Apple’s $3,499 mixed-reality headset –with only two hours of battery life — won’t be available until early 2024.
nypost.com
I was a VR Boy during the pandemic. Haven't used my Oculus in a while because I've been on the road and didn't want to bring it with me. But a few years ago...I was a real sicko, logging over 100 hours in SkyrimVr according to Steam.
So I feel qualified to speak on this subject. Here are the times I want to wear a headset:
1.) Exploring an immersive, magical, virtual world
And that's it.
I didn't really notice the weight of the headset when walking through the magical land of Skyrim. But I tried the whole "Working in VR on the bridge of the Enterprise, being surrounded by 100 inch monitors" thing. Lemme tell you, the second I fired up Excel, the Oculus felt about a million pounds.
Maybe I'm wrong, but doing office work seems like a fucking awful use for VR. Also... that stupid screen that projects googly eyes on the front?
This strikes me as a feature suggested by someone who has never used a VR headset before. Now my neck needs to support the weight of an extra screen, and extra processing power, all so I can look even creepier than I do in a normal headset.
Still. It's hard to bet against Apple. I will say, their hand tracking system looks fantastic. We all use the UI developed by Apple for touchscreens. And apparently, testers are claiming the visuals look just as good as the ads say.
As for the price... adjusted for inflation, the first Apple PC sold for about $3,500
Shit, just buying a Macbook Pro today with a civilized amount of RAM and storage can cost $3,500.