As I walked around Disney World four days in a row, I heard myself talking non-stop about two things. It's the number of steps you take and the battery life of your glasses.For most of the trip I wore meta ray bans. To remember my journey as it is.
I take a lot of photos and videos with my phone (maybe too much). I try to run away from it. However, I was still recording videos in 3D on my phone. When I got home, I thought I would be able to relive the trip through spatial video clips on my TV. apple vision pro (or meta quest).
My memory is split between devices. I have a glasses-wearing recording mode and a headset-based reliving mode.
Look at this: Apple and Meta are competing for your memories
Right now, technology companies, especially Apple and Meta, are going after your memories in a big way. Apple's Photos app already has an AI-curated Memory gallery, and Facebook offers past posts and curated montages of your past. Given the current state of Apple's Vision Pro, Meta's Quest, and Ray-Ban glasses, we expect the battle over our memories to continue on an even larger scale.
What impresses me so far is that both companies are approaching this situation from very different paths.
Immersive benefits of spatial video
spatial video, Apple's current term for 3D video recording, allows you to record your most important moments on your phone (or while wearing a headset) and later relive them in immersive 3D as if you were taking part of your life back. I promise you the world. Currently, spatial video is not very immersive. It's not 180-degree ultra-high resolution like Apple's immersive video format, which is gradually being rolled out with Vision Pro on Apple TV Plus. Move through them like a true space capturer. They feel like they've stepped into something that can improve over time.
Most of the moments in the video I iPhone15 pro I've been filming it in spatial video format since last fall, and I was already realizing how much fun it would be to see those moments again with more enveloping visuals and sounds. There are some things that are a bit emotional.
There is one small problem with this proposal. The problem is that recording memories still feels like a nuisance. Meta's has found a way to get around that (to some extent) with camera glasses.
Meta's Ray-Bans are small, comfortable, and really suitable for the outdoors, but they do require frequent charging. The Vision Pro doesn't last very long on a single charge.
Metaglass: Perfect form, imperfect battery
While I would never put the Vision Pro on my face to capture family moments, I would wear (and wear) Meta's Ray-Ban glasses to capture life's moments while they are alive. (I have done that before). The Vision Pro is a mixed reality headset that is large, connected to a battery, and not intended for outdoor use. Meta's smart glasses don't have as many features, but they're much smaller, lighter, feel closer to normal, and are completely built to live in the real world.
Everyone uses their phone as a camera, but sometimes I don't want to keep using it. Apple's spatial video format also requires you to record in landscape mode, meaning you hold your phone horizontally. Just holding your phone vertically is not enough. That's tough in a place like Disney, for example.
Meta's glasses are voice activated and the camera is surprisingly decent. Still, photos tend to be blurry more easily than on the iPhone, and the wide-angle lens doesn't always frame photos the way you want. Plus, you can't preview shots with glasses. Meta's glasses only have a speaker, microphone, and camera, but no display.
It also means I feel less anxious about living through a screen. When you shoot with your phone, you realize that you are no longer seeing the world around you with your own eyes. Meta's glasses encourage you to just look around, live, and be in the moment.
Case in point: I took my kids meth glasses when they went sledding. And I was able to keep my phone in my pocket. I was also able to take a photo of myself sledding. At Disney World, you could walk around and spontaneously take photos whenever you felt the urge, either by voice control or by pressing the shutter button.
Video capture will be greatly improved. The glasses are limited to one minute of recording time at a time, but you can watch Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind, Tron, and more without distracting anyone or holding up your phone. , I was able to record the Rise of the Resistance ride. There was no risk of losing my phone.
Maybe I was distracting people. The glasses have a small white light that lights up to let others know when you're recording. It must have been visible in the dark vehicle.
Battery life is also incomplete. Meta glasses run out of liquid after a lot of use, so you need a glasses case to charge them. Since they are prescription glasses, you will need to replace them with another pair of glasses and carry them with you. That means I didn't use my magic camera glasses for a while, or even all day.
Video recording is great for later viewing, but it's vertical so it doesn't look great on a big TV, but it's good for social. Still, these are records of my life, and I'm grateful for them as I flip through his first-person captures of rides and walks around Disney.
Please note that Meta's glasses do not record 3D spatial video.
Somewhere between these two types of devices, shared memory systems are likely to emerge.
Future: Why not both?
There is a clear answer here. I want camera glasses that look good, have large, immersive spatial video capture, and the 3D capabilities of a VR headset for later use (ideally lasting all day). Meta may do so sooner or later.Introducing Meta Spatial video support The Quest headset brings compatibility with Apple's iPhone 15 Pro video formats, but it's not just cross-platform friendly altruism.
Andrew Bosworth, CTO of Meta, said: told me last year that was the first ray ban story The glasses were designed for 3D video capture, but that feature has been removed. The second generation of Meta glasses has significantly improved camera and audio quality, and the dual-camera hardware design has been completely abandoned.
Now that spatial video has become a more popular concept, why not bring it back? I would be happy if I could replay my natural moments in a realistic way. I assume it will happen, but it hasn't happened yet. You'll have to hold your phone up to get the immersive video later, or wear glasses to stay immersed in the moment that's happening.
Combine them and you'll have your favorite way to relive your life in the future.
It also makes you wonder if Apple will do the same. Glasses with a camera, speaker, and microphone sound technically right up Apple's side. Probably his AirPod glasses with an iPhone camera. These glasses will be another path to where AR is headed beyond Vision Pro. Similar to what Meta already envisions, VR headsets with advanced features but with a bulky design, and smart glasses with stripped-down features but a streamlined design, could end up somewhere in between. It is possible to meet in. Meta should do that in the next five years, and maybe Apple can do something similar. Spatial video recording will be their raison d'être for the foreseeable future.
Until then, I'm split between platform and hardware. My video memories are stored in a photo library divided into two formats. As you swipe between each, you can't help but imagine what it would be like if you didn't have to awkwardly switch between them.
