It seems pretty clear that Apple’s bringing something forward for AR in the next few weeks, and that it’ll be pretty expensive ($3000 USD was the last number I heard).
What would the thing need to do/have/be for you to buy it?
I could be tempted if it seems like a realistic way to get rid of desktop displays. The idea of having virtual displays all over my office that I could interact with is kind of exciting. I’ve heard about this use case from others who have Oculus gear and they like it, so it’s not that unbelievable!
I honestly can’t see what I’d buy it, even at less than £1000.
I don’t know where I’d use it. I don’t want to watch TV or films on a headset, or use a computer. I could see it for gaming, but I don’t play those sort of games.
I can’t come up with a single reason why I would buy it, even at $500 much less 3000. But, time will tell. If overtime they present a compelling case then, obviously, I would consider it. Gaming is not something I have any interest in, so that is irrelevant to me. And, I don’t want to strap a screen to my face. I already have too much screen time the way it is.
If Mark Gurman is correct and Apple is “bringing its Safari, mail, messaging, photos, FaceTime, and Freeform apps to the device.”, it sounds like this first version may only be VR.
And if you are FaceTiming with goggles are the two of you just staring at each other’s eyes? I don’t see any version of AR/VR googles in my future.
Not for $3,000, but let’s say the price eventually dropped to $500? Real-time AR guided home repair (or any kind of DIY for that matter) would be a win in my book.
I’ll probably buy it if its Facetime mode were to allow a significant amount of low latency/high bandwidth nonverbal communication, and enough other people also get it. I bet that won’t happen for a couple years, but who knows?
Making really big spatial layouts possible also intrigues me. Huge whiteboards everywhere with realtime documents on them, etc.
I have a Meta Quest Pro that is impressively disappointing, and I expect the Apple product to be better but also disappointing. However, I might get one. It depends on the integrations available and the headset’s comfort for me. I’m curious about VR, especially from a productivity perspective.
I look forward to the day when I can walk through my own knowledge graph, have unlimited high-fidelity whiteboards, collab with my remote colleagues, and “hang out” with far away friends and family.
After my experiences in the VR labs at my university I am not interested.
I’ve used VR goggles that cost much more than 3k, and while they are nice for about 10 mins, I always get a headache with prolonged use.
AR is slightly better. We have HoloLens goggles which I can use for around 30 mins before I get a headache.
We have high-resolution and frame-rate goggles and that doesn’t make it better for me, even the tethered ones with crazy frame rates from high end gaming PCs still cause a headache for me.
It seems around 20% of people get these symptoms, according to our XR director. I imagine the return rate on these will be high at the price point.
My kids like playing games on them, which I believe will be the main reason to use them in the next few years. But for me I much prefer to not use hardware that makes me feel unwell.
I’m over the whole AR/VR thing. I haven’t seen or played anything that has balanced the annoyance of a steamy box strapped to my face or waving my phone around.
This vaporware has been peddled for years now—wonder if the Apple leakers are running out of rumors at the mill.
You don’t think they’re going to ship something in this space? They have trademarked several “xrOS” variants and the WWDC teaser appears to be a lens glancing over the Apple Swift logo:
Yes, I want the big virtual whiteboards. I’d be happy to get rid of all my monitors if there were a comfortable, affordable, set of glasses/goggles to replace them with.
I think the rumor has been overhyped and the trademark filings with supposed links to Apple are dubious at best. If they do, I’m interested to see what their angle is, because I think demand would be difficult to stir up at their desired margins.
I see the lens in the animated Swift logo (slick!). It absolutely could be related, but I also see it representing a wave, or improvements to SwiftUI.
I’m fine with being wrong too, we are speculating about speculation after all
I would love to see this. Having a functional widescreen available when and where needed would be fantastic. I don’t think technology is there yet - to produce a virtual, clear, non sickness inducing screen that has the resolution of a real desktop. But, it is fun to think of having an entire wall/room for a virtual whiteboard/command centre.
For me, Apple would have to engineer something that won’t make me motion-sick. I’ve got a vestibular disorder, so I really doubt I’ll ever be able to use AR goggles.
Reasonably priced glasses that are indistinguishable from regular glasses/sunglasses might appeal to me, if they provide a useful heads up display over the world, but I can’t imagine anything that would make wearing ski goggles something that I’d be willing to do while not skiing.
I already have too much screen time the way it is.
