5 ms·

Drivers using Apple Vision Pro headsets prompt road safety concerns

25 points by bmwolf102990 3y ago

PaulHoule 3y ago
My MQ 3 refuses to work in the passenger seat in a moving car, it pops up a dialog box that says tracking has failed, maybe you can tell it to run without tracking but I never managed to hit the button. I saw a video where somebody has the same thing happen on the NY subway with an AVP. For spatial computing to really work properly in a vehicle I think you need to keep track of both the world coordinate system and one that tracks the vehicle. In particular a lot of info from the IMU will have to be thrown out. It is probably useful to track small head motions but objects will drift eventually because of the vehicle as a whole accelerating and decelerating.
- sigilis 3y ago
  The Vision Pro works in the passenger seat if you turn on travel mode, ideally prior to starting to move. It would probably allow for you to use it in the driver’s seat as well, but I’m not quite insane enough to check. Windows in this mode stick to the relative position of your head, but they stay fixed relative to the orientation. The pass through is pretty good, even at night, low latency and good enough clarity for seeing cars and stuff.
  - SixDouble5321 3y ago
    I haven't tested it myself, but it appears that it does[1]. 1. https://www.tiktok.com/@alan_drives/video/7332008019284266282 https://www.tiktok.com/@alan_drives/video/733200801928426628...
  - dmalik 3y ago
    Even still an airbag to the face with that in won't be pretty.
    - sigilis 3y ago
      We’ll see how good the pass through is then, I suppose.
bhaney 3y ago
Maybe controversial, but I don't personally see an intrinsic problem with people wearing these things while driving so long as the passthrough is sufficiently low latency and has high enough resolution/fov. Of course the running apps need to not be too distracting, depending on how autonomous the car is. I could honestly see them being a net positive to road focus by overlaying speed and navigation on the user's field of vision so they don't have to glance at their dash speedometer or navigation device all the time. Only fundamental problem is how reliable the passthrough is, but it would take all of a second to whip the headset off if it suddenly went blank for some reason (which would be dangerous, but doesn't seem to be likely and most drivers regularly experience worse obstructions than that hypothetical one).
- tiew9Vii 3y ago
  > I could honestly see them being a net positive to road focus by overlaying speed and navigation on the user's field of vision so they don't have to glance at their dash speedometer or navigation device all the time. Heads up displays projecting basic speed etc on to a windscreen are already a thing. They are fairly good/useful. No need to wear a headset being bombarded with irrelevant notifications from social media, messaging etc. Headset likely to cause physical damage to yourself in a crash as well when the airbag goes off. Wearing a general purpose interactive device while driving is bad for all the reasons why using a mobile phone while driving is illegal in many places. You are not concentrating on the road, you are distracted.
  - bhaney 3y ago
    > Heads up displays projecting basic speed etc on to a windscreen are already a thing Sure, but a lot of cars don't have them, and that's just the speedometer, not the speed limit or navigation directions (which are usually what I'm glancing at my phone's map app to check) > No need to wear a headset being bombarded with irrelevant notifications from social media, messaging etc. I would hope they'd implement a driving mode that suppresses those kinds of distractions, but having that mode at all would need to be preceded by society acknowledging that these devices aren't fundamentally incompatible with driving. Note that my comment said I don't have an intrinsic problem with these kinds of devices being used. The current implementation of them may be sub-par, but I don't feel like there's any fundamental issue here. > Headset likely to cause physical damage to yourself in a crash as well when the airbag goes off That's a valid concern that I hadn't thought of, but we don't generally ban other unnecessary head gear in cars for that reason (sunglasses?), and it would apply just as much to passengers. > you are distracted. I don't think that's an absolute. You can potentially use it as a distraction, or you can use it responsibly, just like anything else.
ryandrake 3y ago
What happens when the Vision Pro runs out of battery or the software crashes? Does the display fail in a see-through mode, or are you suddenly faced with a quite literal blue screen of death?
- junon 3y ago
  Given that it's a VR headset with lots of cameras, I'd wager you simply see black.
- Tagbert 3y ago
  It goes back and you have to pull it off. The front is opaque. These people are idiots.
  - Tagbert 3y ago
    “Back”=“black”
- ProllyInfamous 3y ago
  When the hardware crashes (or before battery depletion) a warning pops up stating `30 seconds before shutdown` while passing through virtualized surroundings.
- deleted 3y ago
  [deleted]
nunez 3y ago
Yay; one more thing that state police departments will selectively enforce.
olliej 3y ago
FFS what kind of utter assholes think this kind of thing is remotely ok.
wkat4242 3y ago
Yeah someone had to be the first idiot. This is why we can't have nice things.

25 points by bmwolf102990 3y ago

My MQ 3 refuses to work in the passenger seat in a moving car, it pops up a dialog box that says tracking has failed, maybe you can tell it to run without tracking but I never managed to hit the button. I saw a video where somebody has the same thing happen on the NY subway with an AVP. For spatial computing to really work properly in a vehicle I think you need to keep track of both the world coordinate system and one that tracks the vehicle. In particular a lot of info from the IMU will have to be thrown out. It is probably useful to track small head motions but objects will drift eventually because of the vehicle as a whole accelerating and decelerating.

sigilis 3y ago
The Vision Pro works in the passenger seat if you turn on travel mode, ideally prior to starting to move. It would probably allow for you to use it in the driver’s seat as well, but I’m not quite insane enough to check. Windows in this mode stick to the relative position of your head, but they stay fixed relative to the orientation. The pass through is pretty good, even at night, low latency and good enough clarity for seeing cars and stuff.
- SixDouble5321 3y ago
  I haven't tested it myself, but it appears that it does[1]. 1. https://www.tiktok.com/@alan_drives/video/7332008019284266282 https://www.tiktok.com/@alan_drives/video/733200801928426628...
- dmalik 3y ago
  Even still an airbag to the face with that in won't be pretty.
  - sigilis 3y ago
    We’ll see how good the pass through is then, I suppose.

bhaney 3y ago

Maybe controversial, but I don't personally see an intrinsic problem with people wearing these things while driving so long as the passthrough is sufficiently low latency and has high enough resolution/fov. Of course the running apps need to not be too distracting, depending on how autonomous the car is. I could honestly see them being a net positive to road focus by overlaying speed and navigation on the user's field of vision so they don't have to glance at their dash speedometer or navigation device all the time. Only fundamental problem is how reliable the passthrough is, but it would take all of a second to whip the headset off if it suddenly went blank for some reason (which would be dangerous, but doesn't seem to be likely and most drivers regularly experience worse obstructions than that hypothetical one).

tiew9Vii 3y ago
> I could honestly see them being a net positive to road focus by overlaying speed and navigation on the user's field of vision so they don't have to glance at their dash speedometer or navigation device all the time. Heads up displays projecting basic speed etc on to a windscreen are already a thing. They are fairly good/useful. No need to wear a headset being bombarded with irrelevant notifications from social media, messaging etc. Headset likely to cause physical damage to yourself in a crash as well when the airbag goes off. Wearing a general purpose interactive device while driving is bad for all the reasons why using a mobile phone while driving is illegal in many places. You are not concentrating on the road, you are distracted.
- bhaney 3y ago
  > Heads up displays projecting basic speed etc on to a windscreen are already a thing Sure, but a lot of cars don't have them, and that's just the speedometer, not the speed limit or navigation directions (which are usually what I'm glancing at my phone's map app to check) > No need to wear a headset being bombarded with irrelevant notifications from social media, messaging etc. I would hope they'd implement a driving mode that suppresses those kinds of distractions, but having that mode at all would need to be preceded by society acknowledging that these devices aren't fundamentally incompatible with driving. Note that my comment said I don't have an intrinsic problem with these kinds of devices being used. The current implementation of them may be sub-par, but I don't feel like there's any fundamental issue here. > Headset likely to cause physical damage to yourself in a crash as well when the airbag goes off That's a valid concern that I hadn't thought of, but we don't generally ban other unnecessary head gear in cars for that reason (sunglasses?), and it would apply just as much to passengers. > you are distracted. I don't think that's an absolute. You can potentially use it as a distraction, or you can use it responsibly, just like anything else.

ryandrake 3y ago

What happens when the Vision Pro runs out of battery or the software crashes? Does the display fail in a see-through mode, or are you suddenly faced with a quite literal blue screen of death?

junon 3y ago
Given that it's a VR headset with lots of cameras, I'd wager you simply see black.
Tagbert 3y ago
It goes back and you have to pull it off. The front is opaque. These people are idiots.
- Tagbert 3y ago
  “Back”=“black”
ProllyInfamous 3y ago
When the hardware crashes (or before battery depletion) a warning pops up stating `30 seconds before shutdown` while passing through virtualized surroundings.
deleted 3y ago
[deleted]

nunez 3y ago

Yay; one more thing that state police departments will selectively enforce.

olliej 3y ago

FFS what kind of utter assholes think this kind of thing is remotely ok.

wkat4242 3y ago

Yeah someone had to be the first idiot. This is why we can't have nice things.