Meta just capitalised on apple’s biggest blunder
but be weary of what the press tells you
Since I was a kid, I was dreaming of the day we could wear a pair of glasses that are smart enough to augment the way we live our lives. The Meta VR glasses is now pacing the frontier, being the closest product to that reality I’ve always wanted to have. This time, Meta is competing more directly with apple, by optimising on two fronts: price and weight.
I remember the days of reading Macrumours, and coming across the articles that described the debate that executives had over where to centralise the compute: within the Apple Vision Pro (AVP) or through an external attachment. Meta has chosen to follow the AVP’s approach with some optimal tweaks: on top of separating the battery from the device, they’ve also chosen to take on the spectacle form factor instead of having light seals that block out light at the side. How this will play out (especially with multi-hour use) is yet to be known.
The press are going to go crazy over this product, writing articles with titles (yes, I know I’m hypocritical for writing this, but I had to pull you in some how, and hey, at least I’m giving you the truth) that are to the effect of Meta dethroning apple in the AR/VR/MR world, but I want you to know that while the device is more accessible (due to it’s price) and it will be more comfortable to wear (due to it’s lower weight) there are two major, fundamental challenges that are yet to be optimally solved that would still make this product like the rest in it’s category (great in some ways, horrible in others):
Field of vision:
The meta glasses has a field of vision of 70° horizontally, 66° vertically. While that sounds decent at face value, it pales in comparison to the ~100° horizontal field of vision the AVP provides. Bringing the displays closer to the eyes does mitigate this, but the reality is that both the AVP and the meta VR glasses are still not wide enough. In my try outs with the AVP, I found the field of vision to feel naturally limiting the more I used the product: the average user won’t notice it for the first couple of minutes, but as they use the device more often and daily drive it, they are bound to find the field of view to be limiting.
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Resolution:
While 5k resolution sounds like a lot, it’s still not good enough. While the AVP itself has double the pixel count, I think the issue broadly is that we’ve yet to design panels that have a high enough density to be convincing for it to be AR grade. Just like with the field of vision issue, users will definitely perceive that resolution difference over time which can and will degrade the experience.
The future is promising:
With this product, Meta is forcing the entire industry to innovate at a level unparalleled: my hope is that this pushes the big tech firms of our era to up their pace to match Meta’s. My eyes are focused on Apple, with it’s cutting edge hardware engineering and passion for beautiful design, where the prospect of a VR/AR/MR device that could beat the feature-set of Meta’s is most likely to emerge.
The price is what I believe will pave the way to wider (but still somewhat limited) adoption of this category of technology.
My bet? I think Meta might still struggle to get worldwide adoption: the public perception issues and “pervert glasses” moniker that has been hurled onto previous versions of the Rayban glasses are ever more so proliferated through even pro-tech cities are unlikely to fade in the coming months. That shunts Meta’s ability to get these VR glasses off the shelves and into the homes and faces of consumers.
My money’s on Apple. They’re the only major tech firm with a security stance that many actually believe. Despite their blunder, I believe that Apple still will do what they do best: listen carefully to public perception, those that try the product, and all the reviews (good and bad) that come from use of the Meta VR glasses. They’ll then emerge late (with zero signs of rush) with a device that is likely to make the Meta VR glasses pale in comparison — THAT is the day I am most excited for. Meta just unlocked a paradigm shift.
p.s.
Funnily enough, this device reminds me of those who used AVP without the light seals: some users found that that they could have a significantly better experience when with increased FOV and less of a “locked-in” sensation
