Every year, the same thing happens. Apple’s annual WWDC conference takes place at the beginning of June, and inevitably, we write down everything that Apple has hacked into Android. It’s fun and mostly tongue-in-cheek, as we know competition is good for everyone and good ideas are better spread than locked behind the proverbial cage with only one key to open it.
This is why Apple adopting RCS is a big deal, even if the company doesn’t want to do it. But this year, it wasn’t just iOS copying from our favorite Android phones. Instead, we saw Apple taking some of the best features of the Quest 3 into its more expensive Apple Vision Pro headset.
It’s thVRsday
In his weekly column, Senior Android Developer Nick Sutrich explores all things VR, from new hardware to new games, emerging technologies, and more.
Of course, Apple isn’t the only one copying content. Just as Google draws ideas from Apple’s smaller products for unique and better features – most of the best features of Google Messages were removed from iMessage, after which Meta also takes good ideas from Apple’s first integrated theme.
Considering how stand-alone VR starts – which means a headset that works on its own without being connected to a PC, console, or mobile phone – it’s understandable to see ideas growing very quickly and companies joining forces every month. I always say that competition is good for everyone, and the battle between Apple Vision Pro and Meta Quest 3 proves that point.
Finding the right paradigm
You’ve probably already heard that the VR / mixed reality / virtual reality space is still in the smartphone era. Some have called the Vision Pro the “iPhone of VR,” referring to the manual controls and eye-controlled UI. In some ways, it is, but Apple’s recent changes show that one company does not have all the keys to success.
The case: Apple added a new home icon where you pinch your finger and thumb to go home. To work, it’s the same as moving from the bottom of your phone to the home screen. Surprisingly, Meta added this exactly the same for the Meta Quest title back in February, around the time Vision Pro was first launched.
See for yourself how it works for each theme:
While we can complain about how Apple stole the idea of ​​Meta or some such nonsense, the truth is that doing this. it makes sense. It’s something that always works and feels great to use. Apple also used some functions that work by turning your hand around—your palm down—and then pinching and pulling to change the volume.
Apple also borrowed a number of ideas from Meta that were already implemented, such as support for Bluetooth mice and keyboards, the guest history and the second, and the captions that come with every Android phone. Similarly, the latest Meta update includes Vision Pro tools such as navigation and on-board video from iPhones.
On the smartphone side, companies have learned over the years that people naturally gravitate toward certain habits based on what’s happening on their phone screen. A swim from the side is heard to return, and a move from the bottom is heard to go home. These handsets have been adopted by almost every phone out there at the moment and that’s because they work amazingly for many users.
Likewise, we’re already seeing some UI paradigms settle on the heads of virtual VR users who switch between headsets. Another popular advertiser, ThrillSeeker, who has over 700,000 subscribers on YouTube and uses a variety of headsets, has already found himself wanting Apple’s brilliant Control Center for every VR headset he uses.
It’s great that I have more hours in Quest OS and various SteamVR headsets from years of VR experience and muscle memory- yet after only three months of Vision Pro I’m looking at the control center for each title. … https://t.co/bWWDoCCICHJune 6, 2024
Although he’s used about 10,000 to use other VR headsets, Thrill says that about 200 hours of Vision Pro use rewired his brain to anticipate other UI paradigms.
Another YouTuber and VR expert, Brad Lynch, feels the same way about Apple’s approach. “Every time I put on an HMD, including Quests, SteamVR, and more, I try to look and pinch to interact with things.”
If you don’t already know, Apple Vision Pro uses in-head tracking combined with manual tracking to drive its UI. To select an item, you simply look at it with your eyes and pinch your finger to “click.”
Most of us thought that this feeling would come after using the Vision Pro for a long time, but it’s another thing to see it played like this.
What’s next?
We already know that Meta is working to redesign the UI of Meta Quest – an update that is expected at the end of this year – and the company seems to be doing this not only by copying Apple but by introducing other new paradigms that we will soon be able to complete. come to expect from all VR headsets.
One new feature I’m looking forward to is smart home automation. Instead of pulling out my phone or yelling for Google to do it — knowing that Google Assistant probably won’t do the right thing — I just point at the light and tap it to turn it on or off.
I expect this natural UI design to become more and more common as full AR glasses like the upcoming Meta become popular. The lack of visual aids makes that vision hold back a bit, but companies like Meta can continue to experiment with new ideas on a mixed theme today, and then translate them into successful UIs in future products.
The Meta Quest 3 is powerful, but it can’t match Apple’s eye tracking feature because it doesn’t have eye tracking. That’s okay, though, because Meta can adopt some basic UI design.
A surprising new ad showed what we can only assume is part of a new UI design, allowing users to place windows wherever they want in space. One of the new updates of VisionOS 2 gave Vision Pro the ability to remember window settings between reboots, so you can until forever put a big monitor on your wall or your Discord chat on your desk, and the headset won’t forget that.
Apple also introduced barcode scanning in VisionOS 2, as seen in the image above, something else it just makes sense when you look at a product through a device like this.
It’s these kinds of paradigm shifts that will continue to make XR and the landscape experience more natural and unique. They are the thing that will start to change the conversation from “I can only do this on my smartphone” to “I don’t want, or I can’t do this, anywhere else.”
Until then, I believe that both companies will continue to disagree with each other’s ideas because this is good for everyone.
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