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Comment by m00dy | Hacker News Reader

I think a comfortable vr headset is the missing device for VR experiences.

I find the HP Reverb G2 to be incredibly comfortable and can wear it for hours. I do have an air conditioning unit in my VR room which keeps me cool while moving during that time.

The Quest 2 is the lest comfortable thing I've ever put on my face and due to its popularity, seems to skew perspectives around how comfortable VR can be.

Wait a couple of weeks and see how the Meta Quest Pro/Cambria version looks. It's a significantly updated design using pancake lenses (thin/light) and all the weight of battery is moved to the back for better balance. I think this will make it massively more comfortable for longer term use. Of course, it'll be $800+ but that's still a bargain in the VR space (for what it is, anyway).

Agree 100%. I am curious what fruit company has in their sleeve.

An overpriced device that doesn't run any games nor has developers for it ?

The Valve Index showed that as long as your VR headset is $1000 and above, barely anyone will buy it. And that's without taking into account the hardware you need.

If anyone has a chance to succeed this generation, it's Sony with their PSVR. And even then, it's $500, and you need another $150 for their headset.

Standalone headsets (like Meta Quest line) are much more interesting then PCVR which requires beefy PC, base stations and lot of cables and setting up.

Paying $1000+ for a standalone headset might sound too ridiculous but when you understand that it is the whole computer, it is much more acceptable.

And you expect Apple to put out a $300 device like the Quest ? Because this is the main subject.

Paying $1000+ for a standalone headset, even if you can play Half Life Alyx in 4K is still not something that will reach any proper market adoption. Unlike a phone, which you can use at all times, a VR device requires a ton of space, requires buy-in from developers (Apple's current list of games and apps that support VR is... right, zero. Planning to run your game on Rosetta + MoltenVK ?), etc.

It's not the whole computer. It's a computer that you can't really bring outside, that is heavily limited because haptics are still terrible (and will stay terrible). Do you expect people to bring their VR headset to starbucks ?

I do actually. We will all migrate from a 5" glass rectangle to smartglasses in perhaps 5 years.

Way too ambitious but maybe they'll be as big as a semi popular game console by then.

I don’t think it’s that ambitious. Cambria is standalone, has colour pass through for mixed reality and has balanced the weight distribution better by using pancake lenses and putting the battery on the back. It will certainly be usable while sitting or standing still anywhere, although people will look at you weird if you do it in a coffee shop. It took Meta 3 years to get there from Quest 1 so I’d say given 5 years and some decent sales they could get it down to something that wouldn’t look too strange and would be comfortable enough to wear all day and would work while walking although I imagine that would pose similar risks as walking while using your phone. Instead of black rectangles we’ll be seeing ski-goggles everywhere.

>similar risks as walking while using your phone

Much less risky than walking while looking at a phone. This will be a heads-up display after all.

>we’ll be seeing ski-goggles everywhere

Ski-goggle? That won't fly. I expect it'll be a slimmed down version of the Magic Leap 2.

Maybe it’s just me but the magic leap 2 looks way dorkier than a good pair of ski goggles. You could probably make them look more like shield sunglasses if you prefer that vibe.

It's not intended as a fashion accessory. But neither were smartphones.

A co-worker had a Newton in 1994. We all thought it was the dorkiest thing we ever saw - him holding and looking at that thing. Little did we know.

I’d argue that if you wear it, especially in a highly visible location like over your eyes, then it is a fashion accessory. Like a hat or glasses it may serve a purpose but that doesn’t negate the need for it to look good.

Fashion will be vastly more important for mixed reality than it is for smart phones. A smart phone is more akin to a watch, fashion wise. You usually only see it when it’s being used. Mixed reality devices will be visible all the time and they will also mediate our social interactions with others.

I expect that there will be only half a dozen different models. They will all be bland and black. But to you point, they will support fashion accessories. Sort of like fashion smartphone cases. Some people will be fine with bland and black.

Don’t forget that reverse pass through may be a thing so you might have a screen on the outside which opens up all kinds of possibilities.

If Apple put out a headset, surely you'd see a lot of support from Unity and unreal devs that 'just' have to do some platform porting. No small task but its not starting from exactly zero.

>Unreal devs

The same Unreal that Apple attempted to revoke the license for and that currently don't bother because the userbase is too small (and the VR userbase will be even smaller) ?

Optimistic.

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