My MQ 3 refuses to work in the passenger seat in a moving car, it pops up a dialog box that says tracking has failed, maybe you can tell it to run without tracking but I never managed to hit the button. I saw a video where somebody has the same thing happen on the NY subway with an AVP.
For spatial computing to really work properly in a vehicle I think you need to keep track of both the world coordinate system and one that tracks the vehicle. In particular a lot of info from the IMU will have to be thrown out. It is probably useful to track small head motions but objects will drift eventually because of the vehicle as a whole accelerating and decelerating.
The Vision Pro works in the passenger seat if you turn on travel mode, ideally prior to starting to move. It would probably allow for you to use it in the driver’s seat as well, but I’m not quite insane enough to check.
Windows in this mode stick to the relative position of your head, but they stay fixed relative to the orientation. The pass through is pretty good, even at night, low latency and good enough clarity for seeing cars and stuff.
What happens when the Vision Pro runs out of battery or the software crashes? Does the display fail in a see-through mode, or are you suddenly faced with a quite literal blue screen of death?
When the hardware crashes (or before battery depletion) a warning pops up stating `30 seconds before shutdown` while passing through virtualized surroundings.
Maybe controversial, but I don't personally see an intrinsic problem with people wearing these things while driving so long as the passthrough is sufficiently low latency and has high enough resolution/fov. Of course the running apps need to not be too distracting, depending on how autonomous the car is. I could honestly see them being a net positive to road focus by overlaying speed and navigation on the user's field of vision so they don't have to glance at their dash speedometer or navigation device all the time. Only fundamental problem is how reliable the passthrough is, but it would take all of a second to whip the headset off if it suddenly went blank for some reason (which would be dangerous, but doesn't seem to be likely and most drivers regularly experience worse obstructions than that hypothetical one).
I don't own a Vision Pro, but according to the reports you need to actively look at UI elements to interact with them. In other words, you'd end up only using your peripheral vision for driving. Unless a special driving mode is implemented where you only use passthrough (at which point just take it off please) I don't see this being safe. What does this thing possibly get you while driving that you can't get otherwise in a much safer way?
> I could honestly see them being a net positive to road focus by overlaying speed and navigation on the user's field of vision so they don't have to glance at their dash speedometer or navigation device all the time.
Heads up displays projecting basic speed etc on to a windscreen are already a thing. They are fairly good/useful.
No need to wear a headset being bombarded with irrelevant notifications from social media, messaging etc. Headset likely to cause physical damage to yourself in a crash as well when the airbag goes off.
Wearing a general purpose interactive device while driving is bad for all the reasons why using a mobile phone while driving is illegal in many places. You are not concentrating on the road, you are distracted.
> Heads up displays projecting basic speed etc on to a windscreen are already a thing
Sure, but a lot of cars don't have them, and that's just the speedometer, not the speed limit or navigation directions (which are usually what I'm glancing at my phone's map app to check)
> No need to wear a headset being bombarded with irrelevant notifications from social media, messaging etc.
I would hope they'd implement a driving mode that suppresses those kinds of distractions, but having that mode at all would need to be preceded by society acknowledging that these devices aren't fundamentally incompatible with driving. Note that my comment said I don't have an intrinsic problem with these kinds of devices being used. The current implementation of them may be sub-par, but I don't feel like there's any fundamental issue here.
> Headset likely to cause physical damage to yourself in a crash as well when the airbag goes off
That's a valid concern that I hadn't thought of, but we don't generally ban other unnecessary head gear in cars for that reason (sunglasses?), and it would apply just as much to passengers.
> you are distracted.
I don't think that's an absolute. You can potentially use it as a distraction, or you can use it responsibly, just like anything else.
> You can potentially use it as a distraction, or you can use it responsibly, just like anything else.
I lack the imagination for a responsible use case that isn't already covered by existing technology, and outweighs the risks related to a visual dependency strapped to your head running on battery.
Any suggestions? Otherwise, current assumption is that it's a case of wanting to make a point of owning something novel.
>Sure, but a lot of cars don't have them, and that's just the speedometer, not the speed limit or navigation directions (which are usually what I'm glancing at my phone's map app to check)
Most automotive HUDs show speed limits and navigation directions alongside speed.
> That's a valid concern that I hadn't thought of, but we don't generally ban other unnecessary head gear in cars for that reason (sunglasses?), and it would apply just as much to passengers.
There is a lot less mass/material to a pair of sunglasses than there is to a VR headset, though.
I would think its also worth mentioning the restricted peripheral vision you'll have when wearing a headset, too.
> Sure, but a lot of cars don't have them, and that's just the speedometer, not the speed limit or navigation directions (which are usually what I'm glancing at my phone's map app to check)
There are currently no apps that qualify as responsible use. There are no HUD apps or turn by turn navigation. Probably won't be because Apple won't be promoting this behaviour and then getting sued when the thing crashes and goes black and causes an accidental.
The only point in wearing one of these is if you're going to be doing other stuff with it than driving, like viewing web pages or watching video. Besides the risk that it may screw up with the video feed, this kind of thing is precisely the thing drivers shouldn't be doing.
There is no turn by turn navigation on it for a reason.
the difference is that drivers wearing AVPs are voluntarily strapping a device that can easily and instantly become a huge blindfold over their face, while those micro napping can't control it (me)
Perhaps you missed the part where rendering of the cameras affects distance perception substantially? I easily see these drivers losing track of lanes, especially turning.
> I could honestly see them being a net positive to road focus by overlaying speed and navigation on the user's field of vision so they don't have to glance at their dash speedometer or navigation device all the time.
I get that with the HUD on my Audi and Lincoln with far less concerns.
> but it would take all of a second to whip the headset off if it suddenly went blank for some reason
The only way you're taking off the headset in "all of a second" is with zero concern for it landing on the floor or behind you or etc. Any care at all is 2-3 seconds.
That's around 100 ft. At lot happens there.
> most drivers regularly experience worse obstructions than that hypothetical one
Next time you're in a car close your eyes for 3 seconds (in the passenger seat) while paying attention to surroundings to get a feel for it, or take a video.
You are drastically underestimating things. Most drivers do not regularly get 1-3 second distractions and obstructions.
That may be a matter of perception, but that's the problem. Back in the day, surveys asked people how long Michael "Air" Jordan's "hangtime" (the length of time you spend in the air after jumping) was, and they gave numbers like 2-3 seconds.
In fact, the average hangtime is 0.53s, and the longest recorded is 0.9s.
Similarly, fun fact, 83% of drivers believe they are "above average".
For spatial computing to really work properly in a vehicle I think you need to keep track of both the world coordinate system and one that tracks the vehicle. In particular a lot of info from the IMU will have to be thrown out. It is probably useful to track small head motions but objects will drift eventually because of the vehicle as a whole accelerating and decelerating.