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James Cameron Loves Apple's Vision Pro. But Will It Be Addictive? (vanityfair.com) 127

James Cameron tells Vanity Fair's Nick Bilton that his experience with Apple's Vision Pro "was religious. I was skeptical at first. I don't bow down before the great god of Apple, but I was really, really blown away... I think it's not evolutionary; it's revolutionary. And I'm speaking as someone who has worked in VR for 18 years." He explained that the reason it looks so real is because the Apple Vision Pro is writing a 4K image into my eyes. "That's the equivalent of the resolution of a 75-inch TV into each of your eyeballs — 23 million pixels." To put that into perspective, the average 4K television has around 8 million pixels. Apple engineers didn't slice off a rectangle from the corner of a 4K display and put it in the Apple Vision Pro. They somehow compressed twice as many pixels into a space as small as your eyeball. This, to people like Cameron who have been working in this space for two decades, "solves every problem."

But even with all this wonder, with 23 million pixels that are so clear and crisp that you can't tell reality from a digital composite of it.... the more I've used the Apple Vision Pro over the past two weeks, the more one glaring problem revealed itself to me. It's not the weight (which is a problem but will come down over time), or the size (which will shrink with each iteration), or the worry that it will drive us to consume more content alone (almost half of Americans already watch TV alone). Or how tech giants like Meta, Netflix, Spotify, and Google are currently withholding their apps from the device. (Content creators may come around once the consumers are there, and some, like Disney, are already embracing the device, making 150 movies available in 3D, including from mega-franchises like Star Wars and Marvel.) And it's not even the price, because if Apple wanted to, the company could subsidize the cost of the Apple Vision Pro and it would have about as much financial impact as Cook losing a nickel between his couch cushions.

I'm talking about something that I don't see a solution for... I can see a day when we all can't imagine living without an augmented reality. When we're enveloped more and more by technology, to the point that we crave these glasses like a drug, like we crave our iPhones today but with more desire for the dopamine hit this resolution of AR can deliver. I know deep down that the Apple Vision Pro is too immersive, and yet all I want to do is see the world through it. "I'm sure the technology is terrific. I still think and hope it fails," one Silicon Valley investor said to me. "Apple feels more and more like a tech fentanyl dealer that poses as a rehab provider." Harsh words, but he feels what we all feel, a slave to our smartphone, and he's seen this play before and he knows what the first act is like, and the second act, and he knows how it ends.
  • Political blogger Taegan Goddard says the Vision Pro "offers a glimpse of how we might use computers in the future. If you're skeptical — and many people are — you need to try it before drawing any conclusions. It's hard to explain unless you've worn it. But I can assure you, it's mind-blowing."
  • Apple CEO Tim Cook tells Bilton "You can actually lay on your sofa and put the displays on your ceiling if you wish. I watched the third season of Ted Lasso on my ceiling and it was unbelievable!"
  • Dan Ives, a senior analyst at the investment firm Wedbush Securities, tells Bilton, "We think a few years from now it'll resemble sunglasses and be less than $1,500."

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James Cameron Loves Apple's Vision Pro. But Will It Be Addictive?

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  • by RitchCraft ( 6454710 ) on Saturday February 03, 2024 @06:52PM (#64211606)

    "We think a few years from now it'll resemble sunglasses and be less than $1,500." ... where is my flying car damnit?!

    • by hjf ( 703092 )

      It's like that meme: "Place/Place, Japan" but it's "Thing/Thing designed by Apple in California"

    • by ceoyoyo ( 59147 )

      It's not super surprising that an investment analyst doesn't understand optics.

      • It's also not super surprising that this analyst's imagination could only take him as far as "hey let's shove this into some Ray-Bans!" instead of the much more useful and marketable (and still impossible with current tech) AR-projecting contact lenses or eye implants.

        • by ceoyoyo ( 59147 )

          An eye implant in a few years is probably possible, except there's no market for it. I'm sure this guy knows about contact lenses, but he figured sunglasses in a few years was a more reasonable prediction.

    • "We think a few years from now it'll resemble sunglasses and be less than $1,500." ... where is my flying car damnit?!

      The glasses will be the HUD for your flying car, should you be one of the exceptionally privileged persons allowed to operate it manually.

    • Well, you can see cars flying in AR, or you can see yourself flying in a car in VR. Isn't that good enough?

    • by Kisai ( 213879 ) on Sunday February 04, 2024 @03:44AM (#64212178)

      If the technology road map is accurate, yes this will come down in cost once the early adopters get burned ... like the iPad and iPad Pro (see Pencil2) ... like the AppleTV ... like the iPod ... like the iPhone ... like the Apple Watch ... Like the early Intel Mac's

      If there is one absolute consistent truth about Apple, is that the first version of something new they come out with, is kinda terrible. Looks cool, but gets depreciated almost immediately in favor if a slightly better device that lasts longer.

      I for one was not excited about the iPhone and it took me 8 years to want one. Why? Because I knew the lifecycle of 3G and was going to wait until whatever came out next (LTE) before jumping on that ship. I bought MacMini's 6 years apart, but then stopped because of the switch to ARM and I was going to sit back and wait until they do AV1 encoding before buying one.

      So for me, I'm going to wait for the Vision Pro's third generation before investing in one, because knowing Apple, the people who buy the first one are going go for the throat about it's limited memory/storage capacity, like they have with the MacBook/iMac/MacMini entry level units.

      • by AmiMoJo ( 196126 )

        Even at $1,500, will there be much incentive to spend that much on it?

        So far there are no killer apps for most people. Some niche stuff like people who want a virtual desktop while they are flying, but nothing mass market. A headset costing a few hundred bucks is enough to view VR porn on, or play low end VR games.

        Maybe some kind of in-vision status display would be nice, but I'd want excellent battery life (Vision Pro is about 2 hours) and extremely light weight (I already pay more for light weight prescri

      • If there is one absolute consistent truth about Apple, is that the first version of something new they come out with, is kinda terrible. Looks cool, but gets depreciated almost immediately in favor if a slightly better device that lasts longer.

        Cool thing gets cooler with subsequent generations.

        Film at 11.

      • by stripes ( 3681 )

        yes this will come down in cost once the early adopters get burned

        That is one way to look at it. Or it will come down in price after the early adopters have gotten to use it long before the more cost sensitive consumers. Maybe some (or most) of the early adopters actually put more value on using the thing for a few months/years/decades then they do on the higher cost.

        I'm sure some early adopters don't realize that there are likely going to be future cheaper versions. I'm sure even fewer realize that th

  • One question (Score:4, Insightful)

    by Opportunist ( 166417 ) on Saturday February 03, 2024 @06:55PM (#64211610)

    Why should I give a fuck about James Cameron's opinion?

    • Re:One question (Score:5, Insightful)

      by rsilvergun ( 571051 ) on Saturday February 03, 2024 @07:19PM (#64211636)
      Because Apple paid a lot of money for it.
    • Re: (Score:3, Interesting)

      by Misagon ( 1135 )

      Indeed. His opinion is unimportant precisely because it is predictable. This is the man who pushed watching movies in the theatre with 3D glasses on us, so why wouldn't he endorse these 3D glasses?

      The 3D craze is a large reason for why movie theatres are practically dead today. I will never forgive him for it.

    • by bussdriver ( 620565 ) on Saturday February 03, 2024 @07:32PM (#64211666)

      I listen only because the guy is really demanding and will not fear talking negatively. He's had some experience with the problem space of 3D immersion and worked a long time on creating fictional worlds... that are enough for some people to get a little too excited about. I seem to be one of the few who's not excited about his Dances With Smurfs movie series; it's not bad and are top quality productions (haven't seen the 2nd movie yet, I assume it's still good.)

      I do wonder if I should consider this instead of buying some large pro-level monitors since I could have 3 of such monitors go anywhere I do and make an airplane trip actually productive... possibly... if it could cancel out noise and if coach has enough space for a laptop anymore. I thought they'd have some better sound... Can I wear it for 16 hours in a day... probably not. So it's not replacing monitors just yet.

      • Re: (Score:3, Insightful)

        I do wonder if I should consider this instead of buying some large pro-level monitors since I could have 3 of such monitors go anywhere I do and make an airplane trip actually productive... possibly... if it could cancel out noise and if coach has enough space for a laptop anymore. I thought they'd have some better sound... Can I wear it for 16 hours in a day... probably not. So it's not replacing monitors just yet.

        You get one monitor. For noise canceling, use the newest AirPods Pro. The speakers that come with it are good, but they're not sealed, so the sound will leak somewhat. At home it doesn't matter much, but on an airplane you'd want the earbuds for both reasons.

        It's too heavy to wear all day. I've found so far that after a couple of hours or so I want to take it off for a bit, even when laying down. It's a truly amazing product, but it's still gen 1. in a couple of years or so it should be much better.

        • It's too heavy to wear all day. I've found so far that after a couple of hours or so I want to take it off for a bit, even when laying down. It's a truly amazing product, but it's still gen 1. in a couple of years or so it should be much better.

          I take it you're not aware that 3D video goggles like this have been around since at least the 1980s. This is not a "gen 1" product by any means. It's the latest in a long series of devices that have always flopped.

          Maybe they'll be useful in another decade or two.

          • Apples to oranges. Model-Ts to EVs. But hey, don't let me dissuade you from thinking you're the smartest guy in the room who confuses contrarianism with intelligence.
            • Have you used other VR sets and could compare the two?

            • by RedK ( 112790 )

              The guy into Apple products calling out others as being dumb is rich.

              Dude, you bought an Apple product.

              • by Jeremi ( 14640 )

                The guy who thinks buying an Apple product is automatically equivalent to being dumb is rich.

                Dude, there are valid reasons why people buy Apple products. The fact that they don't seem worthwhile to you personally is irrelevant; you are not the be-all and end-all of technology users, and it's dumb to imagine that you are.

                • by narcc ( 412956 )

                  The guy who thinks buying an Apple product is automatically equivalent to being dumb is rich.

                  That's because of all the money he saved not buying Apple products.

            • Your comment is accurate. Not because you're a smarty pants. But because you're too uninformed to know electric vehicles predate the Model T [wikipedia.org] and there were various models around the same time, that don't compare to modern EVs either. The first Model T came out in 1908; in 1912, the Standard Electric [wikipedia.org] looked a lot like the Model T and got 110 miles per charge.

              So yes, this is like comparing the early EVs to the Model T; and like those, they're decades removed from being truly useful. But sure, keep on being
            • Apples to oranges. Model-Ts to EVs. But hey, don't let me dissuade you from thinking you're the smartest guy in the room who confuses contrarianism with intelligence.

              This!

          • by gmb61 ( 815164 )
            Meta sold over 20 million Quest headsets. I'd hardly call that a flop.
        • I do wonder if I should consider this instead of buying some large pro-level monitors since I could have 3 of such monitors go anywhere I do and make an airplane trip actually productive... possibly... if it could cancel out noise and if coach has enough space for a laptop anymore. I thought they'd have some better sound... Can I wear it for 16 hours in a day... probably not. So it's not replacing monitors just yet.

          You get one monitor. For noise canceling, use the newest AirPods Pro. The speakers that come with it are good, but they're not sealed, so the sound will leak somewhat. At home it doesn't matter much, but on an airplane you'd want the earbuds for both reasons.

          It's too heavy to wear all day. I've found so far that after a couple of hours or so I want to take it off for a bit, even when laying down. It's a truly amazing product, but it's still gen 1. in a couple of years or so it should be much better.

          Is it smart enough to hand-over its audio to AirPods/$RANDOM_BT_EARBUDS when they are Paired and Activated?

          Can you name me a single Display Device or Method that Optical Experts don't recommend taking periodic breaks from?

    • Ohh, you shouldn't. Just like nobody gives a flying shit about your opinion, it's known to be worthless.
    • Because we live in a world where if you've been rather successful at business or entertaining people, your opinion carries more weight than the average Joe. Now personally, I'd rather hear the opinion of this thing by someone who had to bust his ass to earn that $3,500 rather than from someone where it's just coming out of their massive pile of hookers and blow money.

      But something tells me if you do have to hustle to earn $3,500, it's gonna be really difficult to justify spending it on this toy in the firs

      • Challenge: you'd rather hear or from someone who was biased enough to spend a large part of their income on this product. And who may, after buying it, have a greater psychological incentive to promote it.

        As opposed to someone like Cameron, who has enough money to live a thousand lifetimes.

    • He is about the most qualified person alive to give an opinion on this.
      • How so?

        • He's been so deeply involved with 3d technologies for so long, and is the most important producer of 3d movies. I'm sure he has access to every device that is publicly accessible and some that are not.
          • In other words, he's religiously attached to the idea that 3D is the second coming. Gotcha.

            • But he doesn't indiscriminately praise every new 3d gadget that comes out.
            • In other words, he's religiously attached to the idea that 3D is the second coming. Gotcha.

              In other words, he can spot crap a mile away.

              Has he ever waxed rhapsodic about any other VR/AR Headset?

              I think not. In fact, not that long ago, he was decidedly down on the state of VR Tech:

              https://www.tweaktown.com/news... [tweaktown.com]

              And as far as an opinion from someone with their finger on current AR/VR Tech, look no farther than Ben Lang, who, since 2011, has been the Publisher of the Blog "RoadToVR":

              https://www.roadtovr.com/apple... [roadtovr.com]

    • by Hodr ( 219920 )

      Listen here Sonny. The man almost had an English degree, just 2 or 3 more years of college. He also drove a truck before figuring out, all by himself, how to point a camera.

      You think that kind of genius and visionary can't recognize the brilliance of a product he was definitely not paid to use (especially since he got it before the general public). You think they would just go and give him technical jargon to repeat that make perfect quotes for fluff articles?

      The VR headset gives you the ability to watch

      • He is a videographer who has worked in 3D more than pretty much anyone, with an effectively unlimited budget to pick up any device he wants â" not to mention accessing various prototypes. He might not be the *most* qualified reviewer, but he definitely is a qualified reviewer. He has zero incentive to sugar coat his answers, given all the 3D tech he has panned in the past.

  • by christoban ( 3028573 ) on Saturday February 03, 2024 @07:15PM (#64211628)

    I guess Apple pays well...

    • Who ever pays you, paid too much.
    • It's almost like a hotly anticipated product in the tech world is something that is usually discussed on Slashdot. I know I'm shocked too. I thought this was a site about arguing politics. No one told me we'd be discussing current developments in tech here. Maybe it's time to leave.

  • Addictive? (Score:3, Interesting)

    by eMODGod2 ( 6260822 ) on Saturday February 03, 2024 @07:34PM (#64211672)

    to the point that we crave these glasses like a drug, like we crave our iPhones today

    I was 43 when the first iPhone was released. As such I did not grow up with a smartphone and I don't find myself addicted to it. When I'm at home the phone goes into the charging cradle and stays there until I leave the house or go into the shop.

    Perhaps smartphone addiction is a generational thing?

    • Re:Addictive? (Score:5, Insightful)

      by ShanghaiBill ( 739463 ) on Saturday February 03, 2024 @07:37PM (#64211678)

      Perhaps smartphone addiction is a generational thing?

      Smartphone addiction is a non-nerd thing.

      As a nerd, I'm addicted to my computer, not my phone.

      • Your phone is your handheld computer.
        • Nerds are more likely to do coding or to work with a shell, both of which are hard to do on a phone. Having to deal with a clunky interface like an on-screen keyboard makes it much harder to get hooked.
    • Re:Addictive? (Score:5, Interesting)

      by martin-boundary ( 547041 ) on Saturday February 03, 2024 @09:32PM (#64211842)
      The big tech companies are building an intermediated world where reality for individuals is created just in time via computer propaganda. The AR craze is just one aspect of this, the social media are another aspect of it.

      The danger is not addiction for you. The greater danger is that everyone else around you is losing the ability to distinguish reality from fiction, and the practice to make their own decisions independent of the local digital construct. That impacts you because you live in this world, and the decisions of others control your outcomes and those of your children.

      Today people's beliefs and ideas are shaped by great waves of social media where facts come in many alternatives to suit the propaganda pool in which they happen to live. This encourages groupthink and uniformity, and messes with their ability to calibrate their worldview independently. This affects you when such people vote and also when they act accordingly with guns and money.

      Tomorrow people's reliance on AR will completely atrophy their ability to recognize the real world and reason about it logically. Computer overlays will create a generation who doesn't trust what they see with their own two eyes, unless the invisible floating windows that exist only in their heads and devices tell them it's ok.

      You might think I'm exagerating about AR, but it's a very small step from where we already are today. People trust an incorrect Google Maps itinerary on their phone even when there are physical road signs directly contradicting it. Realtime weather forecasts and traffic forecasts are often believed even when a quick look outside the window contradicts the forecast.

      In the future, some people may well be trapped in a room with an unlocked door, because the AR is telling them it's locked. Don't believe it? Try mounting a door handle upside down, and see how many people think the door is actually locked. Expectation from the past is a powerful thing, even without AR.

      You are lucky to be old enough that you will die before the worst of it, (if this trend continues). Because the endgame of intermediating via realtime computer networks is Zombieland, where perfectly healthy and normal people live in a private fantasy world 24/7 and act like mindless hordes of puppets in the real world, floating on waves of partially synchronized and partially contradictory information flows. It will suck to be a low tech outsider, surrounded by all this.

      • Re:Addictive? (Score:4, Interesting)

        by Iamthecheese ( 1264298 ) on Saturday February 03, 2024 @11:20PM (#64211966)
        See also: Rainbow's End [wikipedia.org] by Vinge, a book I personally recommend highly.
      • ... doesn't trust what they see with their own two eyes ...

        Umm, that's why people are driving down walking tracks, driving into rivers, demanding tenants of random houses return their iPhone and ignoring wind-chilling storm-clouds: The computer told them to, the computer knows all. It's like half the population will worship anything that can say "I have the answer"; a book, a hippie, an anonymous conspiracy theorist, a database that gives turn-by-turn 'answers'. (Notice, the last reason causes most technology failures.)

        Expectation from the past ...

        This is the same problem, "it worked last t

      • While not an impossible outcome, I just don’t find it very plausible. It seems likely there will be a cross section of people with enough money to afford devices and the infrastructure to sustain it. Combined with a lack of reasoning skills and sufficient intelligence to live out your scenario. But let’s assume for a moment anyone who wants a device can get one. There already exists a device which can be mentally engrossing which transports the user you to another reality? A good book. And thos
        • I can interrupt someone reading a book ⦠and they often get annoyed. It is harder to interrupt someone engrossed in a film, and their annoyance level in my experience is greater. I may not be able to interrupt someone whose full senses are engaged, and the level of addiction may make them enraged if I succeed.

          Books are level 1 engagement with fantasy. This is ratcheting that dial higher. Might be good, but might be very bad.

          • I can interrupt someone reading a book ⦠and they often get annoyed. It is harder to interrupt someone engrossed in a film, and their annoyance level in my experience is greater. I may not be able to interrupt someone whose full senses are engaged, and the level of addiction may make them enraged if I succeed.

            Books are level 1 engagement with fantasy. This is ratcheting that dial higher. Might be good, but might be very bad.

            But remember, VisionPro is all-about keeping the outside-world seamlessly-accessible. In fact, there are very few VisionPro examples I have seen so far that I would call full-on, shut-out-the-world VR.

            Letting the Outside-In is, IMHO, actually one of the things it does best.

            • That is a reasonable limit on my argument, but this tech still represents a ratcheting up of the division, and my point about why this is different from books stands.

              • That is a reasonable limit on my argument, but this tech still represents a ratcheting up of the division, and my point about why this is different from books stands.

                But I think it is a fundamental Design Difference between VisionOS and other VR Environments. But the psychological difference is likely profoundly-different, particularly in regards to user-fatigue and feelings of isolation.

    • Do you still have a home phone, then?

  • by Equuleus42 ( 723 )

    I can see a day when we all can't imagine living without an augmented reality. When we're enveloped more and more by technology, to the point that we crave these glasses like a drug

    So could the writers of Star Trek: The Next Generation [wikipedia.org] , three decades ago...

    • Who would have thought that they were wrong about what that "mind drug" would be: watching videos on a Vision Pro instead of playing dopamine inducing games on a Quest. Meta/Oculus must feel like real failure right now.
    • by waspleg ( 316038 )

      William Gibson before that.

  • by thegarbz ( 1787294 ) on Saturday February 03, 2024 @07:50PM (#64211686)

    The problem here is that the device is from Apple, all of a sudden we're going to get an endless deluge of op-eds from people who ignored other headsets and tried this one just because ... Apple.

    Apple didn't do something revolutionary, they simply released a quality product at an eye watering price. Maybe it doesn't affect someone with Cameron's net worth but you can get that 4K beamed into your eyeballs for 1/3rd of the price elsewhere.
    Watch movies on your ceiling, yeah I did that 5 years ago and thought it was revolutionary then. I did it again 3 years ago with a stand alone HMD and thought it was revolutionary again. But I went back to the TV, not because of quality issues but because WTF was I doing watching movies on my ceiling.
    A glimpse of the future of how to use computers? From what I see it's a glimpse of how I used a computer in 2015 thanks to the fantastic Virtual Desktop program (that somehow shits on the performance of Oculus Link and Steam Link).

    As for Dan Ives... If I make a prediction that technology gets cheaper over time can I too have his "senior analyst" pay check? What else does he predict? The sun will rise tomorrow?

    But that's the modern discourse I guess. Nothing is ever invented until it is released with an Apple logo on the box.

    • But I went back to the TV, not because of quality issues but because WTF was I doing watching movies on my ceiling.

      If you're asking the question, clearly the drugs have worn off.

    • Re: (Score:2, Interesting)

      by Anonymous Coward

      The problem here is that the device is from Apple, all of a sudden we're going to get an endless deluge of op-eds from people who ignored other headsets and tried this one just because ... Apple.

      No that isn't the problem.
      For instance here is an interview with James Cameron, who created an entire 3d filming system back in 2008 for just such display systems.

      The problem is the endless deluge of responses from people like you, who ignore anything said on the matter regardless of the experience of who is talking, because you see "apple" and the fog of hatred rolls over your brain and nothing sensible can come out of it.
      All because... Apple

      • But tye AVP doesn't add anything really new. The only thing, but a very important thing, is their OS, as it's based on iOS they had the big advantage of a lot of apps. But apart from that, which I admit is a big thing, there is nothing really new we haven't seen before. The fact Apple wants to distance themselves from VR/MR by calling it Spatial computinh, even though it's nothing more or less as VR/MR, says en
        • by stripes ( 3681 )

          But tye AVP doesn't add anything really new

          Maybe. The resolution is dramatically higher than other VR products. True if meta had decided that was important they could have done a higher resolution product if they had given up the price point they wanted. I mean the "new" thing is mostly buying very high resolution displays from Sony. It is possible that Apple's gesture recognition is also new, although other VR systems have done that sort of thing, so I think it will only really count as "new" if it

      • who created an entire 3d filming system back in 2008 for just such display systems.

        No he didn't. His 3D filming systems did not remotely take into account the field of view for VR. He created these systems for digital 3D cinema and 3D television. They are very different.

        because you see "apple" and the fog of hatred rolls over your brain

        Nope, I don't hate companies. I hate specific products and people's responses too them. Like yours, a pointless comment that seems to have relegated my entire post to just being a "hater" without actually addressing a single point I made. The difference between you and me, I'm emotionally detached and made specific points,

      • The problem here is that the device is from Apple, all of a sudden we're going to get an endless deluge of op-eds from people who ignored other headsets and tried this one just because ... Apple.

        No that isn't the problem.
        For instance here is an interview with James Cameron, who created an entire 3d filming system back in 2008 for just such display systems.

        The problem is the endless deluge of responses from people like you, who ignore anything said on the matter regardless of the experience of who is talking, because you see "apple" and the fog of hatred rolls over your brain and nothing sensible can come out of it.
        All because... Apple

        I will break my self-imposed rule against ACs to say: You have hit the Hater on the Head!

    • The problem here is that the device is from Apple, all of a sudden we're going to get an endless deluge of op-eds from people who ignored other headsets and tried this one just because ... Apple.

      Apple didn't do something revolutionary, they simply released a quality product...

      I take it you haven't actually purchased anything besides food from a toxic food supply in a while.

      Making a quality product, is a premium option now. That's not so simple anymore. Obviously.

    • by drhamad ( 868567 )
      This sounds like the same thing people said when the iPod came out, and the iPhone, etc. But here's the thing - when those came out, Apple wasn't "Apple". And yet somehow, those are the products that everyone knows, and turned Apple into a $3T company. You're right in that Apple isn't the first - they've never been the first at anything. But they've been the best at repeatedly taking a product and turning it into something people actually can use, and want to use. Is it "revolutionary"? Well, depends o
      • This sounds like the same thing people said when the iPod came out, and the iPhone, etc.

        No it's not remotely the same. The iPod represented a truly revolutionary interface for listening to music. The iPhone represented a truly revolutionary device to the point where here on Slashdot we were literally wondering how on earth a touchscreen would work on a a phone and swearing we won't ever buy one without buttons.

        The Vision Pro represents none of those. The only thing it does uniquely is project your eyes on the outside of the display in a truly creepy fashion. It's biggest selling point is that

        • by stripes ( 3681 )

          No it's not remotely the same. The iPod represented a truly revolutionary interface for listening to music.

          Really? Of all the places to bring that up you choose the very forum that spawned the quote

          , by the cofounder of the site in fact.

          The iPhone had quite a few doubters convinced a keyboard less smartphone was going to be a fail.

          The vision pro's big selling point is very high resolution. Maybe that'll turn out to be a very big idea. Maybe it will be the

  • by Plumpaquatsch ( 2701653 ) on Saturday February 03, 2024 @07:58PM (#64211700) Journal
    Random Slashdoter: "There is no killer app for the Vision Pro!"

    James Cameron: "But I'm literally dead!"

  • by iAmWaySmarterThanYou ( 10095012 ) on Saturday February 03, 2024 @08:23PM (#64211746)

    Or were given one free and then also paid for a few friendly blurbs on top of that.

    When I get my free device they can quote me saying pie in the sky crap, too.

  • So is the killer app for AR/VR/spatial computing going to be movies? Or a movie? I could see Cameron making a Avatar movie specifically for the 3D aspect, where you have to 'watch' it multiple times to see everything that's going on around you. Kinda like the braindance investigations in CP2077 just not as focused/railroaded. Also, the price will come down and the size will reduce because there absolutely is a market for that. Whether for personal use or airline issued reuse. There's no actual market for f
    • Whether for personal use or airline issued reuse

      I'm not putting *ANYTHING* on my face that's been used by someone else, especially on a plane.
    • The killer app for AR is AR, a data overlay for reality. VR will never work so long as it can't fool your other senses.

      If you give me a pair of normal looking glasses that throw my configured sensor readings in front of me, can give me virtual computer screens for a linked device, and maybe have that linked device run a smart vision system to identify people and items in my environment... that's a pair of glasses I will fork out for and link to my phone.

      What will you use it for? Part of your phone interfa

    • Cameron has spent the last 30 years with a lens glued to his eyeball. No wonder he believes VR/AR is life-of-the-future. Life --- or death some say. Perhaps he should have spent more time strolling beautiful and whispering  woodland. There ... unaided mechanically ... 'leaving only footprints & taking only memories'.
  • The statements that he's been in VR "18 Years" and high resolution "solves every problem" are inconsistent. The solved problems from 18 years ago that are not resolution are tracking speed and fidelity. Some yet-to-be solved problems are real-world features like varifocal images, 180 degree FOV while maintaining full overlap and no distortion or pupil swim.

  • Best vr ar ever. But its still vr ar and has all those problems except screendoor effect
    • I can't see one device ever nailing both see-through and opaque. For see through, a more sunglass-style design that doesn't block out peripheral light would make more sense. Whereas for immersion and full field of view, you're going to need goggles.
  • ...gets celebrity endorsements for one of its products.

    TIFTFY.
  • Or a paperweight.

    I have an HTC vive + Quest 3.
    The quest 3 undoubtably have tossed VR forwards, and I can easily see a few good things with the Apple Vision Pro as well, such as the better tracking, and the high res screens.

    But where it becomes a doorstop - is due to Apple's closed universe. No communication with the outside world, only Apple OS.
    This restrictive environment, slapped on top of the silly 3500+$ entry-price tag makes it doomed from the start, no one in their right mind will buy one over time, a

  • ..and he says "That's the equivalent of the resolution of a 75-inch TV".
    Thanks for that.

  • Sorry, but there really isn't anything revolutionary about the Apple Vision Pro. It wasn't the Apple engineers who designed the displays, it wasn't the Apple engineers who designed the lenses. It has lesser FOV as the Quest 3, it is less sharp from end to end as the Quest 3, it is heavier at the front as the Quest 3, without even the battery, which is godawfully connected to the headset with a separate wire with the battery dangling beside you. Yes, it does have the better OS, but that's more due to using i
    • by leptons ( 891340 )
      For $3500 many other companies could deliver a similar product, but who is that target market? It's certainly not me or anyone I know, and I'm a highly paid tech nerd. $3500 is just a non-starter. I'd rather go to Tahiti and live real life than have some canned experience.
      • I agree, and that's why HTC, Meta and Pico never put out such an expensive headset, as they knew that price is everything if you want it to sell to mainstream. Their business headsets already got slack for being $1500+.. but heee, it's Apple so all fanboys don't really care about the pricing. For $3500 HTC, Meta and Pico could have put out a more advanced and comfortable headset, hell in comfort the 'cheap' headsets beat Apple's headset. BUT, Apple would still have the edge with their OS, I do doubt HTC, Me
  • Isn't any more valid than anyone else's. His job is mostly to tell other people what to do, not to work with the technology himself. Unless he's personally wearing the device for 8 hours a day and using it to replace monitors and other screens, his opinion is just marketing fluff. I was really impressed with my Quest 2, for the first hour or so. Then I found it unbearable. I'm sure the Vision Pro is better than that, but is the overall experience sufficiently improved to replace every screen I normally

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