- Apple cropped photos of the Vision Pro headset to remove the battery pack, making it look less cumbersome.
- Journalists were not allowed to take photos or videos of the Vision Pro’s hardware during a press briefing.
- Apple sees the cord from the battery pack as getting in the way of making the headset more mobile.
Archive link: https://archive.ph/GYPuS
This is why VR will not be a thing yet again. Last time the problem was displays weren’t compact enough and the computers weren’t powerful enough. Now the problem is that batteries are too heavy and it’s basically a smartphone strapped to your face.
Get back to me when you have something like a chunky pair of glasses that can overlay a 3D world onto the real one, or even replace it entirely, and last for hours and hours and hours.
Which will be never, because that much energy density would probably explode.
Battery is weight. Putting that weight off the head and into a back pocket is imho a very acceptable solution to the weight problem.
And for the record, VR is already “a thing”. Has been for years now. It’s mainstream, it’s on multiple platforms, and even has standalone offerings.
“Chunky pair of glasses” already exists as a VR device, but they are highly personalized and prohibitively expensive.
As for “it’s basically a smartphone strapped to your face” I’m not sure how you’d break away from that? A smartphone is just an ultra compact PC with a screen. A VR device like you’re talking about is… just an ultra compact PC with 2 screens and some lenses. The reason they are so similar in your mind is because they are essentially the same thing, just in a different form factor.
True, but having a cable attached to a headset feels pretty un-free.
Would a big battery attached to the back of the headset be more free?
Attaching the same battery to your belt is only an issue if you’re playing nude. Even then you can wear it like a crossbody bag in a pinch =)
The screen is also a huge part of the weight issue, because it is literally a smartphone strapped to your head, plus some extra bits so your eyes can focus. It’s heavy, and it’s located on the front of your head. There’s big foam bits touching your face all over. I could definitely not wear this for as long as I’m usually working at my desktop.
Yes, putting the battery somewhere else is a good solution, one I’ve used with my Quest a bunch of times. But if I need to be plugged into a wall to do long stints with a smartphone strapped to my face, what’s the advantage of that over a normal screen?
Then again, I’m a boring old man who just wants more space for text editors and terminal windows. Maybe you kids have found something fun to do with VR.
VR is a “thing,” yes. It is a thing gathering dust on my shelf. It’s fun like Wii Sports is fun, but without the audience. It’s a neat experience but the only truly useful thing I’ve found to do with it is to walk around the streets of a city I’m going to visit so I can orient myself. But that’s hardly something I’d spend $3,500 to do.
Hopefully Apple will find a “killer app” for VR. If I could use this thing to quickly and easily sketch out a remodeling project, I’d love it. But I haven’t found anything on my Quest that can do that, but Apple knows a thing or two about killer apps. Or they did, anyway.
All the ones I’ve seen look like really ridiculously oversized ski goggles. Please link to something like this and I may change my mind.
Have a super miniature, high-intensity display somewhere near the front of the glasses and use mirrors to reflect it into the user’s eye. It would involve incredibly complex eye tracking algorithms to prevent nausea, and that’s going to cost in computing power and energy.
Or use lasers projected onto the lenses at some kind of polarization, which might do a better job of overlaying on bright backgrounds, but suffer the same eye tracking limitation.
Don’t get me wrong, I really want VR. But I want to be in VR for hours at a time, not minutes. And that’s about as long as I can stand to have a cell phone strapped to my face.
This comment is like bitchig and moaning about cars, saying they’re useless because they can’t teleport you.
If VR had some kind of application beyond games the form factor would be less of a problem. But if cars were cumbersome and expensive and only drove to casinos they wouldn’t be useful either.
Game consoles have no applications beyond games and they are expensive. People still buy them.
See, you failed right there. I’ll let you ponder the following fact. Most companies that hire VR devs right now are not in the gaming business.
The screen is only a real factor as weight when the devices are trying to cut costs. The Quest for example, isn’t marketed as a high end product, and even the Quest Pro is cutting corners. One of those corners is the screen.
Take a look at Bigscreen Beyond. They are about the size of swim goggles with the middle filled in. But as I said, they are highly personalized. You likely can’t share them, even with someone who has a similar face shape and eye position. Though they are PCVR and tethered, but as a first iteration by the company it’s pretty decent. They do have a price tag of $1k though.
And I find it odd that you can’t stand VR for more than minutes at a time. I was an early adopter, and while the Oculus DKs were harsh, the CV1 was comfortable enough for me to play for hours on end. The Rift S is still my go to. Though I’m likely going to be snagging a Beyond when I have the cash to spare.
I sweat a lot more than most people and the face mask gets uncomfortably slippery. Plus I don’t like being disconnected from the rest of the world for that long.
So really, this isn’t a “VR is bad” but a “I hate his thing and you should too” rant, huh?
No, more of a “VR would be great but the tech isn’t ready for prime time.”
Or stop whinging about how the hardware isn’t the perfect platonic ideal that you imagined and use it when it’s good enough.
Seriously, what’s the big deal about a battery pack?
Because it’s not useful to me if I can’t wear it for a long time, both ergonomically and electrically. What I really, really want from VR is an infinite desktop, but not if I need to strap a pound of weight to my face and be plugged in constantly. I can buy a lot of monitor square footage for $3,500 and I don’t need to wear them on my face.
They went with a battery pack to keep the headset light, so ergonomically what you’re saying you want.
And even without the battery pack it weighs almost a pound and a half. That’s like a 20oz bottle of water strapped to my face. No way I can use that for hours.
So complain about that, the thing that is actually a problem for you.
It’s a symptom of a larger problem, which is that electronics are no where miniature enough to make VR widespread. It’s like trying to make a desktop computer out of vacuum tubes.
for YOUR use case… which is using it for extended periods as a massive desktop
i’d say that’s pretty niche actually… most people aren’t using technology for hours at a time
People spend 4.5 hours a day on average on their phone. People work in front of screens for eight or more hours a day. People - not naming names - have upwards of 1500 hours of play time in Factorio.
You’re just wrong here.
I have the PS5 VR and it’s totally fine to use for long periods of time.
Lift.
Plus nobody would actually want to live in the metaverse we see in media; Snowcrash, Ready Player One ect. The metaverse that’s being advertised is a dystopia just like the ones we’ve had in media. Not to mention all the practical problems of like needing to virtually walk to the virtual store to buy shit, no way in hell is that catching on.
Eh? The Quest has the battery built-in to the headset and lasts for hours. They could increase the battery side on that because it’s pretty light as it is. Why would a battery explode because of density?
I mean, VR is a thing still. It’s just still niche at the moment. I don’t think it has to be the main way to enjoy entertainment.
That said, I’m pretty sure the glasses you want are AR, not VR (Augmented reality)
I am starting to see more like this one. Big screen beyond
Honestly, we talk about this thing way too much for how irrelevant it is (or should be, anyway).
It’s a ridiculously high end HMV that fixes none of the key issues and is absurdly overpriced. I don’t understand why we’re entertaining the issue at all.
I mean, I understand it, it’s Apple and people somehow suspend reason when it comes to them, but… well, we shouldn’t. And that’s all the time and thought I’m willing to spend on this dumb thing.