from Hacker News

Apple Reveals 'Vision Pro' Headset

by clairity on 6/5/23, 6:27 PM with 160 comments

  • by paxys on 6/5/23, 6:57 PM

    The hardware is no doubt impressive, as expected, but I just can't see myself in any of the situations they keep showing in VR/AR demos.

    Does someone really sit on their couch, put on a massive headset, and scroll through their vacation photos? Does someone watch an entire 2+ hour movie with a sweaty headset strapped to them (and plugged in to a socket) instead of on a couch with their family/friends? Would I want to be in a group call with generated avatars of people rather than their actual faces? If the kids are having a fun moment would I want to run inside, grab my headset, strap it on and record a video, or just go join them? Would I rather work on this all day instead of a laptop?

    And the one thing I could maybe see this being useful for – gaming – was barely even mentioned in their keynote.

    If I'm dropping $3,500 and cutting myself off from the outside world (and no, that weird eye display thing doesn't count), a half-assed substitute for consuming the same content as I would on any other screen isn't going to cut it. Show me the actual future, in terms of software/content/communication/immersiveness, then we'll talk.

  • by thom on 6/5/23, 7:07 PM

    Trying to imagine spending $3499 for some giant goggles and then ruining my daughter's birthday refusing to take them off. I hope my divorce lawyer will have Facetime, at least.

  • by methodical on 6/5/23, 6:49 PM

    A little bit dystopian looking, but I think the potential is massive here. Just imagining the potential for the 3d photos/videos to basically put you back into places and times and truly experience either places or people who no longer exist feels absolutely monumental alone, ignoring all the other potential here.

    On the dystopian front, I believe that the problem is that any AR/VR headset is going to require a similar form factor to include all computational pieces and sensors. I truly believe they would've made it look a lot more like regular glasses if it was feasible. I think over time the Vision Pro will start to approach something of the sort when that technology becomes available.

  • by nerdjon on 6/5/23, 6:56 PM

    To me the important part of this is not how it looks, but the potential for this.

    It is clear that this is a a first product in a category that will change a lot over the next several years, especially as the hardware improves.

    I don't see Apple discontinuing this quickly like Google Glasses and Microsoft HoloLens.

    I would not wear this out, but in a few years maybe things can shrink down enough to make that more realistic.

  • by jl6 on 6/5/23, 6:53 PM

    Like all headsets, a lot will depend on the image quality. If it’s smooth and high res, it could be a monitor replacement - and that would be a killer app. But if it’s janky, pixelated or blurry or still has the screen door effect, it may just be tiresome.

  • by mns on 6/5/23, 6:49 PM

    The Apple keynotes in the last couple of years seem like some weird ads created by these evil corporations from Robocop or Black Mirror. I'm expecting them to present a new urban pacification robot or something similar, so you never have to leave your house and live magically in your loft meditating in the amazing virtual space created by the new Vision Pro.

  • by dlondon on 6/5/23, 6:59 PM

    Meta acquired Oculus nearly ten years ago. Apple just made Zuckerberg's whole product vision obsolete with this announcement. Quest could be (maybe) what's Android for mobiles.

  • by _h0u2 on 6/5/23, 6:40 PM

    So is this selectively dimming parts of the screen to achieve the darkness effect on UI elements, or is it taking a 3D map of your face and projecting it onto a screen on the end?

    It seems Apple's primary selling point will be decent software, which the VR space desperately needs. E.g.

    > Vision Pro also allows users to connect to their Mac and expand its display in a virtual space, including alongside apps running on Vision Pro itself.

    has been possible for a while, just poorly. Hopefully this'll create some good competition.

  • by Cu3PO42 on 6/5/23, 6:54 PM

    I'm extremely sceptical about so many aspects of this device: Are the displays going to be sharp enough to feel immersive? Are the controls going to be accurate enough to not be annoying? Will it be comfortable for extended use? Will the virtual screen system truly offer more than a normal screen? And there's so many more things...

    However, I have to concede that Apple has a history of entering a market only when they think they got it right. And often enough, they do get it right, so I'm also hopeful that a lot of these concerns won't be big issues.

    I'm definitely excited to try it out.

  • by danjoredd on 6/5/23, 6:42 PM

    This is going to be used for so much porn...

  • by stirlo on 6/5/23, 6:51 PM

    The FaceTime demo was interesting. Sure you can see you friends calls floating around the room...

    But what do they see? And what happens when you call your friend who also owns a Vision Pro?

  • by ActorNightly on 6/5/23, 6:39 PM

    The sad thing is, people are going to wear these in public, and nobody is going to think they look dumb, because Apple.

  • by snemvalts on 6/5/23, 6:44 PM

    Very dystopian. Can't wait for them to be required for work like smartphones /s

  • by scop on 6/5/23, 6:39 PM

    this will be great for people who’ve lost their entire family in some tragic accident

  • by evo_9 on 6/5/23, 6:56 PM

    It's better than I expected so far. I think it's quite revealing that VR was not mentioned once.

    Also - this paves the way to Mac Laptops (and desktops) without displays, which to me is the big win here.

  • by dv_dt on 6/5/23, 6:53 PM

    I wonder what a serious CAD or 3D modeling app on this would feel like.

  • by thadt on 6/5/23, 6:47 PM

    Someone on the design team saw a lensor from The Chronicles of Riddick and said "THIS - this is the future. Make sure it has the leash coming off the back too."

  • by buttersbrian on 6/5/23, 7:02 PM

    Ski Goggles are now going to be fashion-forward. Take the back to the future Air Mag shoes with these and you'll complete the fit.

  • by tkiolp4 on 6/5/23, 7:01 PM

    So, all revolutionary Apple products have one thing in common: they are easy to use and work out of the box without further expansions/extras from their version 1.0 on.

    Ipod: it just works. No need to swap AA batteries any more.

    MBP: light and powerful, all in one.

    Iphone: the whole internet in my pocket.

    But, Vision Pro Headset doesn’t feel like that. The cable that goes behind… awful. You use glasses, oh well, then the headset won’t work out of the box until you buy the appropriate lenses for it. 2h of battery… well, I guess it will stay more time connected to the charger than in use.

    I know, they’ll improve it substantially in v2… but my point is: if v1 is not good enough, then perhaps v2 would never come to life.

  • by standeven on 6/5/23, 7:18 PM

    I'm torn - it can replace my monitors, but then I'm tethered and wearing a headset all day. It can replace my TV, but then I can't watch a movie with my wife or family. And $3500 can buy a pretty nice monitor and TV setup.

  • by nkrisc on 6/5/23, 7:25 PM

    Is immersing yourself in your computing environment and applications something people really want to do? I'm already spending most of my workday sitting at a desk in front of my computer. The idea of wearing a headset and further isolating myself from my physical surroundings for any amount of time longer than a few minutes is incredibly unappealing, regardless of how good the hardware is.

    I can imagine many use cases where I pop it on for a minute to check something and then take it off again. But none of them are something that would make me spend my own money on this. Someone else's money, maybe.

  • by teacpde on 6/5/23, 7:04 PM

    With the $3499 price tag, this isn't really something Apple intends to compete with any other VR/AR headsets.

  • by seatac76 on 6/5/23, 6:54 PM

    Mass adoption seems questionable but boy there is so much potential here, in bespoke work settings like health, media, manufacturing and simulation training. Might end up being revolutionary as a work device.

  • by Ajedi32 on 6/5/23, 8:15 PM

    Obviously this is ludicrously expensive (as expected), and I feel like that's probably going to ensure it remains a bit of a niche for now, but there are some good ideas here I hope other headsets will take inspiration from.

    - External battery is something I've been hoping to see popularized for for a while. It would be nice if they could also put the compute module in there too (if they aren't already) to take even more weight off the head and possibly allow for modular compute units or connection to a PC.

    - Iris scan is a natural way to handle authentication in a headset with eye tracking, I hope that becomes the standard in the future.

    - I'm really intrigued by the choice to not have controllers, and what that will mean for their interface design. I see they copied the "click" gesture from Quest and some aspects of Quest's windowing system, but there seems to be some genuinely innovative stuff there too in regards to other hand gestures and eye tracking.

    - I'm hopeful Apple's entrance into the market will set a standard for the level of polish and responsiveness that others will have to work to match

    - I haven't heard much details about the new OS, but there's plenty of room for innovation there as well especially in regards to OS-level performance optimizations and API design.

  • by torginus on 6/5/23, 7:04 PM

    Is it just me, or is there barely anything here that's not possible with existing Oculus headsets (or stuff that's about to be released, like eye tracking), for way less?

    Also the architecture of strapping a computer to your face instead of having a powerful desktop PC stream the screen wirelessly to your face seems like a bad call. Poor battery life, little power, and that wired battery pouch thing does not inspire confidence.

  • by snarkyturtle on 6/5/23, 6:48 PM

    The most dystopian part of it is that it takes away from TV/Gaming from being a social aspect to everyone being in their own pod and silo.

  • by kertoip_1 on 6/5/23, 6:38 PM

    Their slogan should be: "scuba diving into virtual reality"

  • by throwvisionaway on 6/5/23, 6:56 PM

    The 3D video recording/watching feature made me slightly uncomfortable by reminding me of the movie "Strange Days". I imagine the porn industry has their own use cases for it (which Apple itself will of course never mention).

  • by tkanarsky on 6/5/23, 7:09 PM

    wow. The attention to spatial detail really makes this stand out from any other headset on the market.

    Apple really are the kings of making incredibly advanced technology seem, for lack of a better word, magical. They showed the headset has a really fancy two axis motorized system for lining up the lenses with the user's eyes -- something literally no other headset has tackled -- but didn't elaborate on it. The assumption is it's just what's required to deliver a good experience, not something to be used as a selling point in and of itself.

  • by dabluecaboose on 6/5/23, 7:03 PM

    $3499 is somehow not as bad I was expecting given how much Apple charges for Studio monitors. Gonna be interested to see this thing in-person at an Apple store next year.

  • by Arch-TK on 6/5/23, 9:31 PM

    Big if works exactly as shown. But unfortunately if it does work exactly as shown that also means you'll be locked into apple's ecosystem and it will only interoperate with other apple stuff which is only a good thing if you've already bought in.

    It's a steep price to pay for 2 hours (at a time, unless you're plugged in) of something you could already do more or less well enough with what you already had.

  • by msie on 6/5/23, 6:48 PM

    So for glass-wearers you have to buy prescription lenses that fit inside the headset?

  • by rgacote on 6/5/23, 8:42 PM

    Interesting that accessibility was not a theme (watched the online video, not the presentation). I'm interested to see what some low-sight folk might use this. Go shopping and have all the product labels magnified 20-30x?

  • by andsoitis on 6/5/23, 6:56 PM

  • by nokeya on 6/5/23, 7:13 PM

    What about the weight? It is crucial, it can easily eliminate all positive sides of the device. 12 cameras, 5 sensors, 2 CPUs, battery and the front screen - looks like a heavy device.

  • by ask_b123 on 6/5/23, 7:01 PM

    I've liked the presentation more than I expected; not that I'm 100% sold, but previously I hadn't even considered getting one at all.

  • by ififff on 6/6/23, 3:16 PM

    Should be worn during time of conception of child. Would make better movies, that could have a worldwide market. Just saying!

  • by jshaqaw on 6/5/23, 7:15 PM

    I’d pay 3.5k to have three large screen monitors working at home without cluttering up the house with 3 actual large monitors.

  • by 120bits on 6/5/23, 6:56 PM

    I really want to watch Interstellar in 4K on Vision Pro. I do wear glasses so I'm not sure how long I can wear this.

  • by malthaus on 6/5/23, 6:57 PM

    they couldn't have made more creepy yet dystopian looking marketing images / videos if they tried, crazy

  • by pg_bot on 6/5/23, 7:03 PM

    Price is $3,499. Who is this product for?

  • by msie on 6/5/23, 6:57 PM

    I like the shot of someone laying on the bed and using it. It has to be comfortable for that scenario.

  • by lallysingh on 6/5/23, 7:00 PM

    So can you type? I don't want to speak into a room when filling in a private text form.

  • by msie on 6/5/23, 7:02 PM

    Exciting to see what mods people will come up for this device.

  • by ArlenBales on 6/5/23, 7:00 PM

    So this is a VR headset and not AR? Or does it also do AR? They haven't shown that yet.

    I was really hoping for AR centric device, like a vastly superior Google Glass. VR isn't exactly revolutionary at this point.

  • by msie on 6/5/23, 6:58 PM

    Unity's ass was saved by this presentation.

  • by simonjgreen on 6/5/23, 7:03 PM

    $3.5k though?!

  • by artyn on 6/5/23, 6:52 PM

    I see that there is a cord to it. Where does it connect to? Does it connect to the wall? I was hoping this would be usable for camping.

  • by msie on 6/5/23, 6:59 PM

    No Unreal support?

  • by cyberpunk on 6/5/23, 7:04 PM

    $3499 though… sucks teeth

  • by SenHeng on 6/5/23, 7:03 PM

    $3499.

  • by briandear on 6/5/23, 6:39 PM

    WOW. This is just amazing.