I've said this before, but Apple's attention to detail might finally bridge the uncanny valley to actually good AR. I can elaborate a bit more when I get on my computer.
No kidding. This honestly felt like something out of Hunger Games, with some obviously well-off, out-of-touch, work-from-home dweebs wearing this unit to show off their status to their Apple ecosystem social circle. And then we have Disney! With Marvel and Star Wars! So you can experience Adventure! Without leaving your home!
Yeesh, this says a lot about their target market.
Cool tech, though. Let's hope I'm not peer pressured into wearing one of these masks for my kid's goddamn birthday party.
This really is technology wrapped up in an experience that feels magical. I'm decently familiar with the state of the HMD industry and I reckon they're a solid 5 to 7 years ahead of Meta in terms of processing power and display tech, not to mention all the ancillary details you have to get right to deliver a convincing AR experience like lens adjustment (they demonstrated a crazy 2D motor controlled carriage for centering the screens, no doubt automatically driven by the eye tracker without user intervention)
I guess the only real bummer is the high price -- all those optical components can't be cheap at this scale -- and the short battery life which really can't be solved without either a serious breakthrough in power efficiency (which apple is on the frontier of), battery density (likely same) or sacrificing visual fidelity (not in Apple's ethos). I don't mind the external battery pack, actually; hopefully it results in a well balanced headset.
I wonder if they're going to do in-person demos at the Apple store. I might have to go check it out.