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Dell is selling a "Mixed Reality" bundle for $450

Zenbane
MVP
MVP
News just in:
The Dell Visor, Dell’s first headset for Microsoft’s Windows Mixed Reality platform, will be available this October for $349.99 or in a bundle with two controllers for $449.99.
Let's be honest... an HMD is essentially "half a product" without a controller; so the real price-tag here is $450.

The headset’s price is supposed to be “affordable,” but it’s really not cheap at all compared to more established headsets. The Vive and the necessary accessories to run it (aside from a computer) sell for $599, and the Oculus Rift ships with controllers for $399.

Full article:
https://www.theverge.com/2017/8/28/16202464/dell-visor-windows-mixed-reality-headset-pricing-release...


I'm of the opinion that this price-point is too damn high for something that is trying to start a hybrid category (Mixed Reality). VR is proving itself to be viable across multiple industries; and it's proving this every month strong. Yet it's not enough... on a global scale people are still challenging VR's longevity. While Augmented Reality faces the challenge of trying to prove that it can offer something more than Pokemon Go. The AR challenges have been met and accepted by Facebook; and being the Zuckerberg fanboi that I am, I believe in the vision.



So where can Mixed Reality fit it - and what can it offer - to justify itself over VR and AR? The answer seems to be simple and clear: absolutely nothing. A quote from the Mixed Reality article, "early demoes of the platform have just shown virtual reality experiences so far."

This move from Dell seems rather silly to me. It's as if the last 2 or so weeks, where the industry and its consumers turned their attention towards HTC's flailing business practices, was viewed by Dell as some sort of "challenge" that they needed to one-up. I mean... aside from the terrible pricing coupled with an apparent re-branding of "virtual reality" as "mixed reality,", there's also the fact that the damn device makes the wearer look less like a Space Alien (their original intent I presume), and more like a 1980's perv that was just upsold at a Tech Sex Shop:





In related news,

I tried Microsoft’s first Mixed Reality headset and it was just like VR

I was most surprised by the actual experience of using this Mixed Reality headset. I was expecting a HoloLens setup, but it’s literally just virtual reality. You lift the visor to see the real world, but there’s no mixed reality here. It’s confusing that Microsoft has opted to call these headsets Mixed Reality. Microsoft has shown demonstrations of where these headsets map real space and putting virtual objects onto pass-through video, but I wasn't able to try this experience.

https://www.theverge.com/2017/5/11/15627374/microsoft-windows-mixed-reality-hands-on

It's a good thing Microsoft still keeps both the Rift and Vive on-hand at their physical storefronts. If MS was relying on Dell to lead the charge for the Mixed Reality platform, then they just might be outta luck.

Quick note to Dell: HTC's bad pricing was not meant to be a challenge; and HTC's poor execution of the niche sub-sub-market (room-scale) was also not meant to be a challenge. Yet $450 for this HMD and over-selling "mixed reality" certainly seems like a "challenge accepted" situation. Good luck...

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46 REPLIES 46

RorschachPhoeni
Trustee
Wasn't the term "mixed reality" just a marketing thing and has in fact nothing to do with AR?
Excuse my bad english. I speak to you through the google translator. 😛

kevinw729
Honored Visionary


Wasn't the term "mixed reality" just a marketing thing and has in fact nothing to do with AR?


It seems they want to run with it to describe their AR/VR aspirations. We have seen demos with the "pass through" working and it works... ok.

I am on the fence with regards the first crop of Window VR head-mounted displays - they look okay, but the quality of build and durability are in question, and there is a serious quality gap between a CV1 and these units, (also on a personal note, a number of the demos failed in the tracking department).

That said, MS is throwing its full weight behind Windows VR - abandoning any previous affiliations in favour of what they see as a Daydream-killer.
https://vrawards.aixr.org/ "The Out-of-Home Immersive Entertainment Frontier: Expanding Interactive Boundaries in Leisure Facilities" https://www.amazon.co.uk/Out-Home-Immersive-Entertainment-Frontier/dp/1472426959

Anonymous
Not applicable
It REALLY annoys me that they're calling it Mixed Reality. We won't see Augmented Reality headsets until someone (most likely Oculus) solves the shite FOV problem. I think they're trying to coin the phrase so that people will link the phrase Mixed Reality to Microsoft products without thinking about it when AR/VR combo headsets are released. A clever long-term marketing strategy but it bugs the hell out of me lol

cybernettr
Superstar
 So by making it white, they're going for on Apple-esque look?  And the term "mixed reality" is the new term for a headset the provides an augmented reality-type experience? Augmented reality is supposed to be a hot new thing, but it seems to me that it's going to be a lot harder to implement successfully than VR and it will require a lot more computer power and AI. The computer will have to have a much deeper understanding of the real world environment. For example, when a virtual object goes behind a real world table, the computer has to understand where the table stands in real space and the fact of the virtual object must be occluded when it falls behind the table (except when you can see the virtual object on the floor between the table legs), etc. Plus, the virtual object and your image of the real world must be perfectly coordinated every time you turn your head. No easy task! 

Zenbane
MVP
MVP

kevinw729 said:
That said, MS is throwing its full weight behind Windows VR - abandoning any previous affiliations in favour of what they see as a Daydream-killer.


This is not true at all; Windows is not abandoning their affiliation with others. If you want to spread misinformation that's fine, but kindly refrain from coming in to threads I author to do so.

Zenbane
MVP
MVP


 So by making it white, they're going for on Apple-esque look?  And the term "mixed reality" is the new term for a headset the provides an augmented reality-type experience? Augmented reality is supposed to be a hot new thing, but it seems to me that it's going to be a lot harder to implement successfully than VR and it will require a lot more computer power and AI. The computer will have to have a much deeper understanding of the real world environment. For example, when a virtual object goes behind a real world table, the computer has to understand where the table stands in real space and the fact of the virtual object must be occluded when it falls behind the table (except when you can see the virtual object on the floor between the table legs), etc. Plus, the virtual object and your image of the real world must be perfectly coordinated every time you turn your head. No easy task! 


Mixed Reality assumes that we have a full grasp on both AR and VR, which the industry still seems to be struggling with. I consider the term "Mixed Reality" to be rather grandiose.

And yeah, lol @ the Apple-esque look.

elboffor
Consultant
Mixed reality is clearly a mix of realities, so AR and VR. If the headset doesnt do both, then how the hell can it be MR.
Maybe they just wanted to use those initials, soon we will see Mixed Reality Systems (systems that support MR) and Mixed Information System Support (for systems used for devs)

So Ms will bring Mr, Miss and Mrs to us all 😉
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Zenbane
MVP
MVP

elboffor said:

Mixed reality is clearly a mix of realities, so AR and VR. If the headset doesnt do both, then how the hell can it be MR.
Maybe they just wanted to use those initials, soon we will see Mixed Reality Systems (systems that support MR) and Mixed Information System Support (for systems used for devs)

So Ms will bring Mr, Miss and Mrs to us all 😉


I think the problem I have with this is that it it really can't do both AR and VR at the same time.

Thinking through the possible combinations:
  1. If the headset immerses the user in to an alternate reality, then it is VR
  2. If the headset augments existing reality, then it is AR
  3. If the headset augments an alternate reality, then it is VR
Is there a 4th option I'm missing here?

I mean technically, the HTC Vive "pucks" let users bring real-world objects in to VR. That seems the closest thing to "Mixed Reality" that I can think of currently. Although I'd still consider that VR 😘

elboffor
Consultant
I think its cos it can do either or.
So it can toggle between the 2.
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