The recent reports on Apple’s glasses

[Bodhitree]

I was just reading this article on The Verge

Apple reportedly chose a standalone AR / VR headset over a more powerful tethered design

Potential plans for a base station were scrapped.

www.theverge.com

The reporting comes from this article at The Information, which details the development history of the coming product…

The Inside Story of Why Apple Bet Big on a Mixed-Reality Headset

In 2016, Apple’s board of directors gathered inside one of its buildings in Cupertino, Calif., for a glimpse into the company’s future. Former Vice President Al Gore, then–Disney CEO Bob Iger and other Apple board members walked from room to room, trying out prototype augmented and virtual ...

www.theinformation.com

It talks a little about how the glasses are going to have 14 cameras, several Apple Silicon processors, and will have a battery in the glasses for a standalone product.

I have to say, it sounds expensive, quite heavy, and I’m not convinced they have solved the many problems that come with this concept. Outward facing cameras have privacy concerns, inward facing ones have limited use.

Good to see that some more information about the glasses is starting to come out though.

 

[giggles]

First of all, I think "glasses" is the wrong word, the word you're looking for is "headset".

About the privacy concerns, I think they will use an outward facing display to make other people aware that you're recording them (by displaying a flashing red dot or something). The outward facing display will show a pair of eyes when you're just watching other people and eyes plus red dot when you're also recording.

 

[michaelprescott]

"Outward facing cameras have privacy concerns, inward facing ones have limited use."

I imagine you are imagining a pair of reading glasses with 14 cameras recording everything in the environment as a person strolls through a public setting. A bit further down the roadmap, yes, they'll deliver lightweight AR/MR technology that resemble regular glasses, but that isn't the first leap forward.

As @giggles noted, think headset, not reading glasses. Developers, content creators, producers, doctors, drivers, pilots, miners, rescue workers, people attending museums and concerts, gamers, surgeons, trainers and trainees, teachers, students, engineers, aunts, uncles, grandparents, and parents... people from all walks of life will find joy, interests, entertainment, communication, creativity, and opportunity in upcoming VR and MR technology. It doesn't need to be something that you wear 16 hours a day any more than you need to carry your laptop, iPad, or iPhone around and out running 16 hours a day. This headset is a giant leap forward in VR+MR technology, and will change how we see and use technology and services going forward. It's been a long time in the making, and Apple has been amazingly strategic in developing and monetizing a wide variety of the components going into this. What we are about to see and experience is the composition of all of these efforts and advances.

I don't think anyone is going to be any more afraid of VR/MR or AR displays than they are of 4K and 8K televisions or 48MP phone cameras. This is just the next leap in computing or rather rendering technology.

As for the inward facing cameras, this is what they are for,

For as much as we love using FaceTime to stay in touch with family, imagine teleporting into the same room no matter where your family is and sitting with them over coffee and a movie. And that, that's just a small piece of what is coming.

 

[Bodhitree]

Well, I’ve actually tried some VR glasses with some of the best current demo’s, and I have to say it was not a pleasant sensation. So if Apple’s “headset” is anything like that, I won’t be buying one. Regardless of how lifelike the avatars are.

 

[michaelprescott]

Well, I’ve actually tried some VR glasses with some of the best current demo’s, and I have to say it was not a pleasant sensation. So if Apple’s “headset” is anything like that, I won’t be buying one. Regardless of how lifelike the avatars are.

That is interesting. I remember back in the day people described lag causing nausea. Something about how you'd turn your head, but what you saw would not move like your brain expected and even when it was subtle and small, it was enough to cause an unpleasant sensation. However, even back in the day, our old Vive seemed to have solved that problem. With our Quest 2, which is certainly a low-end processor and not an outstanding refresh rate, I see no lag. We don't have anything faster or more sophisticated than the Quest 2 right now. Are you saying the newest, best tech is still demonstrating poor, nauseating lag? I'd imagine that would be at the top of the list for Apple to address, and surely their M1's or next gen processors can overcome it.

 

[giggles]

iPhone : early smartphones = Apple View : early VR headesets

Apple is betting the farm on this. Tim Cook has been teasing AR for the longest time, and clearly wants this to be his final heritage. This ain't no HomePod. This ain't no AppleTV. This ain't no hobby. This is also instrumental to the in-car entertainment and autonomous EV vision. So unless people want me to believe that the most advanced consumer electronics company in the world is willing to ship a dud when so much depends on it, I think it's safe to assume that any issue we can think of, Apple has thought of already and possibly solved it. They've demoed the product to Al Gore, I think it's safe to assume it's kinda ready, done, and it doesn't cause deal-breaking nausea to most people.

 

[michaelprescott]

@giggles Absolutely!

Everything they've been developing for years now is incrementally, strategically, obviously leading towards next gen VR/MR/AR. I've been watching their hardware, software, and services and how all of these things work together so fluidly, so easily for years. It seems so obvious to me, what they are striving to achieve, and impressive that they've monetized every component of it along the way. It's strange to me that there are naysayers and even people that seem to be afraid of what is coming. On the one hand, you could just simply describe this as new immersive display technology, nothing to be afraid of, but on the other, it is so much more than that. So much more impressive. Every industry, every job, all forms of media, from sports to movies to gaming are going to be affected. I work with people all over the world. I have family and friends that live all over the country. I can't wait till we can instantly "teleport" into any setting and sit down, talk face to face, watch movies, make plans, play games, and build new things together. It's going to connect and enable people more than any other technology in history.