Apple ends production of Vision Pro VR headset

 https://www.techspot.com/news/106170-apple-may-have-ended-production-vision-pro-headset.html

From the article:

Facepalm: Apple is believed to have ended production of its Vision Pro headset amid weak demand from customers. The news comes months after a report claimed that the company would wind down manufacture of the much-hyped mixed-reality headset by the end of October.

Apple is said to have scaled back production of the Vision Pro last summer after building up a large inventory that it believed would last through the year. Now that production has ended, the company reportedly has enough units in stock to meet demand for the device's remaining lifespan through 2025.

According to an earlier report by The Information, most Vision Pro suppliers produced enough components by October for 500,000 to 600,000 headsets. However, some of them apparently stopped manufacturing components as early as May 2024 based on Apple's weak sales forecasts.

Luxshare, the Chinese contract manufacturer producing the Vision Pro, was reportedly told by Apple in November that it will need to wind down production by the end of this year. Toward the end of its production run, Luxshare was believed to have been making around 1,000 units per day, about half of its peak production rate.

Henry Moore sculptures at MFA

Near the end of the Henry Moore / Georgia O'Keefe display at MFA.

Try these links for a 3d object preview (you can spin it, look closer, etc):

Oval with points: https://poly.cam/capture/7ec6fb25-c4ee-4c52-8d3b-bf34e5b58446

Reclining: https://poly.cam/capture/e2efedf3-47a5-4940-8191-5ee4eee7d0b2

360 view in sculpture part at the end of Shore Road

Added a 360 image to the Google Maps for the

Winchester Riverwalk Sculpture Park,  Winchester, MA 01890

location: https://maps.app.goo.gl/YMGspNpZxQMWGNQX6

360 image: https://maps.app.goo.gl/sDdSQtNvZVxt8yKJ9

The Embrace

 https://hoverlay.io/space/oxjk shows a 3d scan of "The Embrace", a sculpture on Boston Common near Park Street station on the MBTA.

Below is a screen capture of the same 3d object, on my dining room table, as I walk around it to see it from different points of view.  This is using the AR feature of poly.com software, where 3d objects can be "placed" into the surrounding environment.  

Chinese made AR glasses released at CES

 https://interestingengineering.com/ces-2025/xreal-world-first-cinematic-experience-ar-glasses

Chinese made AR glasses released at CES.

The cost to create AR: many ways

Hoverlay has a great intro level that is rather generous with space and support, although sequences and other advanced features are only available on paid levels.   The pricing starts at https://www.hoverlay.com/pricing/ $275/month, or x12 per year.

UniteAR https://app.unitear.com/pricing has a "commercial views per year" pricing model 

InGlobe https://www.inglobetechnologies.com/ar-media/pricing/ is rather limited - 10 uploads per year? 

And Meta has just killed its 3rd party access to their AR tools so only internally created AR can be used after January 14th, 2025.  See https://blog.wart.win/2025/01/meta-closing-door-on-3rd-party-creators.html 

Other options include 

https://effecthouse.tiktok.com/ and https://www.theverge.com/2023/11/16/23963772/tiktok-effect-house-filters-mobile-app-creator (free?)

SnapChat https://ar.snap.com/lens-studio (free?)

Also:  WebAR https://web-ar.studio/en/products/webar/  https://web-ar.studio/en/pricing/ 

Meta closing the door on 3rd party creators

Meta is killing https://spark.meta.com/ and only allowing in-house AR stuff. Seems to be locking out creators. ?? Maybe it's just too early / too far ahead of its time?  Presumably the only AR material on meta platforms will be that generated internally. It's one way to keep controls on the AR content, but has to be  disappointing to creators, particularly independent artists.

2025-02-11 Sharing Meeting: What are goals for 2025?

WART (the Winchester Augmented Reality Team) will meet on Tuesday evening from 7pm to 8:30pm, February 11th, 2025 in the Large Meeting Room at the Winchester Public Library, 80 Washington Street, Winchester MA 01890.

Let's share ideas on what local artists think about extending their art into AR for 2025. If you have an idea you wish to explore and work on, please send a note to [email protected] and we can work out how realistic it is with available options.

Using AR as an alternative way to present information; for example, a tour of local sites with historical significance can reveal bits of history that are right here in town. The conversation is not limited to artists and is available to anyone who sees an opportunity to explore sharing their information using AR to present it via images, video, green screen video, portals (360 view) - image and video, attached or standalone soundtracks. 

Demonstrations of existing AR installations around Winchester can easily be done with the Hoverlay app. If you have not already used the Hoverlay app install for free from::

AppStore https://apps.apple.com/us/app/hoverlay/id1207928666 or
GooglePlay https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.hoverlay.coreApp&pli=1

See the website https://www.wart.win/ for more information. The blog https://blog.wart.win/ has examples of recent spaces created in AR and updates on current happenings in AR. If you wish to post your own newly created spaces send a note with a link to your space to [email protected].

2024-12-31 New Year's Even Fireworks Portal

 New Year's Eve Dec 31st, 2024 Fireworks Portal

https://hoverlay.io/space/06238 

This is generated by a flat video.  Parts of the fireworks are "low" on the horizon.