Experts and industry representatives about virtual reality devices
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Apple has unveiled its first augmented reality headset, the Vision Pro. Kommersant asked entrepreneurs, bloggers and industry representatives how they feel about such technologies.
Valentin Petukhov, creator and owner of the YouTube channel Wylsacom:
Photo: Wylsacom / youtube.com
In a sense, this technology is the future. This is what both science fiction writers and science fiction filmmakers have been talking about. But this is not a mass product, which is a little strange for Apple, after all, this is a consumer company that does not make pro- and business solutions, but produces products for the mass segment.
It is not yet clear who this product is for. So far, this is an interesting, very geeky technological device. I have a feeling that this version is for technology pioneers. Maybe it will swing to the second or third version, but for now there are more questions.
Google’s experience has shown that people are not very fond of putting on some strange things on their faces, eyes, remember the failure of Google Glass. And this thing is not very light, and quiet. And it is strange that none of the representatives of the company came out and put on this headset.
Ekaterina Filatova, President of the AR/VR and Interactive Technologies Association (AVRA):
Photo: Augmented and Virtual Reality Association
— Virtual and augmented reality technologies are a new format for interacting with information. We can find ourselves in an unusual space – real or fantastic, entertaining or learning, designing, creating art or watching a movie.
As a user, I am interested in the gaming experience and viewing creative festival works. Imagine that at the moment you can be at the Venice Carnival, choose an outfit, ride a gondola, see unusual landscapes. Or be in the plot of the picture. Or sink to the bottom of the ocean and swim in caves next to unique and rare fish.
For business, virtual reality is used more in staff training – people remember information faster and in more detail. In VR, you can teach how to work with dangerous objects or practice behavior in emergency situations.
Dmitry Puchkov (Goblin), blogger, writer, translator:
Photo: Pavel Karavashkin, Kommersant
– Potentially good attitude, but everything I saw had rather modest qualities. We need a device that is easy to wear, for example, similar to standard glasses, now everything is much heavier and less comfortable. It works well in a helmet, where there are two monitors in front of your eyes and sound in your ears, but it’s very hard.
Apple has a compromise, something like a ski mask, but it’s also hard, you can’t carry it on your head for a long time. In addition, powerful computers are needed to project an image and give sound in good quality. Maybe they already have it, although I highly doubt it.
In general, the success not only with Apple, but also with others is quite modest: you do not find yourself in a magical world, but in front of you is a square in which you can do something. Yes, in places it is convenient, interesting, but the competitors of “apple” technologies have long abandoned their work, and Apple suddenly took over. They are probably sure that the image, advertising will work, everyone will buy even $3.5 thousand and shout: “How great everything is!” But this seems doubtful to me.
Dmitry Smith, co-founder and president of the Russian Computer Sports Federation:
Photo: Dmitry Smith archive
– I am very interested, as they represent a potential opportunity for the further development of eSports. The Russian Computer Sports Federation has been holding competitions using such technologies for a long time. We plan to integrate them into our tournaments in the future. I myself have tried immersing myself in virtual reality – and I will tell you, it is quite exciting.
Ilya Flax, Founder and CEO of Fibrum:
Photo: Fibrum
– These technologies have a wide range of applications – not only entertainment, but also education, medicine. Our company has been developing virtual and augmented reality technology for nine years. Given the approach, ambition and resources of Apple, we can expect a new big step for this industry. While this is all, of course, expensive. Now it is more a product for technology geeks and enthusiasts who are ready to shell out a large amount for this device. I think that the next version will be more budget.
Maxim Khoroshev, vlogger, host of Rozetked YouTube channel:
Photo: Personal archive of Maxim Khoroshev
– If such a thing will replace a good and expensive monitor, then why not buy it instead of a monitor. You can sit down at the table and work in this helmet. We recently filmed with a PS (PlayStation) VR2 headset, which I was able to use for no more than ten minutes. I started to feel nauseous, which is normal for most people. Naturally, you can get used to this. So far, we have not tried the headset from Apple, so I cannot say how accurately it determines the position of a person in space and moves objects.
Many companies tried to bring something to the market, ten years ago Google tried to bring Google Glass, but nothing came of it, they sold only a few thousand pieces. It was a geek device. What Apple introduced is more suitable for the average consumer, but engaged in some kind of creative profession, such as video editing, working with graphics, with an image. But not games. Almost everything that was done before was done for games, but here it is for work.
Now it is a big helmet, but it will become cheaper and smaller to turn into glasses, and many years later – into lenses. It seems to me that now it is so expensive that it can fail.
Ivan Branitsky, investor, partner of the venture fund for start-up projects GVA Fund:
Photo: from the personal archive of Ivan Branitsky
– This is one of the possible future scenarios for humanity, developed countries at least. A modern script for the ancient Roman Bread and Circuses. This means that investments in these areas will grow linearly. But it is also obvious that AR has already made a breakthrough – for example, in the field of medicine, and also solves problems related to education, security, external and internal communication, and even treatment and rehabilitation.
Leonid Kaganov, science fiction writer, screenwriter, programmer:
Photo: instagram.com/lleokaganov
– I think technologies are divided into those that change the quality of life, and those that add small touches. Here is satellite navigation. You got lost, but you took out your smartphone, and here is your point on the map, plus or minus seven meters. Or a Google lens with translation — you point your smartphone at a foreign text and read it in Russian. The quality of life has improved dramatically!
But here’s another example: you see, for example, a stand with an owl. You apply augmented reality – and instead of a stand, a animated video about the life of owls, which, however, you have to watch, petrified, so that the frame does not fall out of the frame. Although you could google the same video yourself and watch it in a more convenient way. Toy for a child for one time. Perhaps that is why both Google glasses and even 3D cinemas did not live up to expectations: the idea is captivating, but in practice they add too small and non-unique information to reality, requiring expensive efforts and uncomfortable accessories in return.
Augmented reality will certainly be, but first something must change. Or content creation and the user entry threshold will drop to zero and will be pre-installed for everyone, and then everyone will get used to watching train schedules by pointing glasses at the rails, and traditional scoreboards will die out. Or tasks and tools will be invented (for surgeons, say, or for self-service stores) so new that they were unthinkable without virtual / augmented technology. And then things will go. And now humanity is distracted by artificial intelligence – it is here that the highest quality breakthroughs await us, and not in the field of substituting beautiful pictures into screens and glasses.
Alexander Grek, editor-in-chief of TechInsider magazine:
Photo: TechInsider online edition
– The peak of virtual reality came around 2020, when Oculus Quest 2 came out. It’s a cool attraction, but people didn’t need it. Most people who have bought VR goggles for this game use them less than once a month. I have three pieces, I take them out only when the guests come to show them, and that’s it.
Denis Rogov, founder and director of the network of virtual reality clubs and arenas Portal VR:
Photo: Denis Rogov’s personal archive
VR is not only about games. So far, the technology is going through the stage of formation through entertainment, but at the next stage, virtual reality will become more and more a tool for learning, communications, and creativity.
Business in the field of VR has certain specifics. In traditional entertainment, you buy a merry-go-round and have it running for 10-15 years with maintenance. In VR, trends and the speed of their spread are much faster, so you need to initially lay down the business model, taking into account the depreciation of equipment, its replacement and content updates. The VR business is highly profitable. Arenas and clubs that we open pay off in an average of a year and a half. This is a good enough result. The VR market is growing and will continue to advance. I do not see indifferent people, everyone is delighted and slightly shocked.
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