Tag: virtual reality

I Rode Saga’s HoloBike and Things Got a Little Weird

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Matson told me that he finds wearing a headset to be too cumbersome when you’re working out. In particular, parents told him that they can’t check out with VR because they need to know what’s going on around them. However, I prefer to not have any distractions, mainly because I’m horrible at exercise and will take any excuse not to do it.

High-endurance athletes may find Saga’s offerings a bit slim, too. Matson says the company plans to ship the bikes with three to four trails in the system, each about 20 kilometers long. This is not very many rides, and those rides are not very long. By way of contrast, NordicTrack has an extensive library of rides of all lengths, levels, and programs, which also increase resistance and move up and down as you ride. Other bikes integrate with Zwift, the immensely popular online cycling platform, or collect intensely granular data that allows you to improve your fitness.

Photograph: Saga Holographic

As of yet, HoloBike doesn’t do any of those things. The augmented technology, however, certainly makes what you’re seeing seem more real. And in some circumstances, not being real is a bonus. If all the trails are virtually generated, I’d love to have the ability to safely traverse places I wouldn’t otherwise go, like the streets of Mumbai, or even something entirely fictional, like a delivery route from Paperboy, or Elliott’s big take-off from E.T.

It would be cool if there were a possibility for users to design or contribute trails, too. I joked to Matson that they should make some version of a trail that goes all the way around the world, so you could circumnavigate the globe over the course of a year’s worth of rides, only to have him suggest creating a little onscreen pedal boat for when you’re crossing the Atlantic. With the HoloBike, the world really is entirely open and limitless. That’s enormously exciting.

That being said, the bike’s starting price tag on Kickstarter is $2,599, with expected delivery in the winter of 2024-2025. That’s comparable to other video-enabled stationary exercise bikes, but a lot to shell out for potential. If I’m going to ride a bike, I need something that approximates the feeling of the open road a little more closely, and for a little bit longer.

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May 7, 2024
My Life Outside of the Apple Vision Pro

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This has become a pattern: One minute he’s not wearing the headset, and the next he is. The transition would always happen unexpectedly—when I’d leave the room to jump in the shower, do my makeup in the bathroom, or get ready to go out.

One time, after I finished brushing my teeth before bed, I walked out to the living room to find him sitting on the edge of the couch, staring into the distance with the Vision Pro firmly on his head. He was playing chess. I sat down next to him and watched in silence as he pinched his fingers and moved imaginary chess pieces through the air in multiple directions—left, right, diagonal—slowly pulling back to observe his opponent’s (a computer) next move.

During similar interactions, I’d always ask, “Can I try?” In an attempt to persuade me to love the Vision Pro as much as he does, he’d always oblige. It’s not that I’m totally against owning my own headset, but I struggle to understand the need for it in its current form. Aside from the outrageous $3,500 price and heavy frame, I know that I’ll never reach for it as much as I do my iPhone, MacBook, or iPad. I’m content with my setup. Besides, shouldn’t that mean one per household is enough if you spend that much? Unfortunately, sharing the experience feels more like a hassle than fun.

For starters, you have to log in to Guest Mode each time, so I’m forced to go through the 90-second calibration test every time. I also wear glasses. Technically, I’m supposed to buy the prescription Zeiss Optical Inserts. But I refuse to give Apple $150 because of something completely out of my control. It’s also annoying to think that you’d have to spend even more money if you live in a household with multiple people wearing glasses.

I’ve also never had a problem using other headsets, like the Meta Quest 2, with glasses. And so, out of pure spite, I continue calibrating the Vision Pro with my glasses on anyway. It’s not foolproof—the internal eye-tracking cameras sometimes struggle to pinpoint where my eyes are looking. Some things, like spending time in virtual Mount Hood, watching Spiderman: No Way Home in 3D, and browsing the web on Safari, are easy. But anything that requires more precise eye-tracking, such as navigating visionOS or attempting to play a game, is a struggle.

A Problem Shared

When my boyfriend and I wanted to share the experience in any way, shape, or form, we’d try casting content on the TV using AirPlay. Unfortunately, a simple task like watching a movie wasn’t very successful. We tried watching Mean Girls, but because it’s on a streaming service, the content was blacked out on both the Vision Pro and the TV because of copyright.

Meanwhile, playing a game like Fruit Ninja on the big screen is fun for only so long. Every time we wanted to switch players, we’d have to go back and forth between his profile and Guest Mode. I couldn’t help but think back to how easy this process was with a headset like the Quest 2. A few years back, when my dad, brother, and I played The Walking Dead: Saints & Sinners for a few hours together, we simply passed the headset around between the three of us and jumped into the game without having to switch profiles or tinker with the settings. On the Vision Pro, however, my boyfriend and I must’ve played for a total of 10 minutes before the whole experience started to get boring.

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April 20, 2024
Apple Vision Pro Review: A Little Too Far Out

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Worse is when the doorbell goes off while you’re in the Vision Pro and you have to suddenly take it off to run downstairs and answer the door. Contrary to what Apple might want, I find it odd to just keep wearing the headset as I move through my home.

Just the other day I was installing a smart thermostat and I thought it would be helpful to wear the headset and place the installation’s video walkthrough in a virtual space next to the thermostat so I didn’t have to keep going back to my phone. Then I thought about having to wear the Vision Pro and look through the passthrough screen, which sometimes resembles a 720p display. Oh and the fact that there’s no official YouTube app yet (there is a third-party option). I just watched the video on my phone instead.

My wife doesn’t like it when I’m wearing the Vision Pro. She says it makes me “very unapproachable,” and even though Apple has a feature called EyeSight that simulates your eyes on the exterior screen of the headset, she says it’s difficult to notice it. When she does, “It feels like I’m looking at your eyes through a screensaver.” I might be enjoying my time in the headset, but it’s isolating for her.

I can go on and on. It’s surprisingly bulky to stuff in a backpack, not to mention the travel case Apple sells is $199 and adds even more bulk. It’s silly that the Zeiss prescription inserts cost so much, and that there’s no way to set up a second user’s profile in case someone else in the household wants to use it. (There’s just a rudimentary guest mode.) I also don’t love the faint glare on the lens that seems to only appear when you’re watching a movie or show in a dark setting.

Photograph: Julian Chokkattu

Most of all, I’m not sure about how Apple is positioning the Vision Pro. Should the future of computing be a bulky headset strapped to our heads that isolates us from the real world? Should I walk around my home capturing spatial video of my dog all the time? Or have conversations with my wife as she stares at my digital eyes? I am sure a loyal Apple and VR fanbase is loving every minute inside the Vision Pro, but I fear the simplest barrier of having to wear a bulky thing on the head is enough to put off the vast majority of consumers.

Yes, the Vision Pro is very much a first-gen product and one that’s not really intended for the general public—it’s more like a public developer kit. Naturally, components will get smaller, the technology will improve, and hopefully, the price will go down. The hardware is monumental, and the capabilities of the Vision Pro are incredibly impressive. But I think we are quite a ways away from the future Apple is envisioning.

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March 20, 2024
Future drug makers can develop their skills using virtual reality at new national Centre of Excellence

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Future medicine and vaccine makers will be able to develop their skills using virtual reality at a new national Centre of Excellence, after a successful funding bid involving UCL.

The RESILIENCE Centre of Excellence for UK Medicines Manufacturing Skills will deliver training and outreach materials and programmes that address skills demands in the life sciences sector. It will be run by an academic consortium of UK universities led by the University of Birmingham alongside UCL, Teesside University, and Heriot-Watt University as well as Britest LTD.

The Centre will receive £4.5m of funding from Innovate UK and the Office for Life Sciences and will work with healthcare and pharmaceutical organizations to provide an entry point for training and career input, including a pipeline of continuing professional development courses.

Director of UCL Manufacturing Futures Lab, Professor Gary Lye (UCL Biochemical Engineering), said: “The companies involved in the discovery and manufacture of new medicines make a major contribution to the UK economy. As a university, it is important that we support this vital sector through new research and through the education of skilled individuals who will enable the sector to grow.

“The RESILIENCE grant enables UCL to make two critical interventions in the medicines manufacturing skills pipeline. The first is to attract more students into STEM-based degree programmes by creating new outreach activities, and the second is to develop new hands-on training modules for those already working in the field so that they can keep their skills up to date.”

Students across the UK will benefit from access to training that draws on the best and most innovative teaching being developed by the RESILIENCE Centre, including the use of virtual reality and mixed reality situations that give students ‘near to real life’ experiences of lab environments for medicine manufacturing.

Delivery of the UCL RESILIENCE objectives is enabled by the amazing new facilities available to us at UCL East and within the UCL East Manufacturing Futures Lab. These include new outreach and engagement spaces, teaching wet labs and the Management Education Suite where we will deliver some of our new MBI Training Programme modules.”

Professor Gary Lye, Director of UCL Manufacturing Futures Lab

The Centre will provide training on digital skills, data analytics, and AI, as well as embedding environmental sustainability into manufacturing processes. With the use of virtual reality and mixed reality delivery modes, manufacturing staff can undertake a significant amount of training in VR rather than the physical environment, reducing the production of manufacturing waste that has to be incinerated, as well as speeding up the training process.

Ivan Wall, Professor of Regenerative Medicine at the University of Birmingham and Co-Director of RESILIENCE, said: “The UK is a global leader in life sciences research, but there is a critical and growing skills shortage across the medicines manufacturing industry.

“The RESILIENCE Centre of Excellence will bridge this skills gap, by developing a pipeline of talent and providing training for industry to ensure current and future employees possess the right skills for a rapidly evolving sector.”

Teaching and outreach materials will be distributed from RESILIENCE to 150 schools, colleges, and universities for free, enabling them to become affiliate members of the RESILIENCE network, as well as nurture the talent pipeline for the medicines manufacturing sector through education, mentoring and outreach.

Training courses will also be developed to support the existing workforce in the UK medicines manufacturing community, across industry and NHS, to ensure that the UK remains at the forefront of medicines development and is ready to combat future pandemics.

Addressing a Maths Summit at the Science Museum in London this week, Science and Technology Secretary, Michelle Donelan, said: “Building on our reforms to the skills system will require work from each and every one of us – universities, schools, and businesses.

“By doubling down on our investments in skills and backing British business, we can lay the foundations for an economy fit for the future – an economy that creates jobs and improves lives for communities up and down the country. That is how we make our science and tech superpower mission a success.”

Professor Vikki Rand, Director of Teesside University’s National Horizons Centre, a national centre of excellence for bioscience and healthcare, said: “At the National Horizons Centre we have a strong track record for working with partners in the bioscience sector developing innovative training for the workforce.

“By combining hands-on training on the latest equipment with digital technology, including VR and AR, we deliver real impact for the companies, by saving quality time and resources and giving them the ability to train their employees at scale”.

Professor Nik Willoughby at Heriot-Watt University said: “We are thrilled to participate in RESILIENCE, contributing significantly to the education of the upcoming generation with essential skills for the development and manufacture of future medicines. Our emerging Global Research Institute in Health and Care Technologies exemplifies our commitment to advancing healthcare through innovative research-led teaching and entrepreneurial collaboration.”

Dr Kirk Malone, Commercial Director of Britest LTD, said: “As an SME-sized company that supports organisations to sustainably grow through better process understanding, we appreciate the importance of skills training and development. RESILIENCE will instil multidisciplinary thinking into future skilled workers to enable more sustainable medicines manufacturing.”

Source:

University College London

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March 15, 2024
Neuroscientists link visual perception shifts to walking rhythm

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For the first time, neuroscientists have established a link between shifts in our visual perception and the cadence of our steps while walking.

The research, published in Nature Communications, shows that the brain processes vision in a rhythmic manner, rising and falling in sensitivity in a cycle that corresponds to the rhythm of our steps. When swinging from one step to the next, human perception is good and reactions fast.

During footfall, however, our vision is not as sharp and reactions are slowed.

This work reveals a previously unknown relationship between perception and movement. It bridges a gap between experimental psychology and our natural, everyday behavior.”

Dr Matthew Davidson, Lead Author from the School of Psychology at the University of Sydney

The study also confirms our understanding of the visual brain sensing the environment in a strobe-like way; our perception takes regular samples of the world before stitching them together to create our seamless experience.

However, the new finding that reveals shifts in our visual perception has important implications for understanding human behaviour, how we interact with our environment and make decisions.

The work was conducted by Dr Matthew Davidson with colleagues Professor David Alais and Professor Frans Verstraten in the School of Psychology, University of Sydney.

Dr Davidson said: “We are consciously aware of a seamless stream of vision but this is deceptive. I use the analogy of a duck swimming on a pond. Beneath the smooth motion on the surface there is a lot cycling activity beneath.”

This study extends earlier work from the same lab showing that perception of vision and sound is cyclic, with our brain taking around eight samples per second.

Professor Alais said: “The critical new finding in this study is that these oscillations in the brain’s sampling of the world slow down when walking to match the step cycle.

“Humans take about two steps per second when walking and generally keep to a consistent rhythm. The reported oscillations in visual sensitivity also occur at about two cycles per second and are locked to the step cycle. In some participants these rhythmic oscillations occur at four cycles per second but these were also locked to the step cycle.”

This work is the first time that visual perception has been finely and continuously sampled during walking. Without virtual reality headsets and motion tracking it would not be possible.

Dr Davidson said: “Thanks to VR technology we have discovered that our vision moves through a good and a bad phase on every step.”

It is unclear why our brain’s perceptual processes are so closely linked to walking.

Professor Alais said: “One possible explanation is that vision becomes secondary to motor control while your foot is grounded and the next step is planned. Once you are in the swing phase between footfalls, the brain switches back to prioritising perceptual sampling of the world, creating an ongoing perceptual rhythm that harmonises with your step rate.”

The findings open questions that the research team will pursue in further studies. For example, does perception of sound and touch also modulate as we walk? And what about neural activity?

The research team plans to follow up these questions to further understand the implications.

Dr Davidson said: “An obvious question is whether these oscillations in perception are more pronounced in the elderly given difficulties with balance and coordination as we age.

“It also raises the exciting possibility that we could develop cheap and easy diagnostic tests using VR headsets, or use this information to develop tests for early onset of neuro-muscular disorders or some psychiatric illnesses, which can manifest in abnormal gaits.”

He said it could also be applied to further research in sports science to see if the findings could be applied to optimise decision-making and reaction times in athletes.

Underlying all this research remains a persistent mystery. If the world is sampled by our brains rhythmic pulses, why is our conscious perception so seamlessly smooth?

Professor Verstraten said: “This was once a question for philosophers, but with access to technology neuroscientists have been able to shed light on how the gaps get filled in. The current view is that the brain is a predictive machine that actively constructs perception and predicts what ought to be there and fills in the blanks. But clearly, we need more research to deepen our understanding.”

Methods

Researchers tracked the walking of 45 subjects walking back and forth along a 10-metre path in a virtual environment. During each walk (lasting about 9 seconds), subjects were required to respond to between zero and eight random visual stimuli. The same stimuli were also presented in stationary trials. Eye and head movement was tracked along with gait and walking information.

Of the 45 subjects, insufficient data was collected for seven subjects. In the datasets for 38 subjects, reduced perception at footfall was recorded 83 percent of the time.

The behavioural data generated in this study have been deposited in a public database under accession code https://osf.io/8djtq/

Source:

Journal reference:

Davidson, M. J., et al. (2024). Walking modulates visual detection performance according to stride cycle phase. Nature Communications. doi.org/10.1038/s41467-024-45780-4.

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March 7, 2024
Smart glasses use sonar to work out where you're looking

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Gaze-tracking devices normally rely on cameras, but a new system uses reflected sound to track where someone is looking based on the shape of their eyeballs

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March 4, 2024
The Disney Imagineer Building You a Real-Life Holodeck

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Though ideas at Disney aren’t always developed in a linear fashion—a prototype of an invention might be started years before the company finds the place to put it into action, or an idea for something artistically cool might germinate for a bit before Research figures out the technology—Smoot has worked on a few things with a hard deadline, including the lightsabers for the Star Wars Launch Bay in 2015 and the Galactic Starcruiser in 2022.

While one could argue that not everything Disney makes is pure, inspirational magic, Smoot designs everything he works on to either entertain or spark joy. “There are engineers that have to work on things that can hurt people or that aren’t necessarily that good, and that’s never something I have to worry about,” Smoot says. Instead, he jokes, he just concerns himself with how Madame Leota will “float” through her seance room every few minutes for years on end. (He also had a hand in the operation of the Haunted Mansion’s stretching paintings, which were refurbished a few years back.)

Citing Arthur C. Clarke’s third law that “any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic,” Smoot says part of his work is about conveying a smooth and perfect sheen of surprise. When parents take their kids to a Disney park, they want those kids to have the same experience they did, even if all of the tech has been replaced.

Smoot points to Madame Leona as an example. Online, people had all kinds of theories about how Disney made the Haunted Mansion character fly—proof that Smoot’s tricks worked. “I read some descriptions from people who loved it and how they thought it worked, and without going into too much detail, I’ll say they were completely wrong and completely simplistic,” he says. “That’s when I said, ‘OK, yeah, what we did was good.’”

It’s this kind of impact that moves Smoot’s work beyond the realm of cool gadgetry. Paiva says that “when we look at potential inductees, we’re looking for inventors who have US patents that cover their work, which certainly Lanny has, but beyond that, we’re looking for inventors whose work has made societal, economic, and cultural impact.”

While Smoot’s Disney career has certainly wowed and enriched the lives of park goers and cruise ship passengers over the years, his work on teleconferencing at Bell was also an important factor into his induction, as was his work with aspiring young inventors.

“I’ve become a bit of a role model for young Black kids and people of color and women who have been looked over or not been in the room where things are done,” Smoot says. “I came from Brownsville, and I didn’t have a lot of money. Even today, I am one of the most thrifty people when it comes to building things. Some people say, ‘I can’t start my work unless I have this much money,’ but I’m like, ‘OK, I have a broomstick and I can take the keyboard apart…’”

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February 28, 2024
It’s Apparently Easy to Crack the Apple Vision Pro’s Front Screen

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Apple’s mixed-reality headset is selling well, but it’s embroiled in a new mystery that’s proving tough to crack.

As first reported by MacRumors, some customers have discovered a mysterious crack appearing vertically down the center of the front-facing screen on their Vision Pro headsets. The reports have come from only a small number of users, most of them talking about it on Reddit, which can be an unreliable source. That said, Engadget reports that the same crack has occurred on its review unit. The folks affected say they haven’t mishandled the devices—there’s been no dropping or smashing that could create the crack in the laminated glass screen. So it’s not yet clear what exactly is causing the problem, or whether it actually affects the performance of the Vision Pro.

WIRED reached out to Apple to ask about the cracks on the Apple Vision Pro’s front screen and what could be causing them, but the company hasn’t responded.

Apple has chosen to make its first headset out of premium materials like aluminum and glass that have resulted in the device being both heavy and less durable. For an example of how it stands up to stress, take this video of YouTuber JerryRigsEverthing absolutely demolishing an Apple Vision Pro headset. (Spoiler alert: It doesn’t do well if you set it on fire.)

Here’s some other consumer tech news.

Apple Sports a New App

This week, Apple announced a dedicated app for sports lovers. It’s called—wait for it—Apple Sports. The app is free on iOS, and it gives iPhone users access to real-time sports scores. It can be used to track scores and stats from some professional and college leagues, like Major League Soccer, NBA and NCAA basketball, Premier League soccer, and NHL hockey. Notably missing are other sports giants like the MLB, NFL, NCAAF, NWSL, and WNBA, though Apple says those leagues are coming to the app soon for their upcoming seasons.

The app lets users filter and customize the scoreboards to show their favorite teams. It’s also meant to push users toward watching games on Apple TV, with the inclusion of a “Watch on Apple TV” button in the app. While the iPhone app is free, streaming the games usually requires a subscription.

Apply PC Games Directly to the Forehead

In other VR news, Sony says it is testing out making its newest VR headset compatible with PC games. Sony’s PS VR2 came out a year ago, and while it’s a fun, powerful device, it received some criticism for requiring a tethered connection to a PS5 console. Now, Sony is exploring the idea of letting players utilize the headset for gameplay on PCs as well.

The announcement was buried a few paragraphs into an update about new games coming to Sony’s console platform. The company didn’t share any details about which PC games it is testing on PS VR2, or when such a feature might become available.

Still, it’s a welcome cross-platform move that may bring Sony a step closer to ending the console wars. That’s probably not the company’s immediate goal here, but it is not the first move by a gaming company on the interoperability front. Last week, the Xbox team announced that several of its previously exclusive console games will soon be made available on other platforms like PlayStation and the Nintendo Switch.

What Are You Dune 2 Night?

Swiss luxury watchmaker Hamilton has unveiled two new timepieces inspired by director Denis Villeneuve’s upcoming Dune sequel. As you might expect, they look like something that’s arrived straight from Arakkis. (That’s the Dune planet.) The exterior is a rugged matte black, with bright blue numbers and watch hands meant to evoke the color of the eyes of the Fremens. (They’re the Dune people.) The triangular shape of the case is an evolution of Hamilton’s Ventura model, which was first introduced in the 1950s.

The Ventura XXL Bright costs $1,810 and is limited to 3,000 total units. The Ventura Edge Dune watch is $2,553 and is limited to 2,000 total pieces. Dune: Part Two opens next Friday, March 1.

Tech Trouble

It’s a rough time to be in the tech industry for a lot of workers, especially those who have been swept up in the great wave of layoffs that have happened so far this year. In a matter of weeks, tens of thousands of tech workers lost their jobs. Companies of all sizes have made cuts recently, including Google, Amazon, Discord, and Instacart. It’s a stark shift for an industry that grew by enticing employees with extravagant campuses and benevolent benefits. Now, faced with a glut of job seekers, companies have gotten very particular about who they hire. It’s harder than ever to land a tech job, and both sides of the interview table are getting creative about how they approach the other. (Yeah, they’re probably all using AI.)

This latest episode of WIRED’s Gadget Lab podcast dives into the plight of tech workers, and how getting a job and keeping one have become much more precarious.

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February 24, 2024
Crying in Apple Vision Pro Is No Laughing Matter

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From the inside, though, the view is incredible. It really is. I’m just as surprised by this as you are. The picture is crisp, and the spatial sound is so realistic that more than once I removed the headset to see if someone was at the door. While watching Life is Beautiful, Roberto Benigni marched across the space where my living room meets the dining room, right up until (spoiler) Nazis took him out back and shot him. I cried.

Tears welled up in my goggles, pooling at the soft rim of the face cushion. These tears never made their way down my cheek. I was literally crying on the inside. When I plucked the Vision Pro off my face, I saw that the face computer’s seal was soaked. The inner lenses needed a good microfiber wipedown. It was, in a word, disgusting.

Fortunately Apple offers support, though not of the psychological variety. Apple warns that the Apple Vision Pro and its battery are not, in fact, water resistant. (Oops.) “Keep your device and battery away from sources of liquid, such as drinks, oils, lotions, sinks, bathtubs, shower stalls, etc. Protect your device and battery from dampness, humidity, or wet weather, such as rain, snow, and fog,” the support page says. Not a word about tears! Or other bodily fluids. An incredible oversight.

I soldiered on. Using Cinema Mode, I watched a comedy-drama that isn’t categorically sad but always makes me well up at the end. Thanks to the Apple Vision Pro, I sat alone in a hyper-realistic virtual movie theater, watching in anamorphic widescreen format. Achievement unlocked: The headset was soggy. Honestly, I was starting to love this thing.

I text-messaged two friends, “Honestly, I’m starting to love this thing.”

Theater of Pain

During my two-week trial period with the Apple Vision Pro, I gave other apps a go. I iMessaged by tapping my fingers in the air. I sent a few voice notes. I swiped through my camera roll and captured spatial photos. I FaceTimed with a friend. Its most elementary feature, the floating home screen of apps that greeted me when I first logged on, might have thrilled me the most.

Still, I wanted to determine if it was worth $3,804 in emotional pangs.

I rented and watched The Eternal Memory, an Oscar-nominated documentary about a Chilean couple struggling with Alzheimer’s disease. As a meditation on personal and cultural memory, it’s heartbreaking, but it occurred to me that it was no more or less so because I was streaming it from an expensive computer on my face.

I was about an hour into the Norwegian film The Worst Person in the World (which doesn’t seem sad from the trailer, but I assure you it gets there) when I realized the left side of my lip was numb. I searched for my own face with my finger pads. My whole left cheek felt like someone else’s. I text messaged the same two friends, “I think the Apple Vision Pro made my face numb.”

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February 22, 2024
The Apple Vision Pro Is Heavy. There Are Ways to Fix It

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In the two weeks it has spent on the faces of eager buyers, the Apple Vision Pro has been subjected to its share of criticism. As reported by The Verge and elsewhere, some customers are making a show of returning their Vision Pro headsets before Apple’s standard 14-day return window on new purchases closes. Some headset owners have lodged complaints across social media about the device’s weight, saying wearing the Vision Pro for extended periods of time causes great discomfort, and the odd allegedly-related burst blood vessel.

Apple isn’t one to skimp on the look and feel of its products, and the Vision Pro has a characteristically slick aesthetic. Unfortunately, the premium materials that make up the headset—primarily the aluminum chassis and glass optics—are much heavier than the plastic and other lightweight components found in competing mixed-reality headsets. There’s also an external battery pack that reduces the headset’s portability. The bulk, weight, and awkwardness of wearing a computer on your face make for a clunky experience which hardly seems to lend itself to the types of activities Apple is suggesting Vision Pro owners use it for: kicking back and watching a feature-length movie in VR, doing office work, or dancing around your kitchen while building a surfboard.

Eduardo Umaña, a hardware designer, says the fact that it’s uncomfortable is less about the materials and more about the size and dimensions of the device. “When you have weight (the aluminum frame) acting a distance from an anchor point (the user’s face), it creates almost a lever effect that, although minimal, will disturb the user’s experience,” Umaña writes in an email to WIRED.

Compare that to a normal pair of glasses, which rest directly on the nose and sit very close to the face, reducing that leverage. Normal glasses obviously require far fewer materials than the Vision Pro, but Umaña says their design can offer a lesson in how to better hug a face. “If Apple wants to make the device more comfortable and wearable, this distance needs to be reduced significantly. Or at least, the heavier materials should be closer to the user’s face, like in a ski mask.”

Apple did not respond to requests for comment.

Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg weighed in on the Vision Pro by comparing the headset unfavorably to his company’s Meta Quest headset in a video posted on Instagram. “Quest is better for the vast majority of things that people use mixed reality for,” he says.

Biased though he clearly is, Zuck may be right. Because the Apple Vision Pro is not meant to actually appeal to everyone. Jitesh Ubrani, a research manager at the tech analyst firm IDC, says the Vision Pro is bound to cause friction because it is a product intended as a developer kit, rather than something truly meant for the average consumer.

“I think Apple realizes there would be this sort of backlash, but it’s the kind of backlash they’d be willing to accept as collateral damage,” Ubrani says. “Really they’re trying to make inroads with the developers right now.”

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February 16, 2024