Comment by isp
3 years ago
The idea of hybrid AR/VR - adjusted by a dial (crown) - is very clever. As is a high-resolution display.
But the form factor is a problem.
If it had all of the capabilities announced but combined with the Google Glass form factor of ultra thin & light - then it would be a device more revolutionary than the iPhone.
But the form factor makes it much more niche.
And the tech just doesn't exist in the year 2023 to make a device with that sweet-spot combination of high capability and tiny form factor.
(My two cents, which I am hoping ages better than the infamous HN Dropbox comment.)
I agree, but I actually hope we are wrong. This tech can be amazing. I already like the Oculus with all its warts.
I hope we are wrong too.
But I (perhaps naïvely) think this is being approached from the wrong direction.
To me, if Apple had launched a new highly limited device but with the Google Glass form factor - then I could see the path to incrementally improve (keep the form factor, and add features over time as hardware progresses).
It's much harder for me to see the opposite - of starting out with the clunky form factor, even if it is 100x more capable.
EDIT: Or I may be thinking from the wrong direction. I could see this device as overtaking existing VR devices like the Rift by far.
It depends on whether "success" here is defined as surpassing the previous best-selling VR headset (very plausible), or as matching the iPhone (much less plausible).