RealityOS — the name Apple is reportedly using for the operating system running on its rumored virtual and augmented reality headset — has appeared in a trademark filing spotted by Parker Ortolani. Bloomberg News was first to report the “reality operating system” branding back in 2017, and references to the name have appeared in Apple’s software.
The trademark application hasn’t officially been filed by Apple, but it’s common practice for large companies to apply for trademarks under one-off company names — like Realityo Systems LLC, in this case — in the state of Delaware for the sole purpose of maintaining anonymity.
Never bet against Apple, but I just have a hard time seeing a very big consumer market for virtual reality headsets. It feels like far too many people still get nausea and headaches from using these things, and save for a relatively small number of games, I simply don’t understand what anyone at home would use it for. Of course, in professional settings, VR could have a huge impact.
Augmented reality, on the other hand, seems like a much more widely applicable technology that also happens to be further away than even decent VR. Still, the problem of convincing people who otherwise would not wear glasses to, in fact, wear glasses every day seems like a steep hill to climb.
Thom Holwerda,
Gaming like you mentioned.
What kind of professional settings would it be good for? It makes sense for some scenarios, but why would professionals in general want to put on VR headsets any more than home users do? Do desk workers really want to use VR all day long? It’s not really useful for heads down jobs. What about social jobs?
“Step into my office and put on the headset, then we can get started”.
Having VR meetings may seem cool at first but long term I think it would feel pretentious and gimmicky. Imagine how anti-social an office would be when you walk in and everyone’s doing their work via VR headsets. Maybe it’s better if the workers are working from home, but after a 9-5 job in a VR headset and they will soon become the drudgery of life there too.
I do think there are some good applications, but the thing is the markets that benefit most from VR may already be using them. For an architectural firm it could be a really amazing way to demo their work. It can be good for flying drones in real time.
But as an engineer I’d prefer a 3d screen over a VR headset that I have to wear all the time. Maybe I’d take out the VR for special occasions, but to use it as a daily driver would be too much IMHO.
I’m also an engineer (Mech.E. and Systems Eng. degrees) who’s worked in manufacturing and large construction projects. The lure of AR/VR in a professional setting is real and if the promises become more than vaporware, than it stands to revolutionize almost every industry.
Imagine being able to load a Revit BIM model into your headset and walk around a building, being able to identify where “as-built” differ from “as-designed”.
Or having a database of your maintenance schedule that can tell you which components in which machines in your production line need servicing.
Again, these are the promises I’ve heard about. The question is if these promises will become reality or will just continue to be pipe dreams.
teco.sb,
I think we agree on what they could do, but I’m just really skeptical that I’d want to devote my working life strapped into a VR headset for several hours every day at work. If I were working long hours with CAD or other 3d renders then I’d prefer a high quality autostereoscopic monitor. It would be less “immersive” than an all encompassing VR headset and I admit VR could be fun for a while. VR certainly can make awesome demos for clients. But when doing that work every day I think the novelty of working in a VR environment will wear thin and it will end up being more of a fad. It’s similar to the way 3d media has made big splashes every couple of decades but it doesn’t last after consumers get over the initial “high”.
Being strapped into something like Google Glass ( https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Google_Glass ) means nothing to me. I wear glasses for vision correction anyway – first thing I put on in the morning, last thing I remove at night, since I was a teenager.
Being able to find the cheese aisle in an unfamiliar supermarket (due to “GPS like” navigation hints), or being able to see behind me, or having “name and occupation” labels floating over other people’s heads, or being able to see in the dark, or… ? That’s like turning a minor vision impairment into a super-power.
Brendan,
Battery life could be a problem. Google glass could last a day or an hour depending on how much you used it.
Augmented reality has more unapped potential than VR I think.
Apple has repeatedly said that they saw more value in augmented reality over virtual reality. With that said, there are several rumors indicating that Apple is investing in virtual reality as well.
I think this addon will be the killer application for VR at home…
“AirRes Mask: A Precise and Robust Virtual Reality Breathing Interface”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hhk3NFco85o
Call it iAir or something. Everyone will want to blow out those birthday candles in VR.
This is really great as people will be able to chose in between Apple, Google and Microsoft reality.
For educational purposes, VR is amazing. In fact I think if someone brought back something like Encarta Encyclopedias to VR, that would be amazing. VR tours are also great. 3d modeling is freat as well. There are tons of non-gaming stuff that can be done. Flight and racing sims are also amazing.
leech,
I agree an encyclopedia would be pretty cool. Or a virtual tour of a museum. You may need to 3d scan millions of assets in high detail to produce good results so it’d be a ton of work. The museums would probably want to charge virtual admittance fees. God forbid it’s sponsored by ads everywhere, but you just know that’s only a matter of time.
Personally, I’d like to see how Apple will try and make VR cool (Apple won’t sell anything unless it’s cool). As of now, VR has a nerdy image.
We have invested in Microsoft Hololenses, they got some initial use but are mostly expensive paperweights. We make extensive use of CAD/BIM so you would think we would have a lot of use for it but in practice it hasn’t helped much and it’s a pain to work in AR. Even setting them up I found I got a headache and the virtual keyboard is utterly infuriating to use IMO.
The other use case we had was workers at a site using it so someone more experienced remotely could see what they see and advise them without having to go onsite. That also hasn’t really happened in practice, the more experienced engineers are not exactly sitting around in the office waiting and it’s extremely difficult to anticipate and have the hololens on hand during the specific field visit were they end up being needed. Also, they all have company phones with cameras that accomplish much the same with out a heavy apparatus on your head.
As for gaming, I find it claustrophobic and disorienting to use VR. It’s relaxing to sit on the couch and play a game on a screen, having my senses completely muted to the outside world doesn’t feel relaxing to me.
kepta,
Haha, yes virtual keyboards would be infuriating for serious work. Even just a virtual numeric keyboard would be much worse than a physical one. Efficient typing would either have to be voice activated (not suitable for a typical office environment) or done on a real keyboard from within VR.
Yes, I can think of several applications along these lines with remote cameras, but the immersion aspect of VR seems like it’s just overkill for most business purposes.
How about a quick survey: What are everyone else’s opinions about VR?
For what it’s worth; my opinion is that VR must be too restrictive to be truly useful.
Specifically; for rotational movement (looking around) it’s fine as long as the system can track head movement and respond fast enough; but for lateral movement (side-stepping, moving backward/forward) it simply can’t work because there’s no way to keep a human’s senses in synch with the virtual world (resulting in motion sickness).
To avoid that problem the user must remain “stationary” (no lateral movement, rotational movement only); and that restriction wipes out most of the potential uses (no car racing simulator, no “walk around inside a virtual museum”, etc); and the remaining uses are more likely to result in a feeling of confinement than the freedom people hope for.
“…and save for a relatively small number of games, I simply don’t understand what anyone at home would use it for.”
From the various subreddits for VR and VR gaming in which I lurk, there’s been a growing worry over the last year or so that the market for VR gaming is becoming moribund. Other than Half-Life Alyx (okay, and that Resident Evil remake), there hasn’t been much to say for AAA titles for VR (although Skyrim VR, a throw-away “why not procrastinate even more rather than finishing the Elder Scrolls VI” effort by Bethesda, is quite nice thanks to the modding community). Just about every MMO-like game released for VR (that I know of) has been a flash in the pan one week and a ghost town the next (hey Star Trek Bridge Crew and Zenith). And, beyond the Occulus Quest, the options for stand-alone headsets are pretty thin, while better headsets than the Quest require a pretty high investment for a very decent gaming PC (looking at you, Pimax). So from a VR gaming perspective, there’s just not a lot to compel someone to buy into it right now. Apple could foster some interest in VR among the Apple faithful but I doubt Apple will change its focus and invest heavily in gaming for its new headset.