Apple fans are starting to return their Vision Pros
theverge.com
theverge.com
They are all part of the furniture now. Incredible technologies, like going to an amusement park. They entertain guests but the dizziness factor is not minor, less if you have kids. Formally it is not "recommended" for kids. Also, they don't have AAA apps like a game console or good experimental content. I completely understand that potential future. Again, they are amazing devices, will be there, but not now.
You can go to Walt Disney parks but you don't have Magic Kingdom at home. If you could try it with VR now, it would probably give more nausea than the real thing.
My first consumerist reaction when the Vision Pro was announced in 2023 was to buy it "right now", I was lucky it was just an announcement until the 2024 release.
Most probably Apple will get it there. Right now, I will play with the device in an Apple Store and tell my friends.
You don't get nausea when you're constantly moving enough to sweat. But it certainly doesn't address the question of how exactly this can be a generic purpose computing platform.
What? I've gotten nauseous during exercise several times, with no VR involved.
In my experience most of the nausea comes from the disconnect between in-VR motion and being physically stationary. Games where you have to walk around by moving the controller stick are the worst kind. Teleporting is supposed to help with this but it never helped me and it feels really odd and immersion-breaking.
Rhythm games where the VR motion is relatively slow and steady like Beat Saber, Pistol Whip, Synth Riders and Les Mills Bodycombat (where you're essentially on a slow-moving rail cart) are usually fine. Games where you're sitting down and mostly moving your head like Drums Rock are generally ok.
Games like the Resident Evil series or No Man's Sky are a constant vomit hazard though.
Again, it is not incorrect to return electronics in general. I've did it once too, I bought a wifi range extender and after observing that it simply didn't work at all in my setup, I've returned it. At the same time there are people buying TVs just to watch some sport event and then returning it. Are we doing essentially the same thing? Technically yes. But for me personally if feels differently.
Most recently, I got an OLED TV for nearly $1k off, in absolutely flawless condition, with just a few hours powered on according to its diagnostic menu. If it’s not perfect, it can be returned once again.
That said, I don’t typically bother with Apple’s refurb store (which I believe sells returned items?), the discount is not typically as good as other retailers, and they don’t have them in store like Microcenter or Best Buy.
Reminds me of the Seinfeld episode where Jerry wants to return something for "spite":
* https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fP0MXJAQhmo
I bet for in-flight entertainment use only the choice is a no-brainer.
There aren't any possible killer applications for Vision Pro that weren't already done by Holo Lens, Meta, VR2 or anything else already in use by the industry.
In fact, most uses cases people are amazed by Vision Pro, were demoed by Microsoft at BUILD 2015 with Holo Lens.
Apple don't do “things no one else does” in any of its (modern) products. Apple does “things that are already out there, with extra shine, and better integration¹ with other Apple stuff”. By that measure, if Vision Pro is a useful+reliable product at all, even if over-priced, you wouldn't expect returns in excess of those seen for watches/iphones/etc.
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[1] cough lock-in cough cough
ah interesting, and inferring from past policy, that's something that Apple won't allow on the AVP, so may be missing a big feature for some.
When you are done you can take it off in shame and go back to doing something that actually gives you value in life. The only reason I would buy a headset would be if I were single and to watch porn and while many would not confess it, I think I'm not alone in this regard. Hence, I would never buy an closed Apple system like AVP even if it's technically better.
People say that porn was what made VHS popular, but that was a secondary effect. Relatively cheap tech licensing meant there were more (and more affordable) VHS compatible devices out there, which got the content ball rolling (both published and home-movie content) with a fair chunk of initial momentum.
Vision Pro does nothing unique for them to license in that way – if VR video content is what someone wants a device like this for, they will use it to view existing VR video content that already plays on other devices.
It’s an amazing device, blows the Meta headsets out of the water, but it’s still not “there” yet. The camera/passthrough needs to get better. The Mac Virtual Display is too blurry. And right now, due to software limitations, it’s essentially an iPad in capabilities. Apple was right to release this now (need to get it in developer’s hands in the same way AR/VRKit came out years before the headset) but it doesn’t solve enough problems for me. It’s a cool media consumption device but not worth $4K. If I could replace my external monitors with it then I would probably have kept it but it’s 1-2+ generations away from that. I have no doubt I’ll be interested in buying a future version when those things get better but I constantly felt like “Ok, now let me take this off and do some real work”.
after the initial novelty wears off. must be some realisation that wearing it 12 hours a day is impractical for various reasons..
so whatever neat AR features it has are not really possible to integrate into your day to day life experiences
also buyers remorse at $3500 must hit different.
The prospect of having sex is good, but it never happens.
Unless the technology is way better, noone gonna use it
Out of curiosity, do you personally know of people who've had that experience on OnlyFans or know how common it is? From knowing people in the industry I had the (somewhat counterintuitive) impression that sort of thing happened more on general streaming sites like Twitch.
I predict the next Vision Pro will not be worn at all and will be on a rectangle in front of the person and they can have several rectangles if they'd like.
Anyway, the world's best tech influencers couldn't rescue AVP, it is a certified DUD and I expect Apple and HN to suppress discussion of it. Cook will try to turn the spotlight elsewhere. He's got good company, Musk seems to also have a certified flop with the Cyber truck.
Lots of people keep talking about how awesome future revs of AVP will surely be...not seeing it, Apple can't afford the reputation hit of iterating a product like this in public...people expect Apple to get it right early on at this point. Meta can afford to iterate in public on VR because they have no reputation in hardware.
I predict Apple will try to wipe the internet of AVP talk and then quietly kill it like they did with the "Apple Car"
Can't wait for the HN cope on AVP
At this point I consider it proven that VR headsets strapped to our head are not the future, unless they become as comfortable as normal glasses (forever technically impossible), provide visual fidelity on par with modern high DPI screens (currently impossible?) and have perfect pass through (actually possible, maybe).
I am no anti-vaxxer or flat earther, but old enough to remember that in the 50s the American Doctors vouched that cigarettes were good for your health, and later plastics were hailed as wonderful, and corn syrup was considered harmless, and eggs were both the devils food and a miracle food.
So much money changing hands that I tend to trust very little certifications on health impact.
VR/AR shows just how flimsy DEI at large companies is. When it's a tool for gaining customers or retaining employees, they go all-in. Conversely, when you have an opportunity to make gobs of money with a computing paradigm that is unsuitable for masses of disabled people - including many who wouldn't think of themselves as disabled because they merely have astigmatism - it goes out of the window. Of the 4 people I've let use my non-Apple headset, only 1 could stand it for more than 10 minutes: another young man in tech.
We don't need VR/AR for that, just look at airtags
> disabled because they merely have astigmatism
I don't follow, can you not use the AVP with contacts? (I'm assuming that they don't have enough space for glasses. The Quest Pro needed some sort of spacer for glasses.)