Apple's AR Vision Pro headset isn't the HoloLens competitor I thought it was going to be

Ron-F

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I disagree with the main point of the article. Vision Pro is a direct competitor to HoloLens and it is a an AR machine which is capable to operate in VR too. The AR capabilities was central to Apple presentation. The whole time we were reminded how it did not alienated the user from reality, how it would show people that approach the user and how the user face would appear in the googles to make clear he or she were not immersed in the VR space. Zac correctly points out that Apple is projecting an image to the user, instead of of the HoloLens method, in which the visor is transparent. To me, this is a small detail that do not negates the use case of the device.
In any case, this debate is pointless to me. Considering the price Apple is asking, I don't see any justification to be used outside the corporate market and I cannot envision how I could justify one for work.
 

PaperPirateMonk

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I fully agree it's a move away from AR compared to the Hololens. I'm still charmed how tilt5 showed that the social and AR aspects do not require high res or the most powerful technology.
 

R K7

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Reminds me of Steve Baulmer scoffing at Apple's first attempt at a phone... It's gonna fail because it's not like a proper phone with a keyboard!
Mobile phones were ubiquitous when Baulmer made that comment. No one is using VR/AR despite it being on the market for years. Tim Cook just signed his resignation letter.
 
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R K7

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I disagree with the main point of the article. Vision Pro is a direct competitor to HoloLens and it is a an AR machine which is capable to operate in VR too. The AR capabilities was central to Apple presentation. The whole time we were reminded how it did not alienated the user from reality, how it would show people that approach the user and how the user face would appear in the googles to make clear he or she were not immersed in the VR space. Zac correctly points out that Apple is projecting an image to the user, instead of of the HoloLens method, in which the visor is transparent. To me, this is a small detail that do not negates the use case of the device.
In any case, this debate is pointless to me. Considering the price Apple is asking, I don't see any justification to be used outside the corporate market and I cannot envision how I could justify one for work.
No one in corporate America is going to spend money on something that add zero value to a meeting with co-workers or clients. Before we start the meeting let's put on these ski gaggles... Lol
 

RoguePine

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very well said. I think AR is the future of mass market not VR and Microsoft has gone the right way but a bit slow. because AR doesn't need screens and shows the real world around you, needs less hardware so it will be more portable and if there's more time and effort they will become much smaller and more portable and eventually at the size of a normal eye glasses just like the forgotten Google Glass. if Microsoft dedicate more time and research to HoloLens maybe they can steal the show this time. the only problem will be the OS. since most people use Android and iOS on the go at this time it would be a wise move to implement Android as the OS at first and working with Google so that users can install their favorite apps and games more comfortable and gaining the mass market. then deciding to stay with it or move to variations of Windows
 

Cmndr_Bytes

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Not much of a competition when I have not a heard a peep from MS about Hololens in quite some time. I don't think Apple's VR will do much due to price point, but we all know Apple is a marketing machine unlike MS who couldn't devise a marketing plan to sell water in the desert.
I really wanted a hololens, but i don't see them making one for consumers. While it seems like a real opportunity for MS I doubt seriously they will move on it.
 
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finbaar

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Given the price of this headset and the current uses available for it I can't see it being used outside business. Cheaper headsets are being used more in gaming - look at one of the Occulus headsets, it's sold as many as the latest gen XBox. But why would I need to spend money on one of these? Why would anyone who doesn't need it for work of gaming? It doesn't replace my phone and I can't "show it off" like a smart watch.
 

Rocwurst

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I manage a lab with a dozen Microsoft Hololens 2 headsets (which cost us $3,500 each to buy last year) and I can tell you the Apple Vision Pro does indeed compete with and yet is light years ahead of Microsoft’s AR attempt.

I am getting exactly the same feeling I had when the original iPhone was released when at the time I was on my 3rd expensive Windows Mobile PDA phone.

Yes, My O2 XDA II had a 3.5” touchscreen like the iPhone, but it was horrifically clunky and low tech in comparison to the multi-touch, capacitive screen and elegant overall vision of the iPhone.

The HoloLens 2 is exactly the same - right down to having a clunky Windows Mobile-like interface compared to the gorgeous visionOS of the Apple headset.

The open visor design of the Hololens is its weakest feature as it makes it impossible to use outside in broad daylight as the screens just can’t compete in brightness. It also means the angle of view is terribly constrained with graphics limited to a small box in front of you with none of the immersive wrap-around graphics of the Vision Pro.

Those who have used the Apple headset report it is easily 180 degrees of view extending right out to your peripheral vision. The Hololens in contrast feels like I’m looking through a keyhole at low rez grainy, pixelated graphics from 2 decades ago.

in addition, you have to hold your hands and arms up and point and pinch at objects in front of you getting massive “gorilla arm” fatigue as you try to type or manipulate objects. With the Vision Pro, it is your eyes that are the mouse, moving around the interface instantly with your arms relaxed in your lap or on the table or couch arm rest with just your fingers simply pinching to select and doing short subtle moves to drag. Far quicker and vastly more relaxed.

The HoloLens just doesn’t compare.
 

Cmndr_Bytes

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I manage a lab with a dozen Microsoft Hololens 2 headsets (which cost us $3,500 each to buy last year) and I can tell you the Apple Vision Pro does indeed compete with and yet is light years ahead of Microsoft’s AR attempt.

I am getting exactly the same feeling I had when the original iPhone was released when at the time I was on my 3rd expensive Windows Mobile PDA phone.

Yes, My O2 XDA II had a 3.5” touchscreen like the iPhone, but it was horrifically clunky and low tech in comparison to the multi-touch, capacitive screen and elegant overall vision of the iPhone.

The HoloLens 2 is exactly the same - right down to having a clunky Windows Mobile-like interface compared to the gorgeous visionOS of the Apple headset.

The open visor design of the Hololens is its weakest feature as it makes it impossible to use outside in broad daylight as the screens just can’t compete in brightness. It also means the angle of view is terribly constrained with graphics limited to a small box in front of you with none of the immersive wrap-around graphics of the Vision Pro.

Those who have used the Apple headset report it is easily 180 degrees of view extending right out to your peripheral vision. The Hololens in contrast feels like I’m looking through a keyhole at low rez grainy, pixelated graphics from 2 decades ago.

in addition, you have to hold your hands and arms up and point and pinch at objects in front of you getting massive “gorilla arm” fatigue as you try to type or manipulate objects. With the Vision Pro, it is your eyes that are the mouse, moving around the interface instantly with your arms relaxed in your lap or on the table or couch arm rest with just your fingers simply pinching to select and doing short subtle moves to drag. Far quicker and vastly more relaxed.

The HoloLens just doesn’t compare.
And that is MS. You are right. How many times do they lead out of the gate only to stumble or just quit mid-race? Phones, Kinect, HoloLens, Cortana, etc etc.
Had they continued innovating and working on the hololens it could have been a magnificent piece of productive hardware. Instead, we hear about management issues, non-cooperation between teams, Chief officers not realizing the potential... for those of us who want to be in the MS ecosystem they seem to not want our business.
 
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