I think we have to separate two points here:
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In order to form an opinion on the general feel & experience of the AVP, and what it does well and what not in terms of implementation of the specs we can read on paper, it absolutely would need to be experienced first hand.
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However, when it comes to use cases the AVP is equipped to address, and some of the more general considerations in terms of product strategy, I donāt see why one could dismiss opinions of non-owners simply based on the missing hand-on experience.
In other words, if somebody complains that the gaze & gesture approach is simply not good as a UI irrespective of the use case, Iād also say let him try it before ruling it out. But if that same person says, his personal use of MX devices is focused on gaming, and he points out that the lack of support for PC VR, lack of a proper VR controller effectively makes the product inattractive to him, thatās a fair point and doesnāt need to be āexperiencedā.
I believe a lot of the users you will find on this forum are primarily into VR/MX because they were gamers and VR took that to the next level - so they are looking for the next upgrade for their gaming VR headset. And the AVP doesnāt lend itself for that.
I am a gamer first too. But I am also generally interested in MX, so if I didnāt care about the money, I would purchase an AVP, viewing it more as a proof of concept. Once this becomes available in a much smaller form factor, it can be your wearable iPhone/iPad a la Minority Report, and then some. But there is still some work cut out for Apple. So I expect to be a buyer in 2027 when the full mass market launch of the successor is expected, although that clearly will still have a number of shortcomings compared the Minority Report vision.
First off thereās no way Iām paying over 4k to play VR games.
Second I have a great Home Cinena room to watch movies on.
Third I have a decent PC and monitor to edit my videos on.
Forth I have a Pico4 that does everything I want from a VR gamer stand point.
Fifth For me to upgrade I would want bigger FOV and the AVP is probably a downgrade over the Pico4.
Sixth, weāre entering a VR war between 6 giants. Meta, Apple, Samsung, Sony, Valve and HTC. Not to forget the other pretenders, Pimax, Varjo, BSB, Byte Dance, DPVR and eventually Somnium.
I can see the AVP halving in price in 12-18 months and thatās a crazy depreciation on any purchase. Not something Iām willing to partake in.
When FOV hits 130-140h Iāll get excited about VR again and no doubt buyback in, but now is not the time.
- Fair enough
- When watching by yourself, there is no home cinema setup I am aware of that can even play the fidelity of the content the AVP has(4K HDR 3D with no shutters @ 60fps). Watching for more than one person gets cheaper the more people join obviously, the AVP can only be consumed by one individual. My Sony laser projector, screen and 7.2 Atmos setup is only for family and friends by now.
- Fair enough, but using Moonlight and sunshine you can have that on a microLED quality level and literally anywhere you want to be, not just at home in front of your desk.
- 100% agreed, the AVP is not a gaming VR HMD but, once ALVR joins testflight, probably a fantastic simulator HMD.
- I never found the FOV was something I really noticed tbh but I have to concede that my priorities in a VR/MR HMD have changed a lot during the last couple of years and now are: optical quality (lens quality, resolution, geometric stability, no eye strain, HDR, color accuracy, black levels) > comfort > tetherless > FOV (Quest2 and above as a baseline) > sound quality (built in)
- I agree on the premise but I expect ALL competitors within the next 24 months will have to challenge the AVP mainly on comfort and price. I expect visionOS to reign supreme on a UI and UX level similarily to iOS.
Hehe Iām pretty torn between you guys you both have valid points. I do believe the AVP is an awesome, but pretty limited experience. One day I think I just NEED to buy it the other day I think itās a waste of money lol.
Either way, it has contributed to the growth of the VR-using population. :7
With the AVP design choice of materials make it easier to clean/sanitize. This using it as an aid in surgery as mentioned in the Article for the UK. Can make this a valuable device.
Sure it is possible to use other hmds iirc like Quest 3; I believe the company behind the app may also have one for the Quest(may have just been just HoloLens). But the materials being glass and aluminum are likely better.
If Qualcomm had stronger stipulations on their hardware platform. Would have been better. Ie installing other manufacturerās App stores. Fragmentation is still a key issue.
Absolutely.
Of course the XR-4 is still THE top specced HMD and as I got the LH version, I have had no issues with tracking since day one.
But the software for it is not only still in a beta state but the most recent sw and fw releases are actually considerably worse than what was shipped.
This could still somehow be tolerable but support, which used to be absolutely stellar for my VR-3, hasnāt just fallen off a cliff but landed hard. No reply for weeks, no actual insight once you get feedback and an infuriating level of āwell we did say itās betaā considering they DID bring it to market and not cheaply so.
There are two very obvious and distracting visual artifacts with the device and if those donāt get fixed by the announced ābig releaseā end of this month I will take Varjo by their word and refund.
Iām interested in having a demo when AVP comes to London, exactly how I loved having demos with Microsoft hololens and magic leap. Super cool to check those out as not easy to find.
No interest in buying these devices but as an XR enthusiast definitely keen to try out for myself, Iām having way too much fun gaming in VR. Index and Crystal in steamVR tracked environment 
For movies itās definitely my home cinema room with big 4K ultra TV, home cinema audio separates and speaker package with active subwoofer.
Terrible to hear their support model is now failing this bad. So the software & FW donāt have a somewhat stable beta releases?
Hopefully they pull it together to the level it once was; especially at those prices and those paying the subscription fees.
Watch Scientists Control a robot with their hands while wearing AVP
https://www.xrtropolis.one/t/apple-vision-news-q2-2024/1184/8?u=heliosurge
You can now browse Vision Pro Apps on the Web
https://www.xrtropolis.one/t/apple-vision-news-q2-2024/1184/9?u=heliosurge
Another AVP article
Vision Air anyone?
Disappointing news from Sony.
The PSVR2 should have been wireless. Good to see Sonyās next HMD IS wireless.
At a guess probably one of the reasons there working on pcvr support on psvr 2(Well and iVRy making good progress hacking pc support)
Some newer news from Walker
The above is in their Discord channel.
Here is company Website
I think itās mostly a problem of no VR games to play on the PS. Sony really failed there.
For those who cannot spend enough on a VR device! 
Itās obviously laughable to make the device even heavier than it is, but if someone made a version with an all-carbon instead of metal frame, Iād buy it in a heartbeat.