Anyone using one? If so, what for? (please give details)
I got an oculus quest 2, was blown away by it for 1-2 hours, but never really picked it up again. The games were fun but very shallow, and never tried any practical uses.
Would love to use VR for working on a plane. Currently use a laptop, but my neck sometimes gets sore from looking down. VR has the potential to 10x the screen real estate and prevent having to look at down at an acute angle.
I have one. I use it primarily for keeping my drawer full.
That said, it's AMAZING as a home theater replacement, other than an issue with internal reflections in the optics. So in dark scenes it gets a bit annoying.
If I lived in an apartment, I would absolutely use it in place of a large TV that eats up a lot of my space. Especially coupled with the airpods MAX and spatial audio. Watching a 4k 3d movie in it is mind-blowing. Most 3d you've ever seen was really 50% of 1080p, so it's a whole new world. Some of the Apple original content is also great. The thing with the submarine is amazing.
Personally I already have a full sized home theater, so I just use that. However, I'm willing to bet that in 5 years when it's time to upgrade the home theater I'll probably just be turning it into a library with some seats I can use a VR headset from. Who knows, maybe it will be a descendant of the AVP.
Do you never entertain guests with your home theater system?
I believe you when you say that it could replace the experience for yourself, but, at least for me, hosting with my home theater is the main driver for improving it.
You nailed it. It's just not really a social experience OOTB. There are apps you can use to place multiple viewers in the same virtual space (similar to the ones on the quest), but it's just not "social" in the way that a real theater is and to do that locally would cost a fortune and be awkward and pointless.
That said, I entertain less than I watch movies alone. It's probably not worth giving up an entire room in my house for the handful of times per year that I actually entertain. My home theater is mostly just about my quest for perfection when enjoying the films that I love. If/when I can get that out of a headset... cool.
Ideally it will have real Dolby Vision/Atmos and all of the other things high end home theater equipment is expected to have, and right now the AVP doesn't. Between the reflection issues, lack of Dolby Vision, etc it's only like 80% of the way there.
I have a 120" ALR projection screen, 4K UST projector, modular semi-circular couch that seats 12 and a decent sound system. I host ramen + movie nights where I make some ramen from scratch and we watch a sci-fi movie together. I also do video game nights where people come over to game on the big screen.
Some people care about film and it's a hobby for them, some people don't. I'm sure for the people who care and their groups, it's more than just watching TV.
Amazing home theater replacement if you watch all your movies alone, or have a lot of money.
Does Vision Pro have any apps for a virtual theater where you can watch video online in a VR space with other people? I've used Bigscreen for that once or twice with a Quest, and it struck me as something that would be a cool feature if I knew more people with VR headsets.
> That said, it's AMAZING as a home theater replacement
This seems to literally be its only killer feature.
I was hoping apple would be able to figure out what nobody else has, an actual useful everyday use for AR. But still we are just given a personal theatre, or proof of concept toy 'experience' apps.
I had to try several different straps and configurations before I found one that worked well for me. I forget what it's called now, but there's one made by a company that makes CPAP machines. That's the one to get. Makes a huge difference.
Re: "VR for working on a plane" - you could look into XR glasses like the ones from XReal or Viture.
I've been considering a pair for myself after hearing good feedback from some friends, and seeing some good reviews online.
The latest versions have head tracking so the virtual screen remains "pinned" in your view.
They're also much smaller and easier to carry compared to a full VR headset, and they can plug into almost any device (laptop, tablet, phone) and just show up as an external monitor.
I’ve been tempted, but a lot of the forum feedback (ie not the breathless YouTube “reviews”), suggest that optically they are pretty bad, especially near the edges.
The xReal ones are extremely workable. Like, you wouldn't want to do it by preference if a good monitor was available, but easily good enough for a situation where you don't want to use a monitor or don't have one.
I also have the Viture Pros. They are awesome for airplane/hotel use. Not great as second monitors, as you say optically they aren't perfect and text makes that show a bit more... but if you hook up a steamdeck or want to watch Netflix on the go it's great!
Don't get me wrong, they work as a monitor in a pinch on a plane when you need privacy it's just not going to ever replace a real monitor for you.
As a user, I actually use it more today than when I first got it, because each visionOS update has really unleveled the capabilities of the device. I like watching movies on the ceiling, the spatial scenes / photos / videos are really fun, and generally viewing your Photos library on Vision Pro is on a different level. Even non-spatial content just takes on a different, more immersive quality.
I have a lot of friends in the developer community, and enjoy playing with their apps. Things like "Cell Walk" where you can explore a 3D volumetric representation of different types of cells.
The Apple Immersive short films they release every so often are phenomenal – really nothing like them in my experience.
It's nice to be able to edit a movie and throw it onto a big screen, or have a gigantic workspace.
On rare occasions, I use it for the virtual display; it's actually usable to sit outside and work with a giant display on the deck, or to dial myself onto the beach. But it's not exactly comfortable for extended use, and most of the time I'd rather sit at my nice desktop with multiple monitors etc.
I also have a Quest 3 and if I could only own one device, I'd take the Q3 hands-down. The games are fun, they get you up and moving, and although I'm not going to argue that the quality of the screens is the same or anything, it's more than good enough. I'll happily give up the virtual laptop screen in exchange for the library of VR games on the Quest.
I'm not much for consuming media so that aspect is lost on me. Unfortunately, that seems to be the primary use case Apple has focused on, if you can call the anemic dribble of content they've put out focus.
I had a quest 2, but it was always blurry for me. Something wrong with my eyes, idk. I've wanted to try a Bigscreen Beyond with custom lens inserts, but too much money to invest on something that might not work out.
If you wear glasses, or need them and don't normally wear them, it's important to get the prescription lens inserts. They make them for the Quest as well, and they aren't expensive.
Meta doesn't try to force it on you the way Apple does, but you really have to or it will always be blurry. The screen has a sort of fixed focal point and if your vision isn't great at that distance EVERYTHING will be blurry instead of just the one range that's normally blurry for you.
You may not even realize you need glasses until you try it and everything is blurry.
i usually wear contacts, and the quest 2 was always a bit blurry. one day i randomly was wearing my glasses and sort of forced the headset on over them and i was blow away by how much clearer it was. outside of that case I see about the same wearing contacts vs glasses.
i never got around to trying prescription inserts but i suspect they would be ideal
Contacts should work best of all (lens inserts make the space a bit cramped in there), but if it matters you need distance correction instead of nearsighted correction, or whatever the term is.
Meta has already released normal size smart glasses, it wont be long until all VR headsets are a relic of the past.
EDIT: I think people are misunderstanding me. I dont mean VR/AR will be dead, I maen that all devices will be normal size glasses and big chunky headsets wont exist any more.
What do you mean? This problem has already been solved and is just a case of miniturisation which history has shown the industry can do very quickly.
5 Years and there will not be a 'headset' on sale anymore. It will all be normal sized glasses.
There are several gaps in capability between headsets and glasses, which cannot be filled by any existing technology.
For example, consider field of view, which is a critical measurement of these displays. Typical specs are 120 degrees for headsets, 40 for glasses.
Headsets also perform very high performance rendering compared to glasses. The tiny <1Wh batteries in glasses are insufficient for that amount of work.
Glasses can't be expected to compete with headsets, much less eliminate them from the market entirely within a few years. It makes more sense to think of VR headsets and AR glasses as completely unrelated product categories.
All of that will be solved by miniturisation and advancement of tech.
I think you are short sighted (haha!) to think that headsets and glasses are different categories, and that headsets are not just a preliminary research phase to things in the future like smart contact lenses etc.
Let's not hand-wave field of view. Glasses cannot display anything outside the bounds of their frames, and therefore cannot have a field of view as large as a headset. No amount of miniaturization will overcome that limitation.
Contact lenses having the capability of a headset? That's just magical thinking.
Can you be specific? You think they can't cram in enough cameras and a lidar? The see through display is the elephant in the room and it's actually progressing.
Um, okay. Specifically, glasses don't try to do any kind of gaze tracking, gesture recognition, spacial awareness, any kind of 3d, depth, or immersion.
You could add more cameras and lidar for depth, yes, but then you'd also need a display for the other eye, and you still wouldn't be able to do immersion because your displays are transparent and have a tiny FOV, and you're also not doing passthrough, so why do you need the cameras again? And so on.
The XReal and Magic leap glasses have some of those things. Hololens had it before that. There's not a dream device yet but its clearly the north star for those and the Meta devices.
> miniturisation which history has shown the industry can do very quickly. 5 Years...
Sadly I think you are vastly overestimating the rate of progress here. Quest 2 came out 5 years ago - in those 5 years we've shrunk headset volume by about half (mostly due to pancake lenses). We'll need to find another fundamental improvement in lens technology to shrink the next 50%
Big screen beyond came out in '23. Meta has made strides with their recent showings. And I don't believe anybody is really dumping vast sums of money into it quite yet, they're coasting somewhat (though I realise that that's conjecture).
I'd say the biggest unsolved issue is the focus/depth of field issue...how to provide variable per pixel depth so that virtual objects can appear in a scene and be focussed on naturally (apparently called vergence–accommodation conflict) since most if not all displays have a fixed focus distance atm.
I mean that, we are still very limited hardware and software manners. Not always for tech reasons. Sometimes patent trolls, sometimes competition, sometimes other reasons. With the amount of wealth Apple posseses if this is possible, others can't come up with better. They have the most money anyone could startup a product or project.
i use mine daily for the virtual desktop and about 5 hours a week for hobby avp app dev. i simply think its fun to build pet projects in the sdk for my own AR dev education and entertainment
frankly i justified the cost by comparing against a planned home theater. now i RARELY use the avp as a home theater. its an incredible theater, but over time my mentality shifted and i consider the avp a tool instead of entertainment
i got used to the weight after a month. went from topping out on an hour or 2 to using for 4-5 hours no problem. also took around a month to learn the proper calibration for the light screen to "hang" on my face instead of press against it. this was a major breakthrough for comfort and session length
ive had mine since launch month and will add this observation i dont see said often:
i think the avp is meant to be taken off. meaning, i see meta going toward more comfortable ar glasses, but i dont really want to be in ar ALL DAY
its difficult to describe. the longer ive had an avp the more ive found a desire to put it on like a work hardhat, then take it off when i "feel" its time to stop. i really like that its not designed to be worn all day. im probably giving apple too much credit but its something unexpected ive found interesting in my own habitual use
* edit to add another interesting development after about a year of use: i now need to take a magnesium, calcium, and zinc pill or the weaker of my eyes will become tired and develop a spasm after about an hour and a half of sustained use. im vegetarian so that may also be a factor
I have used VR headsets since the original Oculus Development Kit Mk.1. It is until the Quest 3 that VR feels like a compelling product. If you can try it, I would suggest you do so.
Keep in mind, that the Quest 3 has been discontinued in favour of the cheaper and inferior Quest 3S. It still has some good qualities, but the best one is no doubt the Quest 3.
Another thing is that to save on costs, they all ship with a very inadequate headband. For comfort, it is imperative to get another solution, either the (expensive) elite headstrap or a (cheaper) 3rd party one.
What makes you think the Quest 3 is discontinued? The 3s was clearly communicated to be the cheaper alternative (and replaced the Quest 2 that was still sold in parallel with the 3), not a replacement for the 3.
I got an oculus quest 2, was blown away by it for 1-2 hours, but never really picked it up again. The games were fun but very shallow, and never tried any practical uses.
Would love to use VR for working on a plane. Currently use a laptop, but my neck sometimes gets sore from looking down. VR has the potential to 10x the screen real estate and prevent having to look at down at an acute angle.