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Comment by alexpotato | Hacker News Reader

One thing I find surprising about the whole Apple Vision phenomenon:

There has been a ton of hype around "you can work in VR and it feels like a real place" and "you can have tons of screens!".

But that being said, the below article about using Meta Oculus VR goggles to "work from space" came out over TWO years ago: https://medium.com/immersedteam/working-from-orbit-39bf95a6d...

Plus, that software even works on Linux!

What is going on now that it seems like the rest of the world suddenly discovered a feature of the previous generation VR goggles?

Is it just "because Apple"?

Is it better marketing? (e.g. are more influencers involved)

I would be curious to hear HN's take on this.

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> What is going on now that it seems like the rest of the world suddenly discovered a feature of the previous generation VR goggles? Is it just "because Apple"? Is it better marketing?

It takes more attention to notice that you can combine a niche gaming device with a random 3rd party application to do work in VR, than the attention it takes to notice that Apple did a thing. Everyone, even people that aren't typically Apple consumers, would notice that Apple released a new product.

It sorta reminds me of the PS3. It came out at the same time as Blu-ray players and was capable of playing Blu-ray movies as a bonus feature. While the PS3 cost $600, the Blu-ray players cost $1,000+, and people still purchased the players. For people that were looking for a device to play movie discs, it took too much attention to notice that a gaming device offers that and much more for much less.

The Apple Vision is 3.5k - way too much, but I'm watching the videos of it. I can see how it's showing me the future.

I never saw a useful demo of virtual fixed screens in real 3d space, from Oculus. ie Both fixed in relation to my head position and fixed in the space of other rooms, with realtime content...I saw VR games from the Oculus marketing. I don't care about that (although I have coworkers who do).

More monitors of arbitrary size help me as I've gotten older. Year ago, I worked in an office, instead of at home. Remote-first attitudes have shifted how I work and are able to conceptualize things I want to get done.

The Oculus has weird hand grippers. I don't want to carry those. Give me my mouse and keyboard for interaction and build for that.

I noticed because it was marketed better and at the right time for my age group.

What does that add to you having screens hanging around?

I don't have to carry screens or hang them. I can put them on a wall. Putting a virtual shopping list on a traditional fridge, has my wife talking about possibilities. I can add art, virtual pictures, etc. These virtual digital devices don't break randomly (only the singular headset can break). Being able to resize screens matters when your eyes start to go is one thing, but having screens encircle you is a feat for your poor hardware (and the expertise to set it up) that I always desire...it's like tabs but better.

I can probably think of more in another 5 min. That being said, I still wont pay 3500 for a helmet, even when it enables these things. We will wait.

> What is going on now that it seems like the rest of the world suddenly discovered a feature of the previous generation VR goggles?

> Is it just "because Apple"?

To some extent yes - Jobs built a company that was less about innovation and more about polishing and packaging existing tech for the masses. This isn't bad - Apple has made some great stuff, and they have innovated some, but a lot of the innovation is in UX not tech.

Things apple "invented" that had been around for a while:

* the mouse

* the GUI

* MP3 players

* the smart phone

* the tablet

* virtual desktops

* video calls

And plenty more I've since forgotten. We used to joke about Steve Jobs' Reality Distortion Field in reference to this phenomenon.

Hard disagree with mouse, GUI, virtual desktops and video calls.

The mouse hasn't changed in 40 years.

Windows 3.1's GUI beat the pants off Apple's.

Virtual desktops - maybe, but I still don't know anyone who uses this and not really sure most people know it exists.

Video calls - No idea what Apple has to do with this space at all unless you mean FaceTime? I don't think that was really a game changer.

Hence me saying: apple "invented" (rather than saying apple invented). People credit apple with inventing all those things. They invented none of them.

Also worth noting - the mouse was invented over 50 years ago and has basically been the same since, the biggest change was consumer devices moving from a ball to a laser. 41 years ago was when apple first released a product with a mouse. From the wikipedia page on the mouse:

> However, the mouse remained relatively obscure until the appearance of the Macintosh 128K (which included an updated version of the single-button[54] Lisa Mouse) in 1984

> Windows 3.1's GUI beat the pants off Apple's.

It's been a really long time since I used Windows 3.1 or System 7, but I'm not seeing it; in what way was Windows better?

I dunno, the Mac Plus was there several years before windows 3.1, and lot more consistent. You must be confused...

oh I looked into that. Conclusion at the time was resolution was far too low to compete with my 27" 4k display on my desk. (I'd love to be able to travel and work remotely without lugging my big display, but my productivity takes a blow restricted to just my laptop display).

From what I'm reading about the Apple Vision Pro, it's not there yet either.

The avg consumer doesn't even know what Linux is.

The avg consumer distrusts Facebook more than Apple.

So yes, the most popular tech company + marketing.

I haven't followed the AV much, but I did mess around with using Oculus for work a fair amount, including trying that app and others. tl;dr, it's not super great.

A few random reasons:

- The Oculus goggles become uncomfortable and sweaty fairly quickly

- They use Fresnel lenses and (I think...) foveated rendering, which means you really only get sharp view straight in front of you. Not where your eyes are looking, where your head is pointing. So looking at the other screen, or even scanning text, means moving your head.

- The awareness of your surroundings is basically zero so it's easy to "lose" your mouse. Or, in my case I was using a wireless keyboard, and I could misplace it. There is a passthrough mode, but the resolution is garbage and it's annoying to get in and out of (in theory you can tap the headset, in practice it works maybe 50% of the time)

Probably some other stuff I'm forgetting...

Anyway, all that said I think there's potential that AV could do it significantly better. No idea if they actually did do it better, though.

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