Welcome to the Vision Pro, Apple’s most complex piece of hardware yet. So complicated that we’ll need more than one teardown to tackle it. First up: Those creepy eyes.
I won’t argue about whether this is dystopian, but the practical reason for the face projection is that they wanted to make this not just something you wear sitting alone in your basement, like most other VR headsets. They wanted it to be usable around other people, at a workplace, with family, etc.
Interacting with someone wearing a full face blind is just weird, so they thought that making the eyes visible would help make this a bit more socially usable.
I’m not sure that’s really going to work out — seems at least as awkward as Google’s failed Glass project — but Apple’s design decision has some merit.
Google Glass really feels smarter in this particular regard.
Also they decided to stuff everything into the headset.
Maybe making it a separate thing and moving as much mass and volume as possible to something worn on your belt or your back would be a better idea. EDIT: But I do understand how this doesn’t fit their marketing.
But that’s what Apple is trying to change. They don’t call it a VR headset. They don’t even use the phrase “virtual reality” because they don’t want people thinking of it as a VR headset.
Their goal is to get people used to wearing a headset to do normal “real” world things. They want it to be AR, not VR. It’s like getting people used to a touchscreen, or not having a headphone jack, or a big-ass notch in the screen.
Their long-term goal is likely glasses that can do the same things as this headset, but with transparent screens, so that they don’t need the outer display. And then it won’t be VR-first, it’ll be AR-first.
I won’t argue about whether this is dystopian, but the practical reason for the face projection is that they wanted to make this not just something you wear sitting alone in your basement, like most other VR headsets. They wanted it to be usable around other people, at a workplace, with family, etc.
Interacting with someone wearing a full face blind is just weird, so they thought that making the eyes visible would help make this a bit more socially usable.
I’m not sure that’s really going to work out — seems at least as awkward as Google’s failed Glass project — but Apple’s design decision has some merit.
Given the number of TV shows and movies around this topic, I can sense this change coming.
If I have to interact with someone that’s wearing goggles, I might go full Luddite.
Google Glass really feels smarter in this particular regard.
Also they decided to stuff everything into the headset.
Maybe making it a separate thing and moving as much mass and volume as possible to something worn on your belt or your back would be a better idea. EDIT: But I do understand how this doesn’t fit their marketing.
It’s a VR headset. It’s not a social experience.
But that’s what Apple is trying to change. They don’t call it a VR headset. They don’t even use the phrase “virtual reality” because they don’t want people thinking of it as a VR headset.
Their goal is to get people used to wearing a headset to do normal “real” world things. They want it to be AR, not VR. It’s like getting people used to a touchscreen, or not having a headphone jack, or a big-ass notch in the screen.
Their long-term goal is likely glasses that can do the same things as this headset, but with transparent screens, so that they don’t need the outer display. And then it won’t be VR-first, it’ll be AR-first.
Way to ignore the entire comment and show that you don’t understand VR in the slightest, all in one sentence.
Ever heard of Taklings House Party? I’ve also spent many a night throwing back a few beers and taking turns in Beat Saber.