Virtual & Augmented Reality and 3D News - Page 14

Apple's Vision Pro headset is something that had been rumored for years before it was finally announced during the WWDC opening keynote on June 5. But the amount of time it was rumored pales into insignificance when compared with how long it was actually being worked on deep inside Apple Park and, before it, 1 Infinite Loop.

Based on information gleaned from a new patent, it would appear that Apple's engineers were hard at work on what would eventually turn into the Vision Pro headset as far back as 2007. That's the year that the original iPhone changed everything of course, and at the time of writing it's 16 years ago. We have to assume that the headset was being worked on even before the patent's 2007 origin which means that by the time the headset finally goes on sale in 2024 it's entirely possible it will have been in development for close to 20 years.

That's two decades of work that seem to have started with the patent that was spotted by Patently Apple this week. Titled "Automatically Adjusting Media Display In A Personal Display System," it appears to reference features that ultimately made it to Apple's big unveiling a couple of months ago. Those features include being able to watch content in a theater, stadium, or even a concert fatality even though they aren't there.

When Apple announced the Vision Pro headset during the WWDC opening keynote on June 5, there was plenty of new information despite years of rumors. But there are still some aspects of the headset that are a mystery, including how much storage it will ship with. Now, a new report claims to be able to shed some light on the situation although it also raises yet more questions.

That report comes via the French website iPhoneSoft and appears to be based on a leak by someone who has been able to get their hands on the Vision Pro headset as part of their app development process. And according to them, the Vision Pro headset will be available with 1TB of storage.

The iPhoneSoft report says that its source was able to confirm that by heading into the Settings app on the headset with 1TB of storage then displayed. However, it isn't yet clear if that is the amount of storage that all headsets will have or if this is an upgraded model.

The Omni One from Virtuix is a home VR solution that aims to solve all significant hurdles related to at-home Virtual Reality - the big one being the inclusion of an omnidirectional treadmill for accurate 3D movement without the need to worry about being confined to a small space and having to teleport through a game world to progress. This feature alone and the ability to fold and pack away the unit make it an exciting outlier in the VR market.

The Omni One is the at-home version of Austin-based Virtuix's Omni Pro system found in entertainment complexes across the globe. Earlier this year, we reported on how the company was gearing to begin shipping units to early investors and backers, with today confirming that units are already in the hands of early backers - with plans in place to ship over 1,000 units by the end of the year, covering all 8,000 investors in Q1 2024.

With an introductory price point of USD 2,595 (with payment plan options available, too) and 35,000 interested customers, general public preorders will open later this year, with those deliveries expected to commence in Q2 2024. And to meet the demand, Virtuix plans to ramp up production.

Since Sony announced its PlayStation 5 VR successor, the wider VR community has wondered if the VR headset is PC compatible, officially or unofficially. And it's not hard to see why; it features some truly impressive specs alongside an affordable price point. For USD 549, you get a 4K OLED display with a per-eye resolution of 2000 x 2040 pixels with up to 120 Hz support. Not to mention a wide field-of-view (FOV) of 110 degrees.

These are tasty VR headset specs no matter how you slice it, and on top of this, you've got full motion controls and inside-out tracking for room-space VR - features not present in the original PSVR hardware.

There's good news and not-so-good news when it comes to connecting a PSVR 2 headset to your PC and firing up Half-Life: Alyx on Steam - yes, the headset works. But it requires the use of special hardware that hasn't even been invented yet.

Apple finally announced the new Vision Pro AR/VR headset at its WWDC 2023 event on June 5, but it isn't going to put it on sale until the first half of 2024. That hasn't stopped the company from starting to plan for what comes next though, with as many as two new models thought to be in the works.

Apple's Vision Pro broke the internet when it was unveiled and not just because it will cost a staggering $3,499 when it does finally go on sale. But it seems that Apple is well aware that the price is a little steep and is already keen to find a way to make it cheaper with a budget version on the horizon. The company is also thought to be working on another version of its high-end model as well, suggesting two products will eventually replace the one that still isn't available to buy.

This is all according to a report by Bloomberg's Mark Gurman which claims that new budget and high-end AR/VR headsets are already on the way. In fact, Apple is so keen to get development underway that it's apparently already started to move engineers away from Vision Pro development and onto the two new unannounced projects. Gurman was writing in his weekly Power On newsletter.

Apple's Vision Pro headset is official and now that the visionOS software's been released to developers for testing we're starting to learn more and more about it. Now, we're learning that there's a special mode that people will have to use when wearing the headset on a plane.

That's according to a new MacRumors report that is based on the outlet's diving into that visionOS release and associated developer kit. According to them, a special Travel Mode will be available for those on a plane and it will be triggered by a number of different prompts. But once enabled, it could limit the features that are available for use.

For example, when Travel Mode is enabled the Vision Pro's awareness features will be disabled, which suggests that some sensors will be available. That's possibly due to the number of people around the wearer and the close quarters they will find themselves in. The Travel Mode will also require the wearer to stay stationary as well, likely for similar reasons.

Apple finally announced the Vision Pro AR/VR headset during an event at WWDC 2023 last week and while the huge cost has understandably put some off, there's some light at the end of the tunnel.

That's because Bloomberg's Mark Gurman says that Apple is already working on a new, cheaper model for those who won't want to spend quite so much. But that doesn't mean that the high-end model is going away - Gurman believes that Apple plans to offer the headset in both Pro and non-Pro configurations moving forward.

According to Gurman Apple is well aware that the Vision Pro's $3499 asking price is a high one, but it's already keen on finding a way to offer a cheaper one. Gurman suggests that Apple could choose to reduce the display quality to save money, while also making a cheaper, more simple headband setup. However, the hand and eye-tracking capabilities as well as the external EyeSight display are expected to remain.

When Apple announced the Vision Pro headset during the WWDC 2023 event on June 5 it confirmed that the external battery pack will offer just two hours of power when the headset isn't connected to a power outlet. But that could change if there's a way to install a larger, more capable battery pack further down the line.

And it turns out that there might actually be a way to do that, although Apple is yet to confirm as much. Instead, it's been left to leaker DuanRui to posit that a hole on the Apple battery pack might allow users to eject the cable, meaning that it can then later be plugged into a different battery if required.

The cable does appear to be in a state that suggests it can be removed, and it's possible that putting something long and thin like a SIM ejector tool into the hole beside it will see the cable easily removed. There are two holes in fact, but one is likely to be an LED indicator that shows when the battery is either being charged or is in use.

Following Apple's announcement of the Vision Pro on Monday, the internet, or at least a portion of it, has unsurprisingly begun making fun of the strange animated eyeballs, turning them into a meme.

The bold decision by Apple to animate the eyeballs of the Vision Pro user and place them on an outwards-facing display in an attempt to make conversation with the outside world more comfortable has been laughed at by many users online. Some Apple fans have even gone as far as to say that company executives aren't happy with the design choice, with Bloomberg correspondent Mark Gurman simply asking why Apple CEO Tim Cook has never been seen using the Vision Pro.

Gurman asked why there aren't even any photographs of Cook using the 1st generation product, or any other Apple executives. During the presentation, the company only showcased models using the Vision Pro. According to Gurman, if it is true that Cook hasn't been spotted using Vision Pro, then that was an intentional decision by Apple for a currently unknown reason.

Apple's Vision Pro is now a real thing after the company announced it during the WWDC 2023 event on June 5. The headset itself looks stunning and the demonstrations that Apple shared made the software experience appear just as impressive. But that price has already given plenty of people cause for pause. And now there might be even more sticker shock on the way as well.

The size and shape of Apple's Vision Pro headset will mean that those who normally wear glasses will have to take them off to wear it. Apple and Zeiss have already confirmed a collaboration that will see the lensmaker build special prescription lenses for the Vision Pro headset without telling anyone how much they will cost. Now, Bloomberg's Mark Gurman says that they could cost as much as $600, although it has to be said that this appears to be a guess on his part.

That being said, Gurman does suggest that there might be a chance of Apple helping to subsidize that price slightly, although it seems unlikely. Apple has repeatedly said that Vision Pro will start at $3,499 which means that there is scope for the price to increase somewhat. It's possible that these Zeiss lenses are where that will happen, but we'll need Apple to confirm that.