Augmented Reality (AR)

cross-posted from: https://lemm.ee/post/46686767

Source Bloomberg article

Missing intro text from Archived link:

Apple Inc. is exploring a push into smart glasses with an internal study of products currently on the market, setting the stage for the company to follow Meta Platforms Inc. into an increasingly popular category.

The initiative, code-named Atlas, got underway last week and involves gathering feedback from Apple employees on smart glasses, according to people with knowledge of the matter. Additional focus groups are planned for the near future, said the people, who asked not to be identified because the work is secret. The studies are being led by Apple’s Product Systems Quality team, part of the hardware engineering division.

cross-posted from: https://lemm.ee/post/45581205

According to several people directly involved in the production of components, Apple has significantly scaled back production of the Vision Pro since early summer, reports The Information. Luxshare, which assembles the Vision Pro, has been informed by Apple that production may cease in November. Currently, Luxshare is producing about 1,000 Vision Pro units per day, down from a peak of about 2,000 units per day.

According to The Information, this decision indicates that Apple has built up enough inventory to meet demand. So far, suppliers have produced components for about 500,000 to 600,000 headsets.

Market research firm Counterpoint Research estimates that Apple sold about 370,000 headsets in the first three quarters of this year and will sell only 50,000 more by the end of the year.

Apple is now focusing on a cheaper model, known internally as the N109, which could be released by the end of 2025. Apple plans to produce a total of 4 million units of the device, The Information reports, citing a person familiar with the supply chain.

cross-posted from: https://lemmy.world/post/20572903

In a previous emailed statement, a spokesperson clarified that photos and videos captured on Ray-Ban Meta are not used by Meta for training as long as the user doesn’t submit them to AI. However, once you ask Meta AI to analyze them, those photos fall under a completely different set of policies.

In other words, the company is using its first consumer AI device to create a massive stockpile of data that could be used to create ever-more powerful generations of AI models. The only way to “opt out” is to simply not use Meta’s multimodal AI features in the first place.

cross-posted from: https://lemm.ee/post/44758716

According to the latest edition of Mark Gurman’s Power On newsletter, Apple is still on track to launch the lower end Apple Vision headset as early as next year. He says it’ll cost around $2000.

Apple debuted Apple Vision Pro earlier this year at $3499, but it seems the company is still quickly trying to figure out a successor. Some reports earlier this year suggested that Apple had halted Vision Pro development to focus on the cheaper headset, and that still seems to be the case – likely because Vision Pro’s premium price tag puts spatial computing out of reach for many.

Gurman says that the lower-end headset will probably use an inferior processor and cheaper materials. Vision Pro is currently equipped with an M2 chip, so I could see Apple equipping an A series chipset on the cheaper headset, like the A18 Pro – which is about as fast as an M1. As for materials, there’ll likely be more plastic involved, rather than fully being aluminum and glass.

The report also says that the headset will likely drop the EyeSight feature introduced on Apple Vision Pro, which uses lenticular displays to pass through the users eyes to the outside of the headset, allowing people around them to still “see” their eyes. It was a little gimmicky in my opinion, but an interesting feature. However, it was costly to have another display on the outside, and that display will be gone on the cheaper headset.

Apple reportedly expects the cheaper Apple Vision headset to sell twice as well as Apple Vision Pro, which isn’t saying much. Apple Vision Pro 2 is also on track for 2026 with a faster chipset.

cross-posted from: https://feddit.uk/post/18175359

Two Harvard students have created an eerie demo of how smart glasses can use facial recognition tech to instantly dox people’s identities, phone numbers, and addresses. The most unsettling part is the demo uses current, widely available technology like the Ray-Ban Meta smart glasses and public databases.

AnhPhu Nguyen, one of the two students, posted a video showcasing the tech in action that was then picked up by 404 Media. Dubbed I-XRAY, the tech works by using the Meta smart glasses’ ability to livestream video to Instagram. A computer program then monitors that stream and uses AI to identify faces. Those photos are then fed into public databases to find names, addresses, phone numbers, and even relatives. That information is then fed back through a phone app.

In the demo, you can see Nguyen and Caine Ardayfio, the other student behind the project, use the glasses to identify several classmates, their addresses, and names of relatives in real time. Perhaps more chilling, Nguyen and Ardayfio are also shown chatting up complete strangers on public transit, pretending as if they know them based on information gleaned from the tech...

https://www.theverge.com/24253908/meta-orion-ar-glasses-demo-mark-zuckerberg-interview

https://www.technologyreview.com/2024/09/17/1104025/snap-spectacles-ar-glasses/

https://www.uploadvr.com/snap-spectacles-5-ar/

What AR games are good for runners? I’ve played Run an Empire and Zombies! Run which are okay but looking for other options in the genre where I can use my fitness activity to gather resources and build when I’m at home or similar.

Any Voidstar Lan enjoyers?

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This is admittedly a regurgitated press release 😮‍💨

An EyeTap is a concept for a wearable computing device that is worn in front of the eye that acts as a camera to record the scene available to the eye as well as a display to superimpose computer-generated imagery on the original scene available to the eye.

https://www.reuters.com/technology/snap-focus-growing-ads-business-augmented-reality-amid-poor-stock-performance-2024-09-03/

https://nwasianweekly.com/2024/08/augmented-reality-marriage-melding-theater-passion-and-high-tech/

https://www.henryford.com/news/2024/08/henry-ford-completes-first-spinal-surgery-using-augmented-reality

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/technology/virtual-and-augmented-reality-can-temporarily-change-the-way-people-perceive-distances-finds-study/ar-AA1pJmPe