this post was submitted on 19 Jan 2024
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[–] [email protected] 28 points 9 months ago (4 children)

Monitors. It's not there yet but imagine a world where you have like 8, 30-inch, 4k monitors in a giant grid and it costs like $600. That's the endgame here. Get VR tech to the point where it's better than buying physical displays for general productivity.

[–] [email protected] 8 points 9 months ago (2 children)

Though in that case, I'd rather have these virtual displays driven by my PC, not some bs apple ecosystem.

And their resolution and size are arbitrary. Those have meaning in the physical world because they are physical objects that need to have dimensions and must fit those pixels within that space. For virtual displays, it's only limited by how much of your field of view would you like to dedicate to each display and how high is the resolution of your headset.

And this is only really scratching at the surface of what AR might be capable of. Why use virtual displays when windows could be displayed floating without a display? Why use windows when UI elements could be floating on their own? Why show a screen playing a video when you could render the video as a semi-transparent 3d scene happening around the viewer (other than the obvious "because it's in video format, not 3d)?

That said, I'll wait for someone else to do it since apple likes to take good ideas and simplify them down to the point of frustration.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 9 months ago

Yeah I don't want Apple's implementation either, just saying to the other guy where I thought the endgame was headed

[–] [email protected] 2 points 9 months ago

Your vision starts with iVision. You can see that Apple is trying to do most of that. If the high priced niche product succeeds, everyone else will jump on that bandwagon and your vision is a few years away

[–] [email protected] 2 points 9 months ago (2 children)

You can get that for $500 with the quest 3

[–] [email protected] 5 points 9 months ago (1 children)

The resolution isn't quite there yet, and I think the headset is too heavy to wear for 8hrs a day, 5 days a week (plus leisure if you're a gamer or hobbyist)

[–] [email protected] 0 points 9 months ago

Quest 3 is light. 515 grams. Vision Pro is 600-650 grams.

Yes, pass through resolution isn't there yet. Virtual monitor are fine though, especially large.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 9 months ago (1 children)

No you can't.

The resolution is not close to sufficient for a monitor with any meaningful amount of text on it. Your eyes will be bleeding in about 2 minutes.

[–] [email protected] 0 points 9 months ago (1 children)

For pass-through monitor reading, yeah. 4MP won't compare to the iVision's 12MP. But "Quest generated" monitors are perfectly fine, especially if you blow them up to 8 feet.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 9 months ago (1 children)

I'm not talking about passing monitors through. I'm talking about having multiple virtual monitors in your field of view.

A shitty virtual 1080p screen taking your entire field of view is not even vaguely capable of being used for productivity purposes. It's not remotely close. The whole point of multiple physical displays is to have a meaningful amount of information directly visible at once.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 9 months ago (1 children)

1080p doesn't exist in a virtual environment.

[–] [email protected] 0 points 9 months ago (1 children)

That's the generous best case of what you can tell a computer to display to, and it is still guaranteed to make text look like absolute shit.

It is not possible to use the terrible resolution of any of the quests to replace multiple physical monitors for productivity. The displays are bad for literally everything but entertainment.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 9 months ago (1 children)

I've used it. Have you? You won't be editing photos, but reading text is perfectly fine.

BTW, The Quest 3 has the same horizontal resolution as the Vision pro.

[–] [email protected] 0 points 9 months ago (1 children)

Yes. The exact same reason you admitted that you can't pass through a monitor is the reason it cannot possibly be used for any productivity requiring text. The density real monitors have is the density you have to have for productivity use.

Text is not mediocre. It's absolute, blow your brains out trash. You cannot do meaningful reading on it.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 9 months ago

Yes, reading passthough text is trash. The upgraded 4MP cameras on the quest 3 are still not good enough. I'm not convinced the apple's 6.5MP will be sufficient either.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 9 months ago (2 children)

the use cases ive seen would never use this, like 911. having run a 911 center, this product would never be implemented despite the 8 giant monitors at each station.

this is just an incredibly niche product, with very niche uses.. and realistically its a toy that might be also used by some very specific industries.

[–] [email protected] 8 points 9 months ago (1 children)

Why not? it's a lot more space efficient; it's a lot more power efficient. The only thing holding it back is cost and comfort. I'm a developer rocking 4 monitors standard for work and I can absolutely imagine a world where I just have a desk, a keyboard, and a headset.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 9 months ago (4 children)

its about use case. in a 911 center, for example, all people need immediate access to all information in the room... often personnel not sitting at that station it is a non-static environment for a plural audience.

and cost is not really an issue anymore. giant, flat screens are Dirt cheap. this will never, ever be cheaper than the equivalent. they have new monitor tech rolling out that is literally like wallpaper.

i just cannot envision a generic use case that would make it popular

[–] [email protected] 4 points 9 months ago* (last edited 9 months ago) (1 children)

In 911 centers does anyone use a headset for answering calls or are all calls only on loud speakers?

AR/VR could work the same. You have your private view screen just like you have your headset. When you press a button, your view becomes public on a large standard display that anyone can see just like when you press a button to switch from headset to loud speaker.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 9 months ago (1 children)

a little of both. they wear headsets and have little local speakers per station. in a room you can get a pretty good idea of what each station is doin if youre within range

but this all just sounds like extra, more expensive steps to whats currently happening. this is a product begging for a problem to solve.. and remember, existing solutions are continually cheaper and easier to implement.

also, no op is going to want to wear some giant head thing for a 12 hour shift. reminds me of when they pushed touchscreens like it was the end-all be-all of compute (even in 911!) turns out no one wants to keep raising their hand constantly for 12 hours.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 9 months ago (1 children)

also, no op is going to want to wear some giant head thing for a 12 hour shift.

Who would want to wear a headset for 12 hour shift? I get irritated after an hour of wearing headphones.

I got my kids some Quest 2's last year and it's amazing. So I can see in 10 years it might be good for productivity. Dismissing it because it isn't useful for 911 call centers is kind of ridiculous.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 9 months ago* (last edited 9 months ago) (2 children)

my only point is that it will be a toy, or for niche applications. this isnt going to be a an ipad-level device.

i think you can find a direct parallel in the amount of touch screen desktop interfaces today.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 9 months ago

But it's a replacement/supplement for a monitor in the same way an iPhone is a replacement for an old style cell phone. The iPad is an extremely niche solution but there are still enough niches for it to sell well.

Smartphones had many drawbacks compared to old phones too. The only huge problem with the Apple AR is the price.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 9 months ago* (last edited 9 months ago)

my only point is that it will be a toy, or for niche applications.

Your only point is the same point people with no idea of how things work have been making since forever. "It's just a fad". This was claimed about cars, about the internet, about computers, about videogames... Literally anyone who's out of touch with reality and resents their lack of creativity or ability to think of a use for a groundbreaking technology positions themselves this way. It's not new, and maybe it's sometimes worth debating, but not when you follow it up with something like this:

this isnt going to be a an ipad-level device.

The iPad? Really? That's your idea of a gamechanger? If you think ipads are anything except "a toy" and "for niche applications", you're living your wildest years, my dude.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 9 months ago (1 children)

we know you can’t lol

that doesn’t mean they don’t exist though

[–] [email protected] 2 points 9 months ago (2 children)

right, i totally missed all those examples you provided

[–] [email protected] 1 points 9 months ago (1 children)

But you set up one example, just to knock it down. What about people who WFH? This sounds great for them.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 9 months ago

yep, or hippa compliance

[–] [email protected] 0 points 9 months ago

Dude you obviously aren’t going to listen.

You decided this product isn’t going to be useful for anyone because you personally don’t see any utility.

You’re personally offended Apple didn’t make a VR headset for you. I’m sorry kid.

What I don’t get is the caustic hostility you’re displaying in this thread about a product for creative professionals and tradesmen (of which you are neither).

[–] [email protected] 4 points 9 months ago

I don’t understand this. Using something like this would give people more immediate access to all the information in the room and increase the amount of information they have access to. Your vision isn’t obscured with this. That’s why they’re calling it a “spatial computer”.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 9 months ago

You can still make the same argument about laptops. Desktop computers and monitors are dirt cheap and so much better than laptops that I just can’t envision a generic use case that would make it popular …. Yet that most of the market now

[–] [email protected] 1 points 9 months ago

When the iPad came out everyone thought it was the dumbest thing ever 🤷‍♂️

[–] [email protected] 1 points 9 months ago (1 children)

I don't understand how that would work, I work a lot across multiple spreadsheets and looking from screen to screen is ideal. Moving my eyes to look from division to seems straining.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 9 months ago

You wouldn't just move your eyes you'd move your head the same as you'd do at a desk. That's the tracking part of the headsets