this post was submitted on 04 Feb 2024
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[–] Rooki@lemmy.world 73 points 1 year ago (7 children)

In a nutshell if anything breaks you are screwed ;D

[–] JohnEdwa@sopuli.xyz 109 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (40 children)

It's an Apple device, what did you expect?
The thing even has an external battery pack, and instead of using USB-C so you could use any power bank you already own, they designed a completely new proprietary connector. In 2024.
Who the fuck does that anymore, except Apple?

[–] FangedWyvern42@lemmy.world 13 points 1 year ago

It’s even worse. The cable appears to be a bigger version of Lightning, because of course it is.

[–] AbouBenAdhem@lemmy.world 9 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (4 children)

I can see the argument for having a connector that can’t be pulled out: if you were crossing a busy street or walking down a stairway with one of these strapped to your head and the cable came out, you’d be instantly blind.

[–] erwan@lemmy.ml 45 points 1 year ago (4 children)

Who the fuck wears a VR headset walking in the street, let alone crossing a road?

[–] Joelk111@lemmy.world 8 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

No one, yet. The idea is (very obviously, I might mention) that we will be wearing AR or VR glasses just like many wear a smartwatch or carry a phone.

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[–] Rooki@lemmy.world 12 points 1 year ago

First of all this should NOT be the use case, it is dangerous, stupid, idiotic and shows that you dont care for your life and others.

[–] weeeeum@lemmy.world 4 points 1 year ago (2 children)

But the proprietary connector plug itself is almost identical to the lightning connector, the only difference is that the bolster has some notches in it for the BATTERY to lock into. All the locking is in the battery, they could have, should have, used USB C or any other existing connector.

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[–] VampyreOfNazareth@lemm.ee 4 points 1 year ago

Thems fake eyes saw no more

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[–] xenomor@lemmy.world 52 points 1 year ago (9 children)

Just think about it for a moment. Apple made a mask, that when you wear it in your face, projects a 3D animated avatar if you face on the outside. That is so weird, f’ed up and dystopian.

[–] nikt@lemmy.ca 63 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (8 children)

I won’t argue about whether this is dystopian, but the practical reason for the face projection is that they wanted to make this not just something you wear sitting alone in your basement, like most other VR headsets. They wanted it to be usable around other people, at a workplace, with family, etc.

Interacting with someone wearing a full face blind is just weird, so they thought that making the eyes visible would help make this a bit more socially usable.

I’m not sure that’s really going to work out — seems at least as awkward as Google’s failed Glass project — but Apple’s design decision has some merit.

[–] rottingleaf@lemmy.zip 16 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (2 children)

Google Glass really feels smarter in this particular regard.

Also they decided to stuff everything into the headset.

Maybe making it a separate thing and moving as much mass and volume as possible to something worn on your belt or your back would be a better idea. EDIT: But I do understand how this doesn't fit their marketing.

[–] Rootiest@lemmy.world 5 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Especially considering they already put the battery external, if you have to shove a battery in your pocket and run a wire up to your head they might as well have put more of the electronics there too.

It would conserve a lot of weight and space and make it more comfortable to wear

[–] rottingleaf@lemmy.zip 4 points 1 year ago

Yes, I didn't see that initially. When they already have it in two parts, the "doesn't fit marketing" part stops making sense.

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[–] CosmicTurtle@lemmy.world 9 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Given the number of TV shows and movies around this topic, I can sense this change coming.

If I have to interact with someone that's wearing goggles, I might go full Luddite.

[–] Crampon@lemmy.world 4 points 1 year ago (1 children)

People wear those fucking white stalks hanging from their ears when interacting with people. I see gangs of teens hanging out, all having white stalks on their ears and no one seem to care anymore.

It's not respectful to the person you're interacting with having those dangling around without showing you actually listen to what's being said. Of course people will wear these to show off as soon as possible.

[–] laughterlaughter@lemmy.world 7 points 1 year ago

I think we're past this being a disrespectful thing, and it's just how society evolves. There was a time in which anyone carrying around a cellphone (the big, brick ones) were seeing as showoff.

And years ago, if you saw someone with one of those bluetooth "stalks" as you called them in one ear, talking on the phone loudly on the street, you would think "what a douche!" But today, it's so, so, so common, that nobody seems to care anymore, not even myself. Of course, if they're in an enclosed space, or a relatively quiet space, then that will always be annoying.

Do I like this new norm? Not particularly, as I'm old school. But I just accepted it. And there has been a few times in which I had to do it myself (e.g. talking to someone while carrying some boxes or solving a problem with my bank while folding laundry), and it's kind of relieving that I can do this without feeling ashamed - again, because everyone else is doing it.

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[–] SPRUNT@lemmy.world 22 points 1 year ago (1 children)

I'm convinced that the only reason they did the eye thing is so they can get micro transactions for people buying custom eyes like cats and aliens and shit.

[–] AlfredEinstein@lemmy.world 8 points 1 year ago (1 children)
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[–] weew@lemmy.ca 18 points 1 year ago (1 children)

I think it's just straight up uncanny valley. Don't think it's especially "dystopian" per se.

Honestly cartoon eyes might have actually worked better here.

[–] Marin_Rider@aussie.zone 4 points 1 year ago

should just be some googly eyes

[–] GBU_28@lemm.ee 18 points 1 year ago

I wouldn't go so far as fucked up and dystopian. It's just an odd style choice.

[–] VampyreOfNazareth@lemm.ee 10 points 1 year ago (1 children)

It's really cheesy and cringe, a product looking for a problem.

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[–] KairuByte@lemmy.dbzer0.com 8 points 1 year ago (1 children)

I don’t think I can agree with this.

The face projection was likely an afterthought. They were already deep into the 3D face scan into avatar world with things like continuity camera and lidar. Granted, I don’t believe they are currently able to reposition the face into a completely different angle (top down into forward facing) with continuity camera, but that’s where their tech was going anyway. And they wanted to be able to have user facial expressions in device regardless.

All they did in this case was slap a screen on the front and display the avatar the thing is already generating, then call it a feature and upcharge with a 1000% markup on the total cost.

It’s a gimmick, that’s all it ever was. Meant to make this look like a sleeker device than it is with some clever marketing.

Not dystopian, just disappointing.

[–] rottingleaf@lemmy.zip 4 points 1 year ago (1 children)

A real semi-transparent mask with a projector with a computer with an open architecture would really be a cool thing. Wouldn't be VR or AR, of course. Just projecting text and lowres pictures, like Google Glass. But I'd like that, to be frank. Only not just for one eye, that'd cause headaches and anxiety.

It’s a gimmick, that’s all it ever was. Meant to make this look like a sleeker device than it is with some clever marketing.

Typical Apple. Sad when they do that when a much sleeker device or a much better experience actually exists. Like in 2007, ya knaw ...

[–] KairuByte@lemmy.dbzer0.com 3 points 1 year ago (1 children)

That type of display just isn’t feasible at the moment. We are close, quite close. Likely only a few years away. But at the moment, the only stuff coming close to it would cost at least ten times more than apples already inflated price.

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[–] erwan@lemmy.ml 7 points 1 year ago

I don't know, I could see the value if it really looked like the mask was semi transparent.

So it's a cool idea, the only problem is that they didn't deliver and the result is creepy instead.

[–] abhibeckert@lemmy.world 6 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (2 children)

That is so weird, f’ed up and dystopian.

It's not as weird as the Meta Quest, where you literally have no idea wether the person wearing it is looking at you or not.

The view of someone's eyes is very low quality - I'll give you that. But it's better than nothing at all. And I'm not sure they could've done better without doubling the price of the product.

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[–] grahamja@reddthat.com 37 points 1 year ago (2 children)

The example video of showing wearing the headset and showing the outer display:

https://valkyrie.cdn.ifixit.com/media/2024/02/03103510/Display-Stack_sm.mp4

It is off putting and reminds me of one of the Robocop 2 Prototypes.

https://www.robocoparchive.com/info/prototypes.htm

[–] TheColonel@reddthat.com 15 points 1 year ago (1 children)

I don’t know what I expected but that was mortifying.

[–] laughterlaughter@lemmy.world 7 points 1 year ago

This is a fun, silly discussion and I love it!

But hey, what you're seeing is just some internal component, so why would that be mortifying? I found it hilarious!

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