I’m been a pretty solid VR enthusiast/geek since the DK1 Kickstarter a decade ago. Going into the WWDC event I was sure I’d be spending $3K to buy whatever Apple announced, but surprisingly, I ended up being pretty unenthused by what was shown - I’ll definitely be trying to demo one when I get a chance, and I still might grab one just because, but having slept on it, some initial thoughts:
Pros:
- Apple has thrown their hat in the ring, which means that the race is now on. This is fantastic news for anyone that cares about XR and is sure to drive competition/race dynamics/scaling that Meta has not been able to do by itself.
- Spatial computing (unlimited workspace, positional workspaces) is something that I, and many other nerds have wanted forever, so this is exciting, and this is basically the only thing (besides googly eyes) that they’re showing off. Hopefully it’s good?
- This is an extremely polished looking product. While there are some iffy choices (no replaceable facial interfaces? heavy metal and glass on the face? It looks like there’s a lot of thought and consideration that went into various aspects of the product, so I’m truly curious on what the UX actually feels like and what details really work.
- The external display is actually pretty neat, both idea and execution (eg, the modes and transitions).
- Iris scanning for auth is pretty great. Along those lines, the focus on privacy, both for biometrics, gaze, etc is quite refreshing.
Cons:
- So, one is a bit conditional - Apple threw around a lot of superlatives on their visual experience of course, but as there are no actual specs or in-eye views, we’ll just have to see how good it actually is. They are reportedly using Sony’s 4K Micro OLED panels for each eye so angular resolution (PPD) is almost certainly not Retina (60PPD at the minimun, 120PPD for nyquist). They claimed <12ms latency, which sounds great, but just translates to 1 frame at 90Hz. There was no mention on refresh rate, dynamic range, FOV, VAC, depth correction, etc. They obviously have the resources and budget to make something best in class, but we’ll just have to see.
- My biggest takeaway from the presentation (besides zomg, how pointless and boring self-parodying Apple keynotes have become, breathlessly introducing minor software features as miracles), the one thing the left me cold and honestly a bit stunned, was the complete lack of any “killer app,” or even any immersive or 3D content (we’re going to ignore where they seriously proposed you capture janky 3D video of important life events by wearing a headset and not ever directly experiencing it in the first place). No AR standbys like contextual info popups/callouts, mapping, objects fixed in 3D spaces (maybe not possible with their privacy restrictions?). No 3D Facetime or embodied teleconferencing (which would have by itself justified a $3K price tag IMO). No NeRFs or 3D environment overlays (was there any 3D environment mapping at all)? No shared spaces, no virtual pets. Obviously no games, because Apple’s too good for that. Their big selling point seems to be watching a really big TV in an HMD (with a 2h battery life, natch). Who are they targeting this device for. Boomers? (I mean realistically, yes. Specifically jet-setting business and media execs.)
To me, it’s been clear for most of a decade that the next evolution in computing UX is embodied and spatial. To me, what’s most surprising about today’s announcements is just how unambitious Apple’s “vision” is in this regard. As goofy as Zuck’s presentation was, I’d highly recommend giving that 2021 presentation a re-watch and compare what they’re trying to build vs what Apple is doing: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uvufun6xer8 (or for a bit more polish, their more recent Metaverse Impact clips https://about.meta.com/metaverse/impact).