's own head and ear geometry.

In addition to creating a breakthrough display and advanced audio experiences, the high-performance eye tracking system in Apple Vision Pro uses high-speed cameras and a ring of LEDs that project invisible light patterns onto the user's eyes for responsive, intuitive input. These groundbreaking innovations are powered by Apple silicon in a unique dual-chip design. M2 delivers unparalleled standalone performance, while the brand-new R1 chip processes input from 12 cameras, five sensors, and six microphones to ensure that content feels like it is appearing right in front of the user's eyes, in real time. R1 streams new images to the displays within 12 milliseconds—8x faster than the blink of an eye. Apple Vision Pro is designed for all-day use when plugged in, and up to two hours of use with its external, high-performance battery.

Industry-Leading Privacy and Security
Apple Vision Pro is built on a strong foundation of privacy and security, and keeps users in control of their data. Optic ID is a new secure authentication system that analyzes a user's iris under various invisible LED light exposures, and then compares it to the enrolled Optic ID data that is protected by the Secure Enclave to instantly unlock Apple Vision Pro. A user's Optic ID data is fully encrypted, is not accessible to apps, and never leaves their device, meaning it is not stored on Apple servers. Where a user looks stays private while navigating Apple Vision Pro, and eye tracking information is not shared with Apple, third-party apps, or websites. Additionally, data from the camera and other sensors is processed at the system level, so individual apps do not need to see a user's surroundings to enable spatial experiences. EyeSight also includes a visual indicator that makes it clear to others when a user is capturing a spatial photo or video.

Pricing and Availability
Apple Vision Pro starts at $3,499 (U.S.), and will be available early next year on apple.com and at Apple Store locations in the U.S., with more countries coming later next year.
Source: Apple"


Source: https://www.techpowerup.com/309654/apple-announces-apple-vision-pro-ar-spatial-computer

No Google Glass failed because Apple literally lobbied Congress to get it pulled.
https://www.searchenginejournal.com/top-10-places-that-have-banned-google-glass/66585/

This is one of the reasons I absolutely loathe Apple because it steals tech, and when it can't it bans it. Every time Apple tries to do something on it's own it turns out just like this. A huge turd.

 

[UnknownSouljer]

Apple's Vision Pro headset deserves to be ridiculed​

https://www.disconnect.blog/p/apples-vision-pro-headset-deserves

It’s not really targeted at Apple. It’s an opinion piece against VR/AR in general and isolation both in terms of media consumption/games and also work.

There is very little here about Apples tech, it’s all about their position in the market and the “potential profit” they can make from “isolating users” when it comes to entertainment.

Agree, disagree, that’s fine. But the title is click bait.

 

[Tweak155]

Wonder when these goggles got announced? Anyone want to guess?

 

[Twisted Kidney]

That’s 36 trillion Kanukistanian Kopeks! Whadafuk?!?

 

[Mchart]

My opinion, current AR/VR technology is a dead end. This is not an iPhone moment. Having to wear giant goggles is just absurd. As soon as you get holographic tech, that’s the future. Not a virtualboy.

Steve Jobs would have never signed off on this project and the use of giant goggles.

Yes, Apple will at least be developing their OS to be ready for holographic projection, but this hardware is just trash.

 

[dr.stevil]

My opinion, current AR/VR technology is a dead end. This is not an iPhone moment. Having to wear giant goggles is just absurd. As soon as you get holographic tech, that’s the future. Not a virtualboy.

Steve Jobs would have never signed off on this project and the use of giant goggles.

Yes, Apple will at least be developing their OS to be ready for holographic projection, but this hardware is just trash.

As a fan of VR in general, I can’t help but disagree. VR headsets have their place, but they will never see mass adoption, especially at Apples price point (and during an economic storm).

Their tech actually looks pretty awesome, from a design/engineering standpoint, imo.

 

[UnknownSouljer]

My opinion, current AR/VR technology is a dead end. This is not an iPhone moment. Having to wear giant goggles is just absurd. As soon as you get holographic tech, that’s the future. Not a virtualboy.

VR is still not a mature tech by any stretch of the imagination. Eventually I expect that VR/AR glasses will be the size and weight of a standard set of sunglasses. Capable of blacking out when necessary (or use cameras and sensors in such a way that it’s indistinguishable from being “normal vision”). Full suite of sensors and cameras etc. battery life for days, all the computing power necessary for any form of general worker.

With tech that small and light, the ability to flip between AR and VR seamlessly, “glasses” will be barely an inconvenience. Might be another 30 years before we get there though.

 

[Armenius]

As a fan of VR in general, I can’t help but disagree. VR headsets have their place, but they will never see mass adoption, especially at Apples price point (and during an economic storm).

Their tech actually looks pretty awesome, from a design/engineering standpoint, imo.

I agree. I don't understand why this is being ridiculed. This looks to be the first practical mixed reality solution for consumers. Kudos to Apple for being able to solve the production issues that have plagued almost every mixed reality startup for the past decade and bringing all the innovations realized over that time period into a cohesive product.

 

[Aurelius]

My opinion, current AR/VR technology is a dead end. This is not an iPhone moment. Having to wear giant goggles is just absurd. As soon as you get holographic tech, that’s the future. Not a virtualboy.

Steve Jobs would have never signed off on this project and the use of giant goggles.

Yes, Apple will at least be developing their OS to be ready for holographic projection, but this hardware is just trash.

I'm not fond of "Steve Jobs would never have" statements, because we couldn't really know and he definitely wasn't perfect. This was also the man who signed off on iPod HiFi and the G4 Cube, and resisted making the iPhone screen any larger than 3.5 inches. His vision was sometimes clouded by his own preferences.

I'd say this is a big step forward for AR/VR, but you're right in that it's not an iPhone moment... yet, anyway. It feels like an in-between step — Apple is showing us where mixed reality can go, but the price and a few design elements aren't at the point where this will reshape computing as we know it. The rumored 'mainstream' headset (just Apple Vision?) in the next year or two is the one to watch, as it should cost much less and likely reflect lessons learned from the Vision Pro.

I also think this underscores how undercooked current VR headsets are. The Meta Quest 3 looks pretty capable for $499, but the whole platform is designed around jump-in-jump-out experiences on low-performance hardware. You stay for just long enough to play Beat Saber or talk to friends in Horizon Worlds; there's not much reason to stay. Apple, meanwhile, treats it as a computing device where you could theoretically spend hours (it's a good thing you can use the headset plugged in). I wouldn't wear one while trying to be social, but I could see it as being very useful for getting work done on a massive virtual display and then diving into an immersive game or video.

I'd also say the controller-free interface is a huge selling point. Holding a pair of controllers for a few hours can be fatiguing, and not especially intuitive. Here, you not only don't have to hold anything, you don't even have to keep your hands up to make gestures. And if you need to type, your hands are free to use a keyboard (real or virtual). I've seen at least one hands-on writeup that described it as Minority Report-like, and that's pretty high praise.

 

[TangledThornz]

It will be interesting to see Google and other APPLE competitors response to this. Could be huge or just another VR toy that doesn't go mainstream just like every other VR tech going back decades.

 

[SamuelL421]

I've read a lot of coverage at this point and there are all these extreme viewpoints ranging from "AR/VR is dead and this product is terrible" to (rich Apple fanboys), "It's revolutionary! $3500 isn't that much in 2023 and this is just like when the iPhone was announced". I strongly disagree with all those takes. AR/VR is still waiting for a killer app, this product seems to fuse a lot of good ideas high-end VR, Hololens, Leap Motion, and Magic Leap. No matter how good it ends up being, a product has to be accessible to be "revolutionary" and $3500 isn't that unless it can actually replace home PCs, cell phones, TVs, etc (it can't).

The headset is Apple doing what Apple has historically done best... creating sleek devices that steal borrow the best ideas from other's uninspired concepts. This thing is going nowhere in generation 1 though, price point is too high, still too bulky and dorky. If Apple stays the course, improves the design, and brings price down to that of a phone - then I think we'll see these things everywhere.

 

[LukeTbk]

It will be interesting to see Google and other APPLE competitors response to this. Could be huge or just another VR toy that doesn't go mainstream just like every other VR tech going back decades.

Microsoft HoloLens seem the direct competitor, I am not sure if Apple had been interested in the big natural client for this, the US army (24 billions contract I think, that could end up in a big failure).

I think it is ridiculized in part because it is Apple, by people that do not compare it to the HoloLens and others augmented pro VR competition, because it is Apple it gets perceived (rightly probably) as a step toward a future product being mainstream and not just used by some military-industrial-operating room use, like the iPhone expanded the use of mobile computer in their pocket over the Blackberry style alternative of the time.

 

[Aurelius]

Microsoft HoloLens seem the direct competitor, I am not sure if Apple had been interested in the big natural client for this, the US army (24 billions contract I think, that could end up in a big failure).

I think it is ridiculized in part because it is Apple, by people that do not compare it to the HoloLens and others augmented pro VR competition, because it is Apple it gets perceived (rightly probably) as a step toward a future product being mainstream and not just used by some military-industrial-operating room use, like the iPhone expanded the use of mobile computer in their pocket over the Blackberry style alternative of the time.

HoloLens is and isn't. It's technically based on Windows 10 and has some familiar elements, but it's now way behind what Apple is doing in terms of display tech, performance and features. It's using rudimentary waveguide AR with a narrow field of view where Apple has wide dual 4K displays with AR/VR you can adjust on the fly. Microsoft's using an old Snapdragon where Apple is using an M2. The interface is sluggish and crude, and requires a lot of pointing. Apple has clearly been thinking long and hard about its UI — it's designed to be used comfortably for hours at a time.

And HoloLens is in trouble, simply speaking. Microsoft has been laying off many of its mixed reality teams, and that US Army deal is in jeopardy when the current test units are giving soldiers nausea. I don't know if mixed reality will ever really take off, but Microsoft might be jumping ship at a particularly bad time that gives Apple free rein.

 

[LukeTbk]

HoloLens is and isn't. It's technically based on Windows 10 and has some familiar elements, but it's now way behind what Apple is doing in terms of display tech, performance and features.

Yes which is why no one that compare the announced product to the direct product would be laughing about it, it sound extremely impressive and ahead (not just but in part because it is powered by something completely different with the M2).

And HoloLens is in trouble, simply speaking.

No Hololens 3 announced yet, 4 years after the 2 (feel like Kinect a bit, will they ever make an Azure Kinect 2... with how good AI tracking can do from regular cameras feed now, the market for better than that tracking but do not want the trouble-cost of a tracking system could get rare), no doubt, US army debacle does not help, Facebook VR pro, Apple now as a competition in a very hard to pull off challenge.

I do not think people laugh at the idea of an astronaut-surgeon training with this, military use (they have a long history of mixed reality projected on screens since forever), Apple brand, it sound like rich (or young in debt) regular people using it and way more possible than for anyone else to ever become popular because they enter the field, getting us closer to Wall-E and people with already an unhealthy internet-smarthphone addiction (about everyone with an online voice) not wanting to get even worst.

 

[Red Falcon]

No Google Glass failed because Apple literally lobbied Congress to get it pulled.
https://www.searchenginejournal.com/top-10-places-that-have-banned-google-glass/66585/

This is one of the reasons I absolutely loathe Apple because it steals tech, and when it can't it bans it. Every time Apple tries to do something on it's own it turns out just like this. A huge turd.

This is the very definition of Corporatism.
Shocked Pikachu face at a megacorp like Apple being willing to do so.

Apple's really fallen flat on innovation here ^^

Suppose this instead

"Creating a direct neural retinal projection system might involve several layers of technological advancement and integration. Here's a rough outline of what such a system could involve:

1. Optogenetics: This is a biological technique that involves the use of light to control cells in living tissue, typically neurons, which have been genetically modified to respond to light stimuli. The first step to creating a direct neural retinal projection system might involve using optogenetics to create a population of retinal cells that can be activated by specific light frequencies.

2. Bio-Integrated Photonics: Building on the optogenetic base, we'd need to develop an advanced photonics system capable of emitting light at the right frequencies and with sufficient precision to stimulate the optogenetically enhanced neurons. This system would have to be bio-compatible, possibly requiring the use of bio-inks and 3D printing to create a structure that could be safely integrated with the retina.

3. Brain-Computer Interface (BCI): The system would need some way to receive and interpret signals from the brain. For instance, users might want to control the AR projection with their thoughts or automatically adapt the projection based on their mental state. This would require a BCI, like the ones being developed by companies like Neuralink.

4. Advanced Machine Learning Algorithms: Given the incredible complexity of the visual system and the brain, managing this kind of system would likely require the use of sophisticated AI algorithms. These algorithms could help interpret the signals coming from the BCI, control the photonics system, and manage the overall operation of the AR system to ensure a smooth and naturalistic user experience.

5. Cybersecurity Measures: Given the intimate nature of this technology, strong cybersecurity measures would be necessary to ensure that malicious parties could not hack into the system and potentially harm users or misuse their data.

6. Ethical and Regulatory Framework: Finally, this kind of technology would raise many ethical questions and would likely require a comprehensive regulatory framework to ensure that it is used responsibly and ethically."

You are going down a slippery slope with number 3.
While it would work great for the publicly announced intended product, don't think for a moment this wouldn't be used by Apple, or any other state entity or megacorp, to take full advantage of reprogramming individuals.

Number 6 would just exist as a puff piece to appease the masses.

I agree. I don't understand why this is being ridiculed. This looks to be the first practical mixed reality solution for consumers. Kudos to Apple for being able to solve the production issues that have plagued almost every mixed reality startup for the past decade and bringing all the innovations realized over that time period into a cohesive product.

The cost is a big part of this.
For less than $1000 USD this would be worth it, but at $3500 USD it is pretty laughable at this point in time.

 

[LukeTbk]

This is the very definition of Corporatism.

Isn't a lot of those not banned from the governement, but from the MPAA , banks, bar, stripclub etc.. themselve ? place that banned cameras in generals.

 

[Armenius]

The cost is a big part of this.
For less than $1000 USD this would be worth it, but at $3500 USD it is pretty laughable at this point in time.

The cost is so high due to no compromises on the hardware on top of the Apple tax. Other headsets have made pretty harsh compromises on the hardware to bring the consumer price down. I'm sure Apple will release a non-Pro version of their headset after the Pro has been on the market for a bit.

Isn't a lot of those not banned from the governement, but from the MPAA , banks, bar, stripclub etc.. themselve ? place that banned cameras in generals.

I don't think the primary use case for this headset is for walking around in public settings.

 

[LukeTbk]

I don't think the primary use case for this headset is for walking around in public settings.

It is a side conversation about Google Glass.

 

[erek]

This is the very definition of Corporatism.
Shocked Pikachu face at a megacorp like Apple being willing to do so.


You are going down a slippery slope with number 3.
While it would work great for the publicly announced intended product, don't think for a moment this wouldn't be used by Apple, or any other state entity or megacorp, to take full advantage of reprogramming individuals.

Number 6 would just exist as a puff piece to appease the masses.


The cost is a big part of this.
For less than $1000 USD this would be worth it, but at $3500 USD it is pretty laughable at this point in time.

What about the neo-cortical implants?

 

[jbltecnicspro]

The cost is so high due to no compromises on the hardware on top of the Apple tax. Other headsets have made pretty harsh compromises on the hardware to bring the consumer price down. I'm sure Apple will release a non-Pro version of their headset after the Pro has been on the market for a bit.

I don't think the primary use case for this headset is for walking around in public settings.

Dare I say I think that for all this squeezes into the headset I think $3500 is totally justified.

My only beef with it is that it’s a perfect display that’s shackled to Apple’s ecosystem. Give me a set that’s just a dummy display and I’m in. That OLED array and sound system is probably divine, in terms of experiencing games and movies and such.

 

[1_rick]

https://twitter.com/RampCapitalLLC/status/1665834971779547139

 

[Mchart]

https://twitter.com/RampCapitalLLC/status/1665834971779547139

Yep.

This is a consumer electronics company. This device is A.) Too expensive, B.) Ultimately a VirtualBoy

Nothing here is being solved in the Apple way. This is 100% a Newton scenario. Amazing hardware and device for the time, and will contribute to future solutions with technology, but the product itself will be a fail.

 

[Decko87]

No earthquakes yesterday, that was just Steve Jobs rolling in his grave as Tim Cook announced a 3500 dollar VR headset you can wear while braising a pot roast.

 

[LukeTbk]

This is a consumer electronics company.

The announcing it to audience like this, saying available in store at a date, make it hard to not judge to product has one, compare that how you would buy an Oculus dev kit or Hololense announcement back in the days.

 

[OutOfPhase]

Yep. Lots of cool society-advancing things are possible, for sure.

It will not be used for those things.

 

[Mchart]

The announcing it to audience like this, saying available in store at a date, make it hard to not judge to product has one, compare that how you would buy an Oculus dev kit or Hololense announcement back in the days.

The audience reaction is damning, and really, anyone who is over the age of 30 and remembers how big of a deal the iPod and iPhone announcements were understands that this thing is already a dud.

 

[polonyc2]

I'm sure it'll be the usual exceptionally built Apple product but are they really expecting this to sell at $3500?

 

[UnknownSouljer]

The audience reaction is damning, and really, anyone who is over the age of 30 and remembers how big of a deal the iPod and iPhone announcements were understands that this thing is already a dud.

I'm sure it'll be the usual exceptionally built Apple product but are they really expecting this to sell at $3500?

Although launched to a general audience, it’s not supposed to be for general consumers. Neither is the Mac Pro or Mac Studio really. We already know Apple isn’t expecting to sell a lot of these. They’re in this space for the long haul and to build over time.

WWDC is for devs (it’s literally in the name!) so it makes sense to launch Vision Pro there, but there are also a lot of tech journalists who also come. And a lot of said journalists aren’t operating necessarily in all the spaces that WWDC covers, a lot of them are consumer electronics press like CNET etc. However the press also comments on this and makes it sound like stuff for devs is also stuff for consumers. And it’s not.

Again, unless you’re a dev or an early adopter whale, this isn’t for you.

In other news….:

 

[Mchart]

Although launched to a general audience, it’s not supposed to be for general consumers. Neither is the Mac Pro or Mac Studio really.

WWDC is for devs so it makes sense to launch Vision Pro there, but there are also a lot of tech journalists who also come. And a lot of said journalists aren’t operating necessarily in all the spaces that WWDC covers, a lot of them are consumer electronics press like CNET etc. However the press also comments on this and makes it sound like stuff for devs is also stuff for consumers. And it’s not.

Again, unless you’re a dev or an early adopter whale, this isn’t for you.

In other news….:

Sorry, but this is the way Apple has historically always released new products. At a developer conference, Macworld, etc. This just sounds like cope to me. This is not a great product. Mostly because the tech isn't there, and the price.

 

[UnknownSouljer]

Sorry, but this is the way Apple has historically always released new products. At a developer conference, Macworld, etc. This just sounds like cope to me. This is not a great product.

Okay? And the Mac Pro is for consumers? You also sorry that a $7000 computer also “won’t sell”? This has been discussed to death ahead of WWDC for months. I knew literally half a year ago it was going to be >$3000 and not be for consumers. You can search this stuff out yourself. Gurman as one example stated it wasn’t going to be a consumer targeted product and that a future one would be.

Your opinion on this doesn’t change who the target is.

Mostly because the tech isn't there, and the price.

Watch MKBHD’s video. No one else has comparable tech in the AR/VR space now.

EDIT: spelling/grammar

 

[westrock2000]

No Google Glass failed because Apple literally lobbied Congress to get it pulled.
https://www.searchenginejournal.com/top-10-places-that-have-banned-google-glass/66585/

This is one of the reasons I absolutely loathe Apple because it steals tech, and when it can't it bans it. Every time Apple tries to do something on it's own it turns out just like this. A huge turd.

Let me tell you a story about Eric Schmidt, Apple Board of Directors, Android and the year 2006.....

 

[Decko87]

Okay? And the Mac Pro is for consumers? You also sorry that a $7000 computer also “won’t sell”? This has been discussed to death ahead of WWDC for months. I knew literally half a year ago it was going to be >$3000 and not be for consumers. You can search this stuff out yourself. Gurman as one example stated it wasn’t going to be a consumer targeted product and that a future one would be.

Your opinion on this doesn’t change who the target is.

Watch MKBHD’s video. No one else had comparable tech in the AR/VR space now.

No one uses AR / VR space compared to most markets. The space is a studio apartment, it's not a phone or computer.

 

[UnknownSouljer]

No one uses AR / VR space compared to most markets. The space is a studio apartment, it's not a phone or computer.

Well in this case it is a computer. But I would agree that the number of people buying VR headsets is incredibly limited. Apple knows this. And that was also my point.

EDIT: and for more context, Apple knows the way to a killer apps is through devs and development in general. This is the long term strategy to eventually build VR/AR that is for consumers. Future tech will be cheaper, and when consumer level product launches the way you win is by already having an ecosystem in place and a killer app. This “dev time” is the “seeding” for that to take place.

Will they be successful in that? That’s a whole different question. But that is in general the strategy.

 

[WhoBeDaPlaya]