I disagree, I think the device at a conceptual level is bad.
The thing is that VR headsets don't offer very much new in exchange for what they lose, which is a lot. When smartphones came around there were a few tradeoffs. You couldn't type as fast and applications had to be severely dumbed down to work on a such a small device. But the upside is you could carry a mostly capable computer with you everywhere you go.
VR headsets, like the smartphone, have a really bad human communication problem. Using voice command or little pinching isn't a very good method to communicate with computers. It's cumbersome, takes 10x as much time as typing and clicking, and makes 10x as many errors. But on top of this, VR doesn't offer a new way to engage with applications. At least, not in a way that matters.
Sure, we can now watch a movie on the vision pro instead of a monitor or TV. But does that matter? Is the experience better? Same thing with facetime. How is this an improvement over using your phone or computer?
When I think back to the whole Metaverse idea, I can't help but feel it's all novelty and no substance. Yes, we can have a meeting in VR in a fake conference room. Now what? Why isn't this over Zoom? Because Zoom does the same thing, but better. I can share my screen, I can see real faces (not avatars), and I don't really care about seeing people's fake bodies. So what am I actually gaining here? It's a strictly worse experience.
Or Walmart's VR shopping experience thing. Why would I push around a fake cart and look at fake shelves? I can already go online and scroll, see products, and put them in my cart. That's faster, that's easier, I get a much better look at the product. I can see reviews, I can read the nutrition label, and I can hop back over to Google to cross-reference. So what does the VR add? Nothing. It only takes away, and that's all it can ever do.
The thing is that VR headsets don't offer very much new in exchange for what they lose, which is a lot. When smartphones came around there were a few tradeoffs. You couldn't type as fast and applications had to be severely dumbed down to work on a such a small device. But the upside is you could carry a mostly capable computer with you everywhere you go.
VR headsets, like the smartphone, have a really bad human communication problem. Using voice command or little pinching isn't a very good method to communicate with computers. It's cumbersome, takes 10x as much time as typing and clicking, and makes 10x as many errors. But on top of this, VR doesn't offer a new way to engage with applications. At least, not in a way that matters.
Sure, we can now watch a movie on the vision pro instead of a monitor or TV. But does that matter? Is the experience better? Same thing with facetime. How is this an improvement over using your phone or computer?
When I think back to the whole Metaverse idea, I can't help but feel it's all novelty and no substance. Yes, we can have a meeting in VR in a fake conference room. Now what? Why isn't this over Zoom? Because Zoom does the same thing, but better. I can share my screen, I can see real faces (not avatars), and I don't really care about seeing people's fake bodies. So what am I actually gaining here? It's a strictly worse experience.
Or Walmart's VR shopping experience thing. Why would I push around a fake cart and look at fake shelves? I can already go online and scroll, see products, and put them in my cart. That's faster, that's easier, I get a much better look at the product. I can see reviews, I can read the nutrition label, and I can hop back over to Google to cross-reference. So what does the VR add? Nothing. It only takes away, and that's all it can ever do.