VR (Like Apple's Vision Pro) Will Revolutionize Sports "Viewing"

[syz]

The prospect of Cabbie screaming the live odds at me 3 inches from my face doesn't appeal to me. I've tried VR and AR a handful of times and it's cool as a novelty but there's a law of diminishing returns at play here.

This applies to most consumer tech at this point tbh, but the industry is one that demands that profits continue to increase.

They want to continue to replicate the standard definition to high definition jump but it's not there anymore.

The thing working in Apple's favor is they have a lot of boot lickers.

 

[Soundwave]

Nobody can afford this shit

The initial Apple device ... will be more for rich people and influencers/social media types ... but eventually it will get cheaper like about any tech does.

The first Macintosh computer (the one that introduced the mouse) retailed for like the equivalent of $7000 today (lol).

 

[Cubs2024wildcard]

People said the same thing about skepticism over Google Glass a decade ago. Microsoft HoloLens and in-home 3D glasses failed to catch on, as well. I wouldn't be so sure about the future, which is hard to predict. We always think that we know what it'll be and we're often wrong.

The first iPhone wasn't any bigger than the best smartphones available at the time, like the Palm Treo 700wx. In fact, the iPhone was arguably smaller because it was thinner.

Google glass was way ahead of its time. Too ambitious for what they thought it could be but the technology wasn't as advanced as it is now.

If they released it now it would sell just for the camera options alone. But Google has a way of messing everything they touch up.

 

[Soundwave]

This applies to most consumer tech at this point tbh, but the industry is one that demands that profits continue to increase.

They want to continue to replicate the standard definition to high definition jump but it's not there anymore.

The thing working in Apple's favor is they have a lot of boot lickers.

I've tried VR, IMO it's a bigger jump than SD to HD if I'm being honest.

Like it you showed me both at age 11 years old and asked which one of these two is a bigger leap, with no context I'd chose VR for sure.

 

[HarrySPlinkett]

I don't think you'd have that issue though. If you have a courtside seat at an NBA game via VR, you're looking at the real Steph Curry, not a CG version of him. It's going to feel like it's ... Steph Curry, just like he's 3 feet away from you.

Or Sidney Crosby or Connor McDavid or Nathan MacKinnon or whoever.

It would be better with a sport like basketball or baseball, or racing, where there’s a measure of predictability and a slower pace.

Is it going to “feel” like Steph is there with you? I have my doubts.

Like, I play a ton of Assetto Corsa. More true to life performance and physics, you can’t just yank a handbrake and make it work.

There’s more to it.

90s brick phones could feasibly get internet, it’s not valuable to the average person until you have it in a convenient form factor with cheap high bandwidth data and society being profit driven around working with phones.

Again it’s not the 360 visualization that’s relevant here, it’s that if people start using the Apple headset everyone will have a 3D scanner on their head the same way everyone suddenly got a high quality camera + GPS in their pocket. If you start making a crowdsourced high res 3D map of the world, advertisers are going to want to compete for (highly tracked) eyeballs in it and money is going to pour in on blended digital/real ads.

Duke Nukem 3D has no way to be profitable besides people paying you to play it, there’s no ad money coming in to A/B test how people’s pupils react to 1000 AI generated versions of a Bet99 ad that can seamlessly let you pull a free slot machine roll.

It’s terrible dystopian tech once the profit motives line up right and the hardware gets cheaper and smaller. The two main trends in tech are that we keep moving towards higher density of data to consume and the tech that moves the fastest is the tech that’s most advertiser friendly, Apple seems like they’re hyperfocusing both of those things.

Are you suggesting VR has no benefit to the end user, that it’s just some terrible dystopic cash grab on the part of companies who wrote the book on dystopic cash grabs?

From a layman’s perspective, I can look at the 90s internet and wrap my mind around why I’d want some version of that to be portable and accessible from anywhere, even if the current internet is nowhere near what it will become.

I don’t know what I need VR for. It doesn’t solve a problem I have, so I don’t see it as anything but a novelty.

 

[Soundwave]

It would be better with a sport like basketball or baseball, or racing, where there’s a measure of predictability and a slower pace.

Is it going to “feel” like Steph is there with you? I have my doubts.

Like, I play a ton of Assetto Corsa. More true to life performance and physics, you can’t just yank a handbrake


Are you suggesting VR has no benefit to the end user, that it’s just some terrible dystopic cash grab on the part of companies who wrote the book on dystopic cash grabs?

From the impressions ... yes. It sounds like the experience is it feels like Steph Curry is standing in front of you just a few feet away.

I was watching someones impressions on Youtube and they said during the Alicia Keys (singer) segment they kinda freaked out initially because they felt like they were too close to her and were invading her personal space, like they had that kind of a reaction to it and then got used to it but initially it was like "woah, this is too much".

But if that's what if feels like ... I mean who wouldn't want to see their favorite musician that way (to feel like you are sitting right there with them during a performance or recording/jam session).

 

[Martin Skoula]

It would be better with a sport like basketball or baseball, or racing, where there’s a measure of predictability and a slower pace.

Is it going to “feel” like Steph is there with you? I have my doubts.

Like, I play a ton of Assetto Corsa. More true to life performance and physics, you can’t just yank a handbrake


Are you suggesting VR has no benefit to the end user, that it’s just some terrible dystopic cash grab on the part of companies who wrote the book on dystopic cash grabs?

I’m sure it’ll have benefits, just once it hits a critical mass of paying user base it’ll start to dominate adspend the same way mobile ads outpaced web ads very quickly. Businesses won’t be able to avoid having ad presence in that system and it’s going to grow whether people like it or not.

You can dislike it and try to stop it, maybe that’s the right call, but pretending it’s Duke Nukem 3D and hoping it goes away on its own is strange.

 

[HarrySPlinkett]

I’m sure it’ll have benefits, just once it hits a critical mass of paying user base it’ll start to dominate adspend the same way mobile ads outpaced web ads very quickly. Businesses won’t be able to avoid having ad presence in that system and it’s going to grow whether people like it or not.

You can dislike it and try to stop it, maybe that’s the right call, but pretending it’s Duke Nukem 3D and hoping it goes away on its own is strange.

That’s not what I’m doing at all - I see it being a perfectly enjoyable gaming system. I’m sure it can be a profitable gaming system.

Gaming systems don’t reinvent live broadcasts.

I don’t want to invade Alicia Keys’ personal space, I just want her to sing to me.

 

[Soundwave]

I'm not even a golf fan, but golf could be neat too. You could literally just stand next to Tiger Woods in terms of POV and look around and see the full course and see everything he sees.

 

[HarrySPlinkett]

I'm not even a golf fan, but golf could be neat too. You could literally just stand next to Tiger Woods in terms of POV and look around and see the full course and see everything he sees.

That’s a good point - I’ve always wondered what a rollover crash looks like from inside a Genesis.

It’s definitely a revenue stream to be exploited - so long as it needs to be worn on the face, it’s going to have a cap on its appeal.

 

[syz]

I've tried VR, IMO it's a bigger jump than SD to HD if I'm being honest.

Like it you showed me both at age 11 years old and asked which one of these two is a bigger leap, with no context I'd chose VR for sure.

I disagree and know a lot of people both in and out of tech who would say the same. The thing is it's more of a discussion about delivery mechanism than it is about empirical "quality" like SD/HD and HD/4K. Nobody would argue that SD is "better" than HD because it's a quantifiable thing. Same with 4K and HD, but with diminishing returns.

In terms of fidelity VR can only ever be on par with traditional methods, it's just a question of how much pull the perspective gimmick has, and in my experience most people don't care. Its applications in gaming especially all require massive caveats, again due to the human brain.

 

[Soundwave]

I disagree and know a lot of people both in and out of tech who would say the same. The thing is it's more of a discussion about delivery mechanism than it is about empirical "quality" like SD/HD and HD/4K. Nobody would argue that SD is "better" than HD because it's a quantifiable thing. Same with 4K and HD, but with diminishing returns.

In terms of fidelity VR can only ever be on par with traditional methods, it's just a question of how much pull the perspective gimmick has, and in my experience most people don't care.

I'm gonna be honest about HDTVs ... I think the form factor change was as important, more important to some people than the actual "HD image". Not having huge box televisions that take up half the living room is something the "Jane Housewife" can appreciate massively even if she gives zero f***s about the resolution image.

VR will be something that the average person comes to understand as a game changer tech soon too though, say what you want about Apple but they are very good at getting tech into a package that is user friendly, appealing, and even fun to use.

People are going to "get it" once they realize they can do things like when they can't be at a wedding, they can just put on their glasses and be transported to the wedding and be virtually there, which is going to be way, way better than a Facetime where you're watching a small image and reliant on the person holding a shaky smartphone to point to what you'd like to see.

The thing is companies like Meta and Google don't "get this", they're not offering an all in one hardware and software solution that makes doing this easy and centralized in one place, Apple totally is going to do it.

 

[triggrman]

I think soon you'll be able to rent glasses like this

At sporting events to get real life trackman like stats.

I think this isn't very far off actually.

 

[HarrySPlinkett]

I'm gonna be honest about HDTVs ... I think the form factor change was as important, more important to some people than the actual "HD image". Not having huge box televisions that take up half the living room is something the "Jane Housewife" can appreciate massively even if she gives zero f***s about the resolution image.

VR will be something that the average person comes to understand as a game changer tech soon too though, say what you want about Apple but they are very good at getting tech into a package that is user friendly, appealing, and even fun to use.

People are going to "get it" once they realize they can do things like when they can't be at a wedding, they can just put on their glasses and be transported to the wedding and be virtually there, which is going to be way, way better than a Facetime where you're watching a small image and reliant on the person holding a shaky smartphone to point to what you'd like to see.

The thing is companies like Meta and Google don't "get this", they're not offering an all in one hardware and software solution that makes doing this easy and centralized in one place, Apple totally is going to do it.

Funny thing about that - women actually don’t notice a massive difference in picture quality from SD to HD, not the way men do.

It all goes back to when women had to be much better at identifying which shade of red berry would kill everyone - their eyes are better at processing and differentiating colours.

So when they saw HD images for the first time and weren’t blown away, much to the confusion of their husbands, this is why.

 

[HarrySPlinkett]

I think soon you'll be able to rent glasses like this

View attachment 719516

At sporting events to get real life trackman like stats.

I think this isn't very far off actually.


View attachment 719517

But why. Do I want. That.

I get why Georgi LaForge in the photo wants it.

Why do I want to have my $250 night out impeded by glasses that don’t give me any information I couldn’t get on my phone, my watch, the 500 foot light ring, or the jumbotron hanging above centre ice?

 

[Ducks in a row]

VR is something I have no interest in at all and that will never ever change.

 

[Soundwave]

But why. Do I want. That.

I get why Georgi LaForge in the photo wants it.

Why do I want to have my $250 night out impeded by glasses that don’t give me any information I couldn’t get on my phone, my watch, the 500 foot light right, or the jumbotron hanging above centre ice?

Kid From 2035: You used to have to pull that ugly phone slab out of your pocket to check sports scores? That's so lame.

 

[TrufleShufle]

I just want to know how much of this technology was specifically designed for porn

I read somewhere it was between 68 and 70%.

 

[triggrman]

But why. Do I want. That.

I get why Georgi LaForge in the photo wants it.

Why do I want to have my $250 night out impeded by glasses that don’t give me any information I couldn’t get on my phone, my watch, the 500 foot light ring, or the jumbotron hanging above centre ice?

scoreboard won't tell you that the player was skating 23 mph on the breakaway, or the 94 mph slier had 7" of break on it, nor will it give you real time exit velo.

 

[HarrySPlinkett]

Kid From 2035: You used to have to pull that ugly phone slab out of your pocket to check sports scores? That's so lame.

Adult in 2035: We also used to get our oxygen from trees - it was a simpler, better time, before you came along and ruined your mom’s breasts.

Smartphones are a near-perfect mixture of connectivity, processing power, visual fidelity, with passable audio.

You really think they’re going to be replaced by glasses?

I read somewhere it was between 68 and 70%.

Nice.

 

[Suntouchable13]

scoreboard won't tell you that the player was skating 23 mph on the breakaway, or the 94 mph slier had 7" of break on it, nor will it give you real time exit velo.

Some people care, but I bet most don’t care about that stuff. I couldn’t care less. I just want to watch the game. What difference does it make how fast was a guy skating?

 

[syz]

Honestly, the fact that there are still people who refer to Apple as "consumer friendly" is one reason why I think this shit might actually succeed. Severe brand loyalty and an inability to know any better could be enough to push it through.

 

[HarrySPlinkett]

scoreboard won't tell you that the player was skating 23 mph on the breakaway, or the 94 mph slier had 7" of break on it, nor will it give you real time exit velo.

Isn’t all of that completely superfluous, niche information that does nothing to enhance an average person’s enjoyment of the event they’re attending?

 

[Osprey]

I’m criticizing those saying “no one is ever…” And again, Google Glasses and similar products only had one practical use. However, there’s a reason companies have been trying to develop VR and AR for years. As the technology continues to develop and the devices are eventually priced at more “everyday” consumer levels, VR/AR headsets will become increasingly more ingrained into daily life and work. Even if Apple Vision isn’t the product to bring it mainstream, another one eventually will. It may not be for a decade or more, but it will happen.

I know that you're criticizing those saying "no one is ever," and I agree that saying that is silly, but so is saying "it will happen," IMO. We can't be sure of the future. As one technology develops, other competing technologies do, as well. For example, all of the money invested into improving 3D glasses may end up wasted if glasses-free 3D (which is just around the corner) becomes good enough. Any time that you need to put on glasses or a headset to get an experience, others are going to be working on ways for you to get it without that.

 

[Martin Skoula]

That’s not what I’m doing at all - I see it being a perfectly enjoyable gaming system. I’m sure it can be a profitable gaming system.

Gaming systems don’t reinvent live broadcasts.

I don’t want to invade Alicia Keys’ personal space, I just want her to sing to me.

It’s not a gaming system it’s a financial incentive for events to have live 3D capture. The relevant part of the headset isn’t the screen on your face, it’s the LiDAR scanners mapping the world. Millions of devs having access to this type of data feed is going to make brand new genres of apps/entertainment.

Pokémon Go got middle aged people who were otherwise not gamers obsessed with it enough to change their route to work and where they went on their lunch break. It also fed Niantic a ton of monetizeable geolocation data that filled in some gaps on existing Maps. Put a rare Pokémon in the middle of a busy park and you get a heat map of every trail and path that the Maps car couldn’t get to. Plus you get enough different angles of people putting up their phone to where the Pokémon is that you can stitch the photos of that location into a 3D model with software. Remember how quickly businesses leaned into it and hundreds of add-on apps were made to accommodate the market? IIRC someone sold a Pokémon GO dating app for millions. Now give it better tech and Apple’s budget + cult.