The two biggest criticisms of Vision Pro have been price and the weight. We know Apple is working on a lower-priced model, and a new patent application describes a way to make the headset very much lighter.
Early reviewers commented on the fact that it starts to feel very heavy when you wear it for more than brief sessions, something I was able to confirm from my own experience of the device …
John Gruber’s comments on the weight were fairly typical.
Vision Pro is heavy. I’ve used it for hours at a time without any discomfort, but fatigue does set in, from the weight alone. You never forget that you’re wearing it. Related to Vision Pro’s weight is the fact that it’s quite large. It’s a big-ass pair of heavy goggles on your face.
I definitely found weight and comfort to be issues during a one-hour session.
Comfort is one of the biggest challenges with this tech right now. It was a relatively warm afternoon by UK standards, and I was definitely feeling the heat with my upper face enclosed by the unit. This mirrors my experience with the Meta Quest 2, which also feels warm.
Vision Pro’s weight is also something I felt after about the first 30 mins. I use my Quest with the optional rear battery-pack, and although that increases the total weight, that mass is evenly split between the front and rear. Vision Pro, in contrast, is very front-heavy, and I was definitely starting to feel that, especially when looking down and then back up.
But a newly-published Apple patent application (spotted by Patently Apple) describes a potential solution: offloading the processor and related components in the same way the company did the battery.
It begins by acknowledging the problem.
Head-mountable displays (HMDs) are developed to be comfortably worn for extended periods of time. The ever increasing desire to improve performance, functionality, and battery life of HMDs results in a device that includes several electrical components, each of which add weight to the system. There is a constant balance between maximizing user comfort while maintaining or excelling the performance and functionality of the device.
Unbalanced weight distribution experienced by a user while wearing the headmountable display, particularly weight distributed in front of the user’s face, can negatively impact the user’s experience. Thus, there is a need for a light-weight HMD assembly that does not sacrifice performance or functionality.
Apple also admits the heat issue, stating that there needs to be a way to more efficiently dissipate heat.
The company already keeps the weight down somewhat by using a tethered battery, and the patent document says it could also incorporate the processing power into this puck, which Apple refers to as a cartridge.
A cartridge can include a housing, a processor positioned within the housing to provide video output to a display unit of a head-mounted display (HMD), and an attachment interface to removably attach the cartridge to the display unit.
One option Apple describes is to have the processing unit in a removable unit that could be inserted into the headset or into the tethered casing.
A head-mountable assembly can include a processor and a display unit defining a slot to receive the processor. In a first mode, the processor can be positioned within the slot to provide image data to the display unit. In a second mode, the processor can be removed from the slot and provide image data to the display unit.
Photo by Mylo Kaye on Unsplash
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