Four Generations Away

Good morning, folks!

It’s been ten days since the Vision Pro release, and OpenAI founder Sam Altman has already called it “the second most impressive tech since the iPhone.” Meanwhile, popular YouTuber Ryan Trahan just spent 50 hours in the Vision Pro without taking the headset off (Video). Who knows what we’ll see next?

Headlines for people in a hurry:

• 🥽 Vision Pro Is 4 Generations Away From Being Great

• 📈 A New Report Reveals The Number Of Quest Q3 Sales

• 🔞 The Vision Pro Has A Pornography Problem

• 👨‍💻 Apple Releases The First Software Update For Vision Pro

Read time: 3 minutes

TOP STORIES

APPLE

Just Wait For The Vision Pro 4

Apple's Vision Pro has already made waves in the tech world, but insiders suggest it may take up to four generations for the device to reach its "ideal form."

According to Bloomberg's Marc Gurman, team members within Apple's Vision Products Group believe the headset will evolve significantly over time, much like the iPhone and Apple Watch did.

The current Vision Pro, despite its innovative features, has been critiqued for its unwieldy weight, short battery life, and a software experience that feels a year away from being fully developed.

Gurman's review describes the Vision Pro as "more of a preview of the future than the future itself," pointing out areas where improvements are needed. Financial advisory firm Wedbush Securities anticipates the next version, Vision Pro 2, to be priced "much lower," potentially below $2,000, and expects future generations to resemble sunglasses with broader functionality for Apple users.

QUEST

Meta Sold Millions Of Headsets In Q4

Meta's Q4 earnings report showcased a record $1.1 billion in revenue for Meta Reality Labs (MRL), a significant leap from previous quarters. However, Meta did not disclose specific unit sales for its VR headsets, leaving industry analysts and enthusiasts to speculate on the actual numbers sold.

A new report by ARInsider attempts to reverse-engineer these sales figures, providing insight into the performance of Meta's VR products during the crucial holiday season.

The analysis breaks down estimated sales figures based on the reported revenue, considering the diverse product lineup and varying price points. Here's a summary of the estimated unit sales for Meta's key VR products in Q4:

• Quest 2: Estimated revenue of $363 million, with approximately 1,251,724 units sold, based on an average unit price of $290.

• Quest 3: Estimated revenue of $418 million, with approximately 761,384 units sold, based on an average unit price of $549.

• Quest Pro: Estimated revenue of $22 million, with approximately 22,022 units sold, based on a unit price of $999.

• Ray-Ban Meta Smart Glasses: Estimated revenue of $77 million, with approximately 234,043 units sold, based on a unit price of $329.

CENSORSHIP

No VR Adult Content Allowed On Vision Pro?

When I started this newsletter with a grand vision of connecting VR enthusiasts together and keeping them informed about the industry, never in a million years did I think I’d be writing about X-rated content. But here we are!

As it turns out, a lot of users shelled out $3500 with the expectation of using it for, ehm, research purposes. However, they were shocked to learn that Vision Pro does not support VR adult content.

This discovery sparked hilarious conversations on online forums, with one user going ahead and calling the Vision Pro a “$3500 chastity belt.”

The issue stems from Apple's longstanding policy against adult content, a stance that Steve Jobs famously described as a "moral responsibility." While the Vision Pro supports WebXR on its Safari browser, which is the API typically used by VR adult content creators, users have found that the device does not display this content in the immersive format they expected. Instead, browser-based adult content appears on a flat simulated screen, failing to deliver the immersive experience desired by these users.

NEWS FLASH

APPS

Swim With Whales & Turtles In VR

• 🌊 The Great Ocean VR launches on Steam, offering an immersive oceanic adventure where players can swim with whales, sharks, and turtles, developed in partnership with the Whale and Dolphin Conservation.

• 🕶️ Viture One Lite, affordable AR glasses, support Apple's Spatial Videos, offering a 120-inch virtual screen experience for just a fraction of the Vision Pro's cost.

• 🔄 Apple updates visionOS to 1.0.3, introducing a reset option for forgotten passcodes among other improvements for Vision Pro users.

• 🎵 Beat Saber on Vision Pro: Developers have tried to run Beat Saber on the Vision Pro and some have found success.

• 🧠 ByteDance partners with XRHealth to offer VR therapy benefits to employees, aiming to improve physical and mental health through immersive experiences.

• 🎶 Beat Saber's latest update adds an explicit lyrics toggle and parent-managed children accounts, enhancing the game's family-friendly appeal.

• 🏫 North Dakota schools receive VR headsets for career education, thanks to a donation from CareerViewXR and HTC VIVE, aiming to broaden access to immersive learning.

• 🚀 Rogue Stargun launches on Quest 3, offering action-packed space combat reminiscent of Star Wars, with physics-based controls and a single-player campaign.

• 🎮 Star Wars Squadrons VR is almost free on Steam, providing an immersive cockpit experience in the iconic Star Wars universe.

• 💔 Virtual Vietnam, a VR project for veterans, aims to promote healing and reconciliation by allowing them to virtually explore modern-day Vietnam.

• 🐠 Roblox introduces real-time AI chat translation in 16 languages, enabling players from different linguistic backgrounds to communicate seamlessly in their native language.

• 🎥 Venice Film Festival opens submissions for immersive films, inviting creators to showcase their work in a unique category dedicated to VR and AR experiences.

BOOKMARKS

Immersive Articles From The Web

• How many people downloaded Apple Vision Pro apps? A detailed analysis by Tom Ffiske

• How Brilliant Labs made 39-gram lightweight AI smart glasses Frame possible

• Apple Vision Pro: what does it mean for scientists?

• Vision Pro: Apple is playing a long game, but how long?

• Can the Vision Pro be used for cycling? They tested it.

• The Apple Vision Pro is one giant experiment on the human brain.

UNREAL MONEY

FUNDING REPORT

Polycam Raises $18M From YouTube Co-founder

Polycam, a pioneering 3D scanning app, has successfully closed an $18 million Series A funding round, with significant backing from YouTube co-founder Chad Hurley and Adobe Ventures.

This investment underscores the growing interest in 3D content creation tools, particularly those that leverage AI to enhance the quality and ease of use for both professionals and enthusiasts. Polycam's technology, which utilizes a smartphone’s sensors to capture detailed 3D scans of objects, stands at the forefront of this burgeoning field.

Founded in early 2021, Polycam has quickly distinguished itself within the tech community, amassing nearly 100,000 paying customers and over 10 million downloads of its iPhone and Android apps.

A notable aspect of Polycam's future development is its expansion to the Vision Pro, Apple's AR headset. This move signals Polycam's commitment to integrating its 3D scanning technology with cutting-edge hardware, potentially transforming how professionals across various industries interact with 3D content

COOL PROJECTS

AUGMENTED REALITY

AI Glasses Tell You If You Can Eat Cake (Video Demo)

WRAP UP

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