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So... what's the killer app for this thing? Best I can tell it's a status symbol for a particular type of computer nerd. But blather about the Apple "Vision"

So... what's the killer app for this thing? Best I can tell it's a status symbol for a particular type of computer nerd. But blather about the Apple "Vision" has replaced blather about GPT based chatbots on HN, so I am thankful for that. But I am not being facetious when I say that I don't see any application for the technology that justifies the $3500 price tag. But I'm more than willing to be educated. Is BMW going to use it to train assembly line workers? Is it going to be used to assist people living in memory care by recognizing faces of people in their field of view and displaying identity annotations? Are construction workers supposed to wear it so they can view 3D plans overlaid on top of actual construction? Maybe it's cameras can create a 3d model of existing construction to beam back to the site architect to get input about how to proceed? These all seem plausible, but none of them are consumer apps. Is Apple now not selling direct to consumers? I just don't get the business around these things.

duffyjp 3y ago
I have a VR headset, and it lives in a cardboard box. The reason is that the only thing I'd actually use it for it does poorly. That being immersive media consumption. By the time you have a virtual movie theater the resolution remaining for the actual movie might as well be a VHS. If this is as good as it sounds like it is, that problem is solved. I won't be getting one for $3500, but if I was single or a higher earner I probably would. I'm sure they'll sell as many as they can make.
ramraj07 3y ago
The killer feature is going to be triggered when cameras that can capture video that this device can put you into come out. I'll happily pay this price and more to be able to record moments in my life and relive them later.
pixl97 3y ago
>Apple "Vision" has replaced blather about GPT based chatbots on HN Heh, this is where you're making a mistake... GPT agents + generated worlds + Apple Vision will be the blather in another year where people go into simulated realities to check out.
- gcr 3y ago
  To be honest, I'm waiting for someone to train a backrooms-style environment based on NeRF to make horror games with these sorts of XR experiences. As much as I hate all the bluster about chatGPT, an application like this could actually work. NeRF models are already fairly capable of generating indoor environments like this, and backrooms-style spaces lean on repetitive structured and uncanniness so having them be generated on-the-fly helps lean into the experience. Imagine DeepDream (2015), but inside apple vision someday. Heading toward whole new frontiers of traumatizing people.
jedberg 3y ago
The power in the headset makes it sound like it replaces your laptop. So for $3,500 I get a new laptop plus a 100 inch screen. To buy those separately would be far more than $3,500. In my case I plan to buy it on day one because I want it for working. I'm tired of having to choose enjoying the nice weather outside while using a tiny 15 inch laptop screen or being inside at my desk with my 3 32" screens. With Apple Vision, I can have my 3 32" screen outside. Or on the road. Or in the office when I drop in for a day. Or anywhere else I may go. It will be a huge boost in productivity and definitely worth the price. That is the killer feature for me -- portability of my most productive setup.
- killerstorm 3y ago
  I kinda doubt it would be comfortable to wear it for 8+ hours... I can't use Quest 2 for more than 30 minutes at a time: sweating, eye strain, etc.
  - prawn 3y ago
    There would be private units within Apple testing this headset for hours and days. And now that it's announced, this testing will be broadened to the more public areas of their facilities. They're gunning directly for work/productivity use, because of or despite what they've learned about how people feel using it. Either thinking people will use it for a couple of hours with occasional breaks (lunch, etc) or the nausea and so on are less of an issue. This is a massive investment/bet, so presumably they know what they're doing.
  - whatarethembits 3y ago
    This is v1, I think it’d be a safe bet that those things won’t be an issue in v10. Have to start somewhere, and this is one heck of a start.
    - retrocryptid 3y ago
      We've been working on fixing those issues since 1985. In the past decade we've gone from 20% of people getting nauseous wearing hmds to 17% of people getting nauseous. Is it just because it's an iProduct that it will magically not have the same problems?
jmbwell 3y ago
Apple positioning this for “Work” addresses that. It also conveniently diminishes concerns about things like the battery (if you’re at a desk, plugging in is no problem) and controls (if the gestures bother you, use a keyboard and trackpad). The work scenario could just mean using it for meetings and collaboration, or it could just mean working with large virtual screens. In any case, if you’re working from your bedroom or from your drab office, a virtual environment could be, I dunno, refreshing? What if we could /all/ work in a beautiful space with lots of natural material surfaces and huge windows with views of beautiful forests? Sure, it’s all fake, but maybe fake nature is better than real offices? “Work” also gives you reason to pick it up every day, unlike my neglected Oculus and Vive. If it’s useful for work and easy to slap on, I might bother to keep it charged and handy on my desk. And then it won’t really matter what I’m wearing when I get on a Teams call…
LexGray 3y ago
Some general use cases: - training/education: say giving you tips and correcting you while cooking with checklist recipes and concurrent demos of the current step. Works for painting, fixing instrument finger positions, workout tips, STEM, or anything where you would want to use your hands instead of holding something. There was a keynote section about the watch helping with golf swings and the like. - Streaming: there were apparently some terrific sports/concerts front row seat demos. Some were willing to plunk down $1000 courtside subscriptions instead of $1000/ticket seats. TikTok but far more intimate in the room with them experiences. - decorating: there was a demo where a wall became a portal to a Jurassic period. Imagine the decorating possibility of an aquarium in your living room and a planetarium on your ceiling. Virtual pets cavorting and visitors just popping into your living room via a portal. Create a literal dream home on the cheap. -escape/relaxation: live in a noisy bright urban center? Just cut it all light and noise out with your private getaway helmet. If you are paying $2000 a month for a so-so living space it would be a good add on. Personally I value having a great bed and a great car because treating yourself makes it worthwhile. Having a dream environment the times I am alone? Having a theatre experience stuck on the toilet? I am looking forward to when the hardware can simultaneously do all of this at once.
bodge5000 3y ago
The idea of virtual displays seems practical, right now if you want another monitor (or to make your primary one larger) you need the desk space + the money to add that on, which virtual monitors solves. However, how practical that really ends up being relies on how the OS is positioned and the kind of thing it can run. If it ends up like MacOS, yeh I can see that being very useful, but if it ends up like iPadOS (or god forbid iOS), well I can just say anecdotally after owning an ipad for however-many years this is the first time I've even considered using multiple monitors for that kind of thing.
scarface_74 3y ago
http://premiumblend.net/2009/01/13/flashback-to-feb-1984-john-c-dvorak-disses-that-new-fangled-device-the-computer-mouse/ http://premiumblend.net/2009/01/13/flashback-to-feb-1984-joh... https://m.slashdot.org/story/21026 https://m.slashdot.org/story/21026 https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/gadgets-news/watch-microsoft-ceo-steve-ballmer-laughs-at-iphone/amp_articleshow/92539357.cms https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/gadgets-news/watch-micro... https://www.nytimes.com/2010/03/29/technology/29apple.html https://www.nytimes.com/2010/03/29/technology/29apple.html https://money.cnn.com/2015/02/04/technology/apple-watch-flop/index.html https://money.cnn.com/2015/02/04/technology/apple-watch-flop...

duffyjp 3y ago

I have a VR headset, and it lives in a cardboard box. The reason is that the only thing I'd actually use it for it does poorly. That being immersive media consumption. By the time you have a virtual movie theater the resolution remaining for the actual movie might as well be a VHS. If this is as good as it sounds like it is, that problem is solved. I won't be getting one for $3500, but if I was single or a higher earner I probably would. I'm sure they'll sell as many as they can make.

ramraj07 3y ago

The killer feature is going to be triggered when cameras that can capture video that this device can put you into come out. I'll happily pay this price and more to be able to record moments in my life and relive them later.

pixl97 3y ago

>Apple "Vision" has replaced blather about GPT based chatbots on HN Heh, this is where you're making a mistake... GPT agents + generated worlds + Apple Vision will be the blather in another year where people go into simulated realities to check out.

gcr 3y ago
To be honest, I'm waiting for someone to train a backrooms-style environment based on NeRF to make horror games with these sorts of XR experiences. As much as I hate all the bluster about chatGPT, an application like this could actually work. NeRF models are already fairly capable of generating indoor environments like this, and backrooms-style spaces lean on repetitive structured and uncanniness so having them be generated on-the-fly helps lean into the experience. Imagine DeepDream (2015), but inside apple vision someday. Heading toward whole new frontiers of traumatizing people.

jedberg 3y ago

The power in the headset makes it sound like it replaces your laptop. So for $3,500 I get a new laptop plus a 100 inch screen. To buy those separately would be far more than $3,500. In my case I plan to buy it on day one because I want it for working. I'm tired of having to choose enjoying the nice weather outside while using a tiny 15 inch laptop screen or being inside at my desk with my 3 32" screens. With Apple Vision, I can have my 3 32" screen outside. Or on the road. Or in the office when I drop in for a day. Or anywhere else I may go. It will be a huge boost in productivity and definitely worth the price. That is the killer feature for me -- portability of my most productive setup.

killerstorm 3y ago
I kinda doubt it would be comfortable to wear it for 8+ hours... I can't use Quest 2 for more than 30 minutes at a time: sweating, eye strain, etc.
- prawn 3y ago
  There would be private units within Apple testing this headset for hours and days. And now that it's announced, this testing will be broadened to the more public areas of their facilities. They're gunning directly for work/productivity use, because of or despite what they've learned about how people feel using it. Either thinking people will use it for a couple of hours with occasional breaks (lunch, etc) or the nausea and so on are less of an issue. This is a massive investment/bet, so presumably they know what they're doing.
- whatarethembits 3y ago
  This is v1, I think it’d be a safe bet that those things won’t be an issue in v10. Have to start somewhere, and this is one heck of a start.
  - retrocryptid 3y ago
    We've been working on fixing those issues since 1985. In the past decade we've gone from 20% of people getting nauseous wearing hmds to 17% of people getting nauseous. Is it just because it's an iProduct that it will magically not have the same problems?

jmbwell 3y ago

Apple positioning this for “Work” addresses that. It also conveniently diminishes concerns about things like the battery (if you’re at a desk, plugging in is no problem) and controls (if the gestures bother you, use a keyboard and trackpad). The work scenario could just mean using it for meetings and collaboration, or it could just mean working with large virtual screens. In any case, if you’re working from your bedroom or from your drab office, a virtual environment could be, I dunno, refreshing? What if we could /all/ work in a beautiful space with lots of natural material surfaces and huge windows with views of beautiful forests? Sure, it’s all fake, but maybe fake nature is better than real offices? “Work” also gives you reason to pick it up every day, unlike my neglected Oculus and Vive. If it’s useful for work and easy to slap on, I might bother to keep it charged and handy on my desk. And then it won’t really matter what I’m wearing when I get on a Teams call…

LexGray 3y ago

Some general use cases: - training/education: say giving you tips and correcting you while cooking with checklist recipes and concurrent demos of the current step. Works for painting, fixing instrument finger positions, workout tips, STEM, or anything where you would want to use your hands instead of holding something. There was a keynote section about the watch helping with golf swings and the like. - Streaming: there were apparently some terrific sports/concerts front row seat demos. Some were willing to plunk down $1000 courtside subscriptions instead of $1000/ticket seats. TikTok but far more intimate in the room with them experiences. - decorating: there was a demo where a wall became a portal to a Jurassic period. Imagine the decorating possibility of an aquarium in your living room and a planetarium on your ceiling. Virtual pets cavorting and visitors just popping into your living room via a portal. Create a literal dream home on the cheap. -escape/relaxation: live in a noisy bright urban center? Just cut it all light and noise out with your private getaway helmet. If you are paying $2000 a month for a so-so living space it would be a good add on. Personally I value having a great bed and a great car because treating yourself makes it worthwhile. Having a dream environment the times I am alone? Having a theatre experience stuck on the toilet? I am looking forward to when the hardware can simultaneously do all of this at once.

bodge5000 3y ago

The idea of virtual displays seems practical, right now if you want another monitor (or to make your primary one larger) you need the desk space + the money to add that on, which virtual monitors solves. However, how practical that really ends up being relies on how the OS is positioned and the kind of thing it can run. If it ends up like MacOS, yeh I can see that being very useful, but if it ends up like iPadOS (or god forbid iOS), well I can just say anecdotally after owning an ipad for however-many years this is the first time I've even considered using multiple monitors for that kind of thing.

scarface_74 3y ago

http://premiumblend.net/2009/01/13/flashback-to-feb-1984-john-c-dvorak-disses-that-new-fangled-device-the-computer-mouse/ http://premiumblend.net/2009/01/13/flashback-to-feb-1984-joh... https://m.slashdot.org/story/21026 https://m.slashdot.org/story/21026 https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/gadgets-news/watch-microsoft-ceo-steve-ballmer-laughs-at-iphone/amp_articleshow/92539357.cms https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/gadgets-news/watch-micro... https://www.nytimes.com/2010/03/29/technology/29apple.html https://www.nytimes.com/2010/03/29/technology/29apple.html https://money.cnn.com/2015/02/04/technology/apple-watch-flop/index.html https://money.cnn.com/2015/02/04/technology/apple-watch-flop...