Nearly a year since launch, Apple’s Vision Pro still searching for a killer app
Though Apple's expensive headset was been praised for its cutting-edge technology, the device is expensive and hasn't yet been widely embraced at either home or work.
Apple: You don't need a pen for the iPad.
Artists: We need a pen.
Apple: You don't need a pen for the iPad.
Artists: We need a pen.
Apple: OK here's a pen.
Apple: You don't need a controller for VR.
Gamers: We need a controller.
<---- We are here.
Apple: You don't need a controller for VR.
Gamers: We need a controller.
Apple: OK here's a controller.
Hey everyone, check out my app, you just need to spend like $3500 on this bespoke hardware first!
What's doublely stupid is that a developer would have to spend the exact same amount of money to be able to develop an app for the headset. They're not going to do that unless they reasonably sure they're going to make their money back.
this does raise a good question, if apple intended this as specifically being for developers, why aren't they marketing it as such and encouraging devs that they will release a cheaper headset later?
If apple would have just supported games from the start and offered optional controls this would be the top vr headset.
No it wouldn't. Meta just stopped selling the very expensive Quest Pro because the very affordable Quest 3 moved massively more units. Almost no one wants a VR headset that costs more than a thousand dollars because the 300 buck devices already do almost the exact same things
It's the same story as with all of VR. People don't like to strap shit to their faces, or anywhere else in their bodies. We barely tolerate watches. Every single person who wears glasses would drop them in a second if any other viable and sustainable alternative shows up. People who use and love VR put up with the fact they have to strap stuff to their faces. 3D cinema failed financially because people didn't want to have to use simple basic glasses. Not everyone can tolerate a third of a kilo on their heads for too long.
Every single person who wears glasses would drop them in a second if any other viable and sustainable alternative shows up.
Not really, glasses have long since become a fashion statement and many people wear some without needing them.
I need glasses to correct my heterotropia and even if there was some magic cure for that I'm not sure if I'd stop wearing my glasses to be honest; I kinda like them and how they make me look.
I could get laser surgery, but I choose glasses. I prefer how I look with them than without them, and sometimes they double as eye protection.
I know some people who don't like their glasses, but dislike how contacts feel more. As for me - I don't wear contacts that much because they're a recurring expense.
3D cinema failed financially because people didn't want to have to use simple basic glasses.
I have not heard anyone complain about the glasses, but tons of ppl complaining about the movies and tech quality.
Also btw currently there's currently a 127g VR glasses available for PC, and Pimax is coming out with a set that's some 180 I think (Dream Air) but also has eyetracking and whatnot.
But yeah mostly I do agree. I had the original vive and the annoyance of what were basically ski goggles that weighed a ton without any proper straps even was a bit much. It was cool though, especially once Ingot got the pro strap which had the more helmet config with the wheel at the back.
I'm thinking of perhaps seeing if I'll get a set later this year to see how far it's come in 8 years.
It failed, no need to dance around the subject. It was a very expensive demo product, and nobody wants it.
I don’t see how this is a failure, because I don’t see this as a legitimate push for adoption.
This was a device that cost as much as a used car, with no real pre release applications, and virtually no preemptive dev kits. The only thing I can see that as is an attempt to mass test a new device type with early adopters.
Every single review I saw said the same thing. Its amazing tech, with a big price tag and nobody knew who is it for. The magic wore off pretty quickly and nobody wanted to use it long term.
Would a mass test have this kind of marketing though?
There are ways of testing for these things that doesn't involve millions of dollars in marketing events (they did flew a bunch of tech influencers to Cupertino) and millions more in manufacturing (factories are expensive as hell). Apple admitted themselves that the number of sales was even lower than their already limited expectations.
In terms of engineering, the Vision Pro is kinda remarkable.
But it's also a extremely dumb product that I'm shocked they thought they could sell, especially with the arbitrary "no gaming!" rod that they made for their own back. Just shows Apple's arrogance, I guess.
I bought it. Only because I have the disposable income and could make it a business expense. That said, I use it as a gaming headset 95% of the time. It has an ALVR app so you can do Steam VR. I play mainly just flight simulator.
It’s good for working and watching entertainment on a plane also tho.
there have always been a subset of vr headsets where the displays and optics are good but are otherwise flawed, that have been relegated to the flight sim and sim racing world lol
(I have a reverb g2 and use it for 'normal' vr games, but I understand its most popular among sim people, I think Pimax headsets generally see similar use)
(also apple has told no one about ALVR and other streaming, the basically only people who will know about it are the people who liked and were using VR already and probably already have a headset they are generally satisfied with, so I doubt it has significantly affected their sales, they still shot themselves in the foot by pretending that Fruit Ninja or whatever was the only game that people would want to play with their headset)
USMC kamikaze drone team pilot app, but apple be sleeping on that.
It's unlikely to find one in this incarnation. It has too many limitations in its current form. Apple knew this when it was releasing it but they had sunk so much resource into it they had to get it out there, at least just to see what people might do. And imagine that, devs didn't want to make apps for it because it's yet another device with a new interface that would need specific attention to make a good app for and with a very small user-base, the return is not there. Chicken or the egg problem which has been very common in the VR/AR realm.
I'm sure Apple will take another crack at the form factor, but it might be another few years down the road. I might've even been interested in this model if it had any momentum at all, but it was mostly dead a month after launch.
Porn, Porn was the answer... 🤦
Isn't a surgeon's "HUD" a killer app?
It's probably a good product, but in niche applications, not for the masses.
Medical industry on the whole try not to use "killer apps". It's sort of defeats the purpose
For $3500 in the medical field having vitals of the patient in front of you while looking at the area you're working and getting complete control of the operation area without having to move your hear sounds like a winning combo.
It's way too heavy for that. Imagine that thing while operating for several hours. It's a sure way of getting neck pain. Early laparoscopic optics used lightweight visors directly on the face, doctors were extremely weary. The tech was dropped almost immediately, instead they now project the image on a big TV screen. The Vision Pro is a non-starter at a surgery room, or even as a remote control for robotics.
I feel like that’s saying that my computer monitor needs a “killer app”.
It seemed like a straight forward AR/VR device to me. There’s plenty it can already do… virtual displays and apps in 3d space, privately and on the go is just a start… it’s just WAY too expensive for people to want to do so.
Killer App in this instance really means “a use case that justifies the cost”