Comment by dimmke | Hacker News Reader

Comment by dimmke | Hacker News Reader

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>they're putting a lot of effort into getting the headsets where they need to be.

1. Nobody knows "where they need to be" to become suitable for mass adoption. Definitely better than they are now, but personally I highly doubt I'd feel comfortable using a full VR headset regularly unless it was a "full dive" experience where I don't have to use a controller.

2. Hardware is a lot more difficult than software. Facebook's hardware track record is non existent beyond what they acquired with Oculus, which was a startup.

Apple has more experience designing and producing hardware than Google, Facebook and Amazon combined and if they don't think the tech is ready, it's probably not ready.

3. Why is Mark Zuckerberg the face of this? People find him talking so uncomfortable that they make memes about him being a lizard person. That more than anything is what makes it feel like a billionaire's vanity project. How is he being allowed to bet the entire company on this? Does the board have any real power? If I had any kind of significant equity in Meta I'd be really concerned right now that the CEO seems to be in la-la land and is issuing missives telling his employees to quit.

> I highly doubt I'd feel comfortable using a full VR headset regularly unless it was a "full dive" experience where I don't have to use a controller.

The Quest headsets already have accurate controllerless hand tracking, but not many experiences optimized for the input mode.

> Apple has more experience designing and producing hardware than Google, Facebook and Amazon combined and if they don't think the tech is ready, it's probably not ready.

Apple is releasing a VR headset next year, which means they think the technology is ready.

Apple entering this space will probably do wonders for broader acceptance of the technology, like the dedorkification of smartwatches with the introduction of the apple watch.

You cannot be sure that Apple is releasing anything in any timeframe until it’s actually announced. Things can get scrapped at any point.

What secret sauce has Apple found that will make it more compelling than all other solutions which have utterly failed to gain any traction? Cheaply enough that anyone outside early adopters will want it?

People don’t want to wear glasses for long periods of time in the first place — it’s why LASIK exists.

> People don’t want to wear glasses for long periods of time in the first place — it’s why LASIK exists.

Some people don't, but plenty of people do, or at least would rather where glasses than be blind or take a slightly risky procedure. I'm one of those people.

I've chosen to keep wearing glasses despite LASIK being a thing for 24 years now. Even my own father has gotten LASIK and I haven't.

If anything, getting into VR (I use it for about an hour a day on average, it's become part of my workout routine) has made me want to get the eye surgery more, to make putting on/off the headset more convenient.

For now I've just gotten prescription lenses for my headset, which are definitely a lot better than putting the headset over my glasses, but still not ideal.

Also, I choose to wear glasses instead of contact lenses. I did wear contact lenses for a couple years, but it my eyes dried out a lot, I left them in when I passed out on accident periodically, easy to lose, they were expensive, and my left eye really fought me putting them in. I'm far from the only person, as:

"According to the Vision Council of America, approximately 75% of adults use some sort of vision correction. About 64% of them wear eyeglasses, and about 11% wear contact lenses, either exclusively, or with glasses."[1]

[1]: http://www.glassescrafter.com/information/percentage-populat...

What "secret sauce" did the Apple Watch have that made it more compelling than all the previous smartwatches that utterly failed to gain any traction?

Pancake optics and Apple silicon will probably play a key role in Apple's VR product. But Apple often succeeds where others fail through incredible execution, holistic product design, and the trust they've built with consumers.

> bet the entire company on this?

It's that an exaggeration?

Still, about how much does Meta bet on VR? Maybe compared to profits?

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