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Oculus Meta’s Vision vs. Apple Vision’s Vision
First off, Meta will always be Oculus to me. Second, we can see the struggle that will unfold over the coming years. I’ve written elsewhere about Zuckerberg’s cutesy-pie “Metaverse” vision for the future of our devices. And, I don’t like it. I don’t like anything about the cutesy avatars and how you’ll be able to buy them costumes or hats and polka dot bow ties. Sorry, Mark. I’m an adult. That has zero appeal to me. The whole so-called “Metaverse” vision just doesn’t turn my motor over…
The competing conception now comes from the good folks at Apple. Apple’s thrust their fruit right through this hypothetical metaverse with their paradigm-annihilating spatial computing. Listen, I never said I was Ernie Hemingway. Anyway..
I much prefer what Apple’s doing here. And, I think their approach is going to win the more immediate future. Why wouldn’t it? What they’re doing is just fundamentally transforming computing again. And, I mean computing in capital letters like COMPUTING…we’ve seen this with the huge mainframe computers of yesteryear, the desktop, laptop, smartphone and tablet. We’ve seen this…and, Apple is presenting the next iteration of computing…while Mark’s got you playing games and dressing up an avatar. Apple is going to win this.
Now, what do I mean by that?
Apple is going to win this in the sense that what they’ve put forth is an inchoate little step towards what’s developing in respect to the WORLD’S FUTURE. This “spatial computing” is the inchoate representation of what’s going to happen. Now, Zuck isn’t trying to present any of that with the Quest 3. He’s just giving us a way to have fun with some AR games and…perhaps not his intention…high-tech pornography. His larger “metaverse” vision I find fairly revolting. But, Quest 3 doesn’t seem to be pointing to that in the same way that Apple’s device is pointing to an actual developing future.
However, we can already gleam what Zuck has in mind with his “metaverse” bullshit. You know, I always hated the term metaverse. It gets into the whole woo-woo Joe Roganesque conjecture that so quickly bores me. But, we can see what he has in mind. Our little avatars in an imaginary universe that he runs where we send him micro payments to put a top hat on our “avatar.” UM, FUCK THAT IN CAPITAL FUCKING LETTERS!
With Apple, we can see they’re envisioning keeping a motherfucker grounded right here on earth. Their whole trip is providing an experience where you’re very much a part of this earth. The visor goes transparent at appropriate times. A motherfucker can see your eyes. You can blend virtual reality with your reality reality. You can augment your reality. But, you’re really staying grounded in this reality! No fucking top hats and bow tie micropayments! You’re a human using a face computer right here on earth.
But, for my USE CASE…meaning, tech for porn…Quest 3 wins right now because it’s way the fuck cheaper and provides enough functional similarity (mainly the competent color passthrough and improved graphics/processing) that I can’t justify spending an additional 3K for eye tracking. Now, in respect to people wanting to enter amateur porn production: AVP wins and sets up a really low barrier to entry. That’s in regard to THE PORN USE CASE. My analysis of Apple Vision Pro goes beyond porn and into the larger trajectory of world and human history: culminating in brain modifications.
If you want to see the short-sighted and prosaic take on this whole thing, check What Apple, Meta And Sony Don’t Get About AR And VR at Forbes. This type of thing suggests to me that these sort of legacy organizations like Forbes should really stay in their own lane.
Tassi’s silly take is essentially that since VR hasn’t seen mass-adoption between 2015 and 2023, it’s therefore a sci-fi fantasy that shouldn’t try to be actualized: “Just because you see some sort of advanced tech in fiction that does not mean it will be received with open arms in the real world.” So, I already used the word silly once, right?
The first obvious objection, of course, is that VR is still brand new. In 2015, my intro to it was a piece of folded cardboard. And, in less than 10 years there’s now spatial computing. That alone invalidates his argument. It’s a bit premature for the eulogy.
What Tassi and his ilk don’t understand is that this simply cannot be stopped. They somehow don’t grasp that. This isn’t about Apple’s new face computer. It’s about the trajectory of human development. The journey from the caveman to a modified human entity with AI brain modifications CANNOT BE STOPPED. It may not be a good thing. Doesn’t matter. It has its own indestructible volition that’s etched into our DNA. It cannot be altered.
What does the Tassi crowd think is going to happen? They think these organizations are going to say, “Oh, it was just the stuff of sci-fi. It’s not being widely adopted fast enough. Let’s fold up shop.”
There is going to be a Quest 4. They’re working on it right now as you read this. They were already working on it before the Quest 3 was completed. There is going to be a Quest 14. There is going to be an Apple Vision Pro 5 that will make the present Apple Vision Pro seem like a crude, clunky and quaint thing. You are going to be able to observe something and record it with your mind and play it back when you want. You are going to have an IQ of 200 thanks to the AI running inside your brain. The girl-next-door will be able to converse with a simulated Einstein. You are going to be able to have a real, tangible sexual thrusting experience with Pamela Anderson’s indistinguishable hologram with her red Baywatch suit pulled to the side. This cannot be stopped. Perhaps we’d be better off if it were stopped. Truth is…I think we probably would be…but, it’s happening.
By the way, Quest 2 is coming down in price soon: $299 USD from June 4th. Also big software update coming to Quest 2 and Pro that will improve performance. Quest 2 and Pro will see a 26% CPU performance increase and up to a 19% GPU performance increase on the Quest 2 and 11% for the Quest Pro. Also, both devices will see an improvement in Dynamic Resolution Scaling.
Apple is smart
I always like to give credit where credit’s due: whether I like the organization or not. For instance, I never much liked Apple and their whole locked down approach to things. I always preferred rooting Android and running custom ROMS and hacks, etc.
But, I’ll say this: this Apple gang has a lot of brain power. I appreciate how, in a way, they sort of managed to bypass the whole virtual reality context. In other words, of course their new device is a AR/VR device, but notice how they frame it as spatial computing. It’s not presented as an AR HEADSET…it’s presented, as mentioned, as spatial computing.
So, the logic at work is that computing went from the desktop to the laptop to the pocket and now…to the face! What we’re dealing with is an AR/MR/VR extended reality headset…it’s a…FACE COMPUTER! Brilliant! I think this is much easier for the average consumer to get his mind around…it’s an Apple computer with the familiar ecosystem, but it goes on your face now. Conceptually, for the consumer brain, that’s the entry point: thinking of it as a computer on your face. When the starting point contains words like “augmented reality” or “mixed reality” it’s more difficult to get an initial conceptualization. The immediate question becomes: Augmented reality…what’s that?
You know, I’ve been reading a lot of analysis of Apple Vision Pro coming from outside of the adult industry. And, to me…I think a lot of fuckers are missing the bigger picture of this whole thing. It kind of amazes me that they’re missing it. What’s being referred to as “spatial computing” is just like the very first teeny-tiny baby step towards the bigger picture of where the future’s heading…and, where it’s heading is that the “spatial computing” is going to be inside of your fucking head…there isn’t going to be a visor strapped to your face. Your Goddamn brain is GOING TO BE THE VISOR! It’s kind of like what Google Glass was trying to do but your brain is the glass…
Two overlooked Apple advantages
Over on Twitter, CIX makes two very good points about Apple’s advantages with Vision that are important but easy to overlook.
1. They have retail stores everywhere. Most headset buyers convert after use. Marketing never does XR justice.
2. Apple Card/Financing: That $3.5K headset doesn’t look so bad at $200 a month at 0% interest.
Yes, points well taken! I wasn’t considering those factors. And, yes…those are both big advantages.
Other Apple Vision Pro opinions
Skarred Ghost is underwhelmed
One of my favorite authorities in the VR/AR/XR world is Tony Skarred Ghost. You can always count on a very high-quality level of expertise from the Ghost. So, I was curious about his write-up. And, here it is: Apple Vision Pro is a mix of innovation, and year-2016 VR, for a hefty price. But… It seems Tony’s whelmed level is low: “Overall, I’ve been quite underwhelmed: the headset is super expensive, it is coming later than expected, it is less pretty than I wished for, and has no super-compelling use cases. The last one is the point that disappointed me the most: at $3499 you need to give people a strong reason to buy…”
Road To VR opinion
While we’re exploring some expert views of this device, we might as well add the good folks at Road To VR: Apple Unveils Vision Pro, Its First XR Headset. Also see Hands-on: Apple Vision Pro isn’t for Gaming, But it Does Everything Else Better. The bottom line there appears to be “To me, it’s a very polished but unfinished and overengineered product that should have been a much simpler and much cheaper dev kit that could have sparked great ideas.”
Mainstream analysis vs porn analysis
So, after reading the views of guys like Tony and Ben…it’s important to note that these good folks are looking at these devices from a very mainstream sort of use case. I think it’s fair to say that. I’m looking at it from a purely porn use case. And, in final analysis, I think why I’m particularly excited about this device is because of the purportedly well-executed color passthrough AR along with the eye tracking and next-level optics and the ability to record 3D video with the device. Those are the things I’m looking for from a porn perspective. And, the realm of real, honest-to-goodness amateur VR porn is going to fucking explode. The VR porn industry REALLY NEEDS THIS! Big time. This is going to be very good for the VR porn universe. I generally hate the term disruptive but it was a word that came to mind concerning this development. Let me add: I’d like to see a much greater availability of simple 3D pornographic still pictures: which is another feature of the AVP.
Augmenting Us
But, I still maintain that we are going to be damn shocked by how quickly the next step happens. I believe that it’s closer than most people think. And, historically speaking when this period of time is considered at a distance…I do believe that AR/VR/mixed reality along with spatial computing and metawhatever will be seen as a brief intermediate step before the inevitable which is augmenting US.
Let’s face it. That’s where this is headed. There’s no way that that’s not the destination of this! It can’t be stopped. I think that Black Mirror episode The Entire History of You gets it right. The devices running from the Gear VR through Apple’s Vision will just be a little historical footnote. The computer power to augment our reality and run virtual reality will be coming from the modifications to our own brains. And, you know, the early steps of this are already happening. And, you combine that with the burgeoning AI, and I think people are going to be fucking shocked at how fast it happens. That’s my prediction.
More about the future of porn
You’re naturally wondering about Apple Vision Pro porn. I am too. In the short term: some very horny AR porn applications that synch with the wacking toys…and, there’s a very fine way that this could be achieved I think. After that, in the longer term, it’s another step in the journey to the brain modifications that synch with AI sex robots in some very interesting ways: such as projecting whoever the hell you want over the robot.
Here’s the most interesting things about the forthcoming Quest 3: starting price $499, high-res color mixed reality, 40% thinner than Quest 2 (I like the sounds of that!), high-fidelity color passthrough, innovative machine learning, spatial understanding, next-gen Qualcomm chipset…
So, June 2023 will obviously be a HUGE MONTH in VR porn history with both Apple and Oculus Meta making the announcements for devices that will finally push pornography into augmented terrain. If you read these articles you’ll know that I’ve long felt that it’s augmented reality where pornography is going to truly go full-fledged horny.
What do I think about it? Personally, I’m pulling for Apple. I’d love to see Apple eventually knock Meta down from its throne. It’s not so much that I like Apple. It’s just that I don’t like the Facebook way of doing things. I don’t want to see pictures of your kids. I don’t want to take your quiz. I’m not interested in foreign propaganda trying to sway my vote. I hate and resent the way that it’s necessary to go through a Facebook account to use an Oculus device. I just fundamentally resent this. Yes, I do enjoy the Oculus Quest 2 which I consider to be a damn fine device at a fair price. Yes, that’s true. Major props to everyone who brought the actual Quest physical device into existence! But, I despise the vision that Zuckerberg has presented for the future of virtual reality with all his cutesy pie avatar shit. So, yes…I dislike Apple for a variety of reasons. I despise their closed little ecosystem and pricey devices. I’ll always be an Android guy. But, in this battle: FINDVRPORN is pulling for Apple! I said it!