Does anyone know if these glasses, or any other glasses, can be tried in-person and used on desktop? I'm legally blind, but have just enough vision to use a screen without a screen reader. The problem is I have to be about 6 inches from a 27 inch screen. I'm tall, and I'm almost bent in half to do it. It's been hell on my back and neck. I've only really made it work because I've modified so many things to get around it (i.e. customising Windows, Firefox, and so on).
The part that makes it so tough is monitor arms come in standard sizes and are nowhere near long enough or extend far enough for me to sit comfortably. My dad modified my desk for me years ago to mount a monitor arm on wooden blocks, but it means I can't move the monitor much.
Being able to wear glasses and ditch the monitor entirely would be a game changer for me. I know next to nothing about AR though, being as I assumed, perhaps wrongly, it isn't something that would work for me.
brigade · 53m ago
Glasses like these put the screen at a focal distance further than a monitor, closer to TV distance. Optics wise it’s basically the same as VR, if a VR headset is easier to try.
If your corrected vision needs stuff 6” away, don’t expect AR or VR to be a solution with current optics
johnh-hn · 40m ago
This is what I've been worried about. I have lens implants so I already have a fixed focus as well. The combination of the two would likely be a problem.
daniel_reetz · 29m ago
In a VR headset the virtual screen distance is set by the distance of the microdisplay from the lens in the headset.
It's not crazy to think you could move the microdisplay position and get a virtual display at 6". There might be other optical consequences (aberrations, change in viewable area) but in principle it can work.
Philpax · 1m ago
The microdisplays are usually fixed in place (and sometimes the display and optics are a single package), so it would likely be a bespoke solution.
johnh-hn · 10m ago
I'd be open to trying something like this. It might be the kind of simple solution that would work for me.
mh- · 27m ago
Not an answer to your question, but re: monitor arms.. mine can be pulled out far enough it would touch my face. It mounts into a grommet drilled into my desk. I assume there's other reasons this isn't workable for you, but if it's for lack of finding a suitable arm, let me know and I'll find a link for you.
My other recommendation would be to consider a standing desk. Even if you prefer to use it sitting, you can tweak the desktop height to your liking and help mitigate the posture issue.
johnh-hn · 8m ago
That's kind of you to offer, and I'd appreciate that if you wouldn't mind. I have seen some that are a bit longer, but the height is too low for them to be of use.
rcarmo · 25m ago
I have very high myopia (over -10) and share your concerns. I really wish these things were designed to cater to people for whom alternate display tech would actually simplify our lives.
So far I haven't seen anything that can deal with more than -8, and getting a custom prescription is usually prohibitively expensive. I can wear contacts to offset things somewhat, but they just cause added eyestrain.
johnh-hn · 4m ago
I know what you mean. I can't help but wonder what it would take to make a pair of these. The hardware requirements for low-vision users would be lower, as we wouldn't need things like ultra high definition displays.
Philpax · 27s ago
It's not too difficult to actually assemble - you just need some displays, a display driver, and the optics - but getting optics fabricated to meet your requirements might be challenging.
colingauvin · 1h ago
You can use them just as a monitor/without AR - some require a special USB-C to DP cable if you don't have native USB-C video out (or Thunderbolt), but they are a bit blurry compared to normal screens for me. I'm not sure how well they'd work for you.
The other problem is they aren't quite up against your eyes the way VR headsets are. They project a screen that appears to be quite far away. I imagine you could lower the resolution though, and it might look closer.
Basically all XR devices put the focal plane at between 0.5 and 1m away. It’s a very very complicated reason why, but this is unlikely to change for a very long time.
gpm · 20m ago
Huh? I've always seen numbers larger than that
Xreal claims
> To mitigate this, the industry usually maintains the VID at over 1 meter; for instance, Apple's Vision Pro employs a distance of 1.1m, Meta Quest 3 sits at 1.25m, and Hololens boasts 2m.
Though strangely they don't give a number their for their own devices.
The article claims the focal plane on the xreal glasses is 10 feet (roughly 3m).
conroydave · 1h ago
if you are based in the USA, most stores have 30 day return policies. perhaps order them, try at home, and return if you they arent a fit for your situation
johnh-hn · 37m ago
I'm in the UK, but the same idea applies, you're right. I'm just hoping there is a way to do it in-person as I might need to try quite a few types to get something that works.
djrj477dhsnv · 4m ago
I had tried a similar setup over a year ago. The blurry edges of the screen and weight of the glasses were an annoyance, but the main reason I didn't continue using it was because I'm moderately near-sighted and often switch from contacts, to glasses, to no corrective lenses, which wouldn't work with fixed focus VR glasses.
Stratoscope · 2h ago
I don't use AR glasses, and I don't code on my phone, but I do like to use it for writing without having to carry a backpack.
The keyboard I use and really like is the iClever BK05:
It is backlit and has a standard full size PC layout, including function keys and an "inverted T" cursor key section. The key feel is nearly as good as my ThinkPad. And it comes with a nice little stand to support your phone at a typical laptop screen angle.
It comes with a soft pouch that holds the keyboard, the phone stand, and the manual. Folded up, it fits easily in the cargo pocket of my pants.
Like the keyboard described in the article, it is not suitable for use on your lap because it doesn't lock open. That doesn't matter for me, because I need a place to put my phone anyway.
If you read the reviews, note that the "top rated critical review" has a glaring mistake:
The reviewer says that the keyboard has no support at the left and right edges, so those outer sections don't lay flat and tap against the table as you type.
Wrong! This reviewer didn't notice the two little black tabs that you need to flip out so the keyboard lays flat and well supported. This is also described in the short manual.
staindk · 1h ago
I bought this keyboard years ago and enjoyed using it for about a week. Then 3-5 keys stopped working entirely and nothing I did would fix them. Recall having a tough time getting a refund on Amazon.
Guess it's good to hear I must have had a dud.
titzer · 3h ago
I have these same AR glasses and I really like them. The one downside is that they don't seem to handle heat too well--they'll crash if I run them in full sunlight for more than a few minutes. Also, they are not really AR--they are just a floating screen, and supposedly there is motion-tracking hardware, but no software. That's OK; a big floating screen that is fixed to my head is actually good.
In full sunlight I think this requires opacity. I lost the plastic cover for the lenses and I hacked up some cardboard thing.
These glasses have a really cool 3D side-by-side mode. The button activation is awkward, but it effectively turns this into a 3840x1280 screen. I couldn't really find much desktop support for this, but there are a few YouTube videos that are 16x9 SBS and they look really really cool. Unfortunately in this mode the desktop is then super-wide and spread across two eyes, so it's almost impossible to use a regular laptop with them. A 3D OS desktop would be killer on these!
I didn't try to go full mobile with a phone.
The cord is somewhat annoying, but I think I prefer it over a big stupid battery and some wireless protocol.
One wrinkle is that the interface is USB-C. The glasses need power, and though you can/could power them over HDMI, they don't support that. You need the device to support HDMI over USB-C and recognize the glasses as a display. The manufacturer offers a completely hilarious battery-powered HDMI-to-USB-C adapter. I have no idea why there is no powered solution; maybe there is.
flutas · 13m ago
> I have these same AR glasses and I really like them. The one downside is that they don't seem to handle heat too well--they'll crash if I run them in full sunlight for more than a few minutes.
Yup, I found laying my head on the left side where the cord comes it also causes them to overheat quick. My solution is to always lay on the right hand side of them and I actually put some stick on heatsinks on the left "leg" body that also really helps keep them more comfortably cool.
Also weird quirk with them and USB-C I've found.
If you plug them in to a macbook it's 50/50 if they work or just turn on the tint. If that happens, rotating the USB-C plug causes them to work.
lagniappe · 1h ago
You got them post-rebrand. If you shop by the old name "nReal" then you can find the non powered HDMI adapter. Also, the app is called nebula, but the motion control is just annoying and not worth it. I like mine, they work great, but the FOV is tiny, and all of the chirping about AR from influencers/media just doesn't help how underwhelming they are if you go in with those expectations rather than just a HMD.
Very cool experiment and the piece is written really well, manages to communicate a ton of relevant information without being overly verbose. One side note though - whats the deal with working in the park/on the bench etc, is the author really able to be productive in an outside environment? I dont think I could ever work like that, either with or without the AR glasses.
mikenew · 1h ago
That's a great compliment; thank you.
As far as being outside, I imagine it's very dependent on personality. I often get restless and distracted working from home, and being outside or in a public space will help me feel a lot calmer and more focused. There's also a certain amount of intentionton it takes to "go to a specific place to do a specific thing" that helps me mentally.
It's not something I'm doing every day, but when the weather is beautiful and I'm feeling stuck behind a desk it's so nice to be able to work outside.
jonbell · 1h ago
The exact same thing jumped out at me, for the opposite reason. I have unlimited data + tethering, so I can use my laptop with fast internet anywhere. That's the big breakthrough for me, not the glasses+phone combo.
Working in a park is amazing. You are still enjoying the ambience/vibe, but yeah, you're also writing a blog post or whatever. For me, that doesn't distract from the park or the productivity. They both enhance each other.
Same with a coffee shop -- this is why coffee shops have wifi passwords, because many people in there are on the internet, soaking up the ambience/vibe.
johnyzee · 2h ago
First thing I thought. If I go to a coffee shop or the park, it's because I want to enjoy that place, not do the same work I could do (better) at my desk. That's an aside, though, the OP's setup is really cool and intriguing.
divan · 1h ago
I work in Quest 3 regularly and in a "normal" weather I like to work outside (in a safe environment aka backyard). It's just nice to have fresh air. But once I decided to work and sunbath on the balcony of the hotel in the Swiss Alps in a sunny spring day. It was lovely until sweating made the work really uncomfortable (but yet practically possible). :)
fzzzy · 2h ago
Can you explain why you don't think you would be productive outside?
hansmayer · 1h ago
Well I guess for a lot of people it would be self-explanatory, but if I go outside to a park, or to a coffee-shop, or whatever - I go there to enjoy myself, not work. Apart from that, I would not really have the ergonomic benefits of my controlled working environment, not to mention bugs, people walking by, random noise or whatever it is.
fzzzy · 12m ago
Yes, that makes sense. Thanks for explaining. I'm not sure if I could work in public like this but I am interested to find out.
sweetjuly · 1h ago
I suspect that's a personal bias. If you go to most any cafe (at least in the US) there will be a half dozen people there typing away at their laptops. This is even more common with the rise of remote work where people will (for better or worse) commandeer cafes as their personal office.
hansmayer · 1h ago
Well of course its a personal bias - I never claimed no one else could work like that, just myself ;) I am aware of all the folks typing it out in the coffee-shops. Just that I could never be productive in that setting. Answer some e-mails - perhaps, but not really do any (meaningful) programming work as such.
8note · 1h ago
i go outside to get sun.
grab a set on a ledge somewhere and think. that works for work, if the thinking is about work.
major benefit is that none of the people walking by are going to try disrupt what thing youre working on to be different work
inatreecrown2 · 31m ago
What I always wonder about with these Headsets is how can this not damage your eyes, focusing them at such short distance for prolonged periods. Anybody with experience in using such a device would like to comment on this?
Waterluvian · 17m ago
So this is probably a silly question but… can’t you fool your eyes into focusing at any distance you want if you’ve got a stereo screen at a fixed distance (ie a headset)?
Isn’t this just a function of the parallax when rendering both screens?
dTal · 5m ago
Focus is distinct from convergence - convergence is how much you have to cross your eyes to look at something, but focus is where muscles squish and stretch your eyeballs to change the distance of your retinas from your pupils. Just like a camera, if your eye is not focused at the real distance to subject, it will look blurry because your pupil is not a perfect pinhole, but has area (so a single eye is already seeing the same object from slightly different angles, on either side of the pupil).
Usually your brain learns a strong correspondence between focus and convergence, but this can be unlearned quite easily, and indeed must be in order to view e.g. VR, 3D films, Magic Eye pictures, etc... - all of which encode 3D information through convergence, while requiring your eyes to focus on a fixed plane.
brigade · 1m ago
No, and VR’s inability to match parallax with focal distance causes the vergence-accommodation conflict.
flutas · 15m ago
IIRC: Like Google Glass and VR headsets, they use some optical tricks to focus at infinity.
So to your eyes you're focusing at an object 2-3+ meters away rather than 2-3 cm in reality.
RestartKernel · 11m ago
Good read, this is one of those things I've considered doing myself, but never committed to. Having someone describe the experience in such detail is very much appreciated.
> RAM usage often gets close to that 12GB ceiling.
Unused memory is wasted memory. Just because you're almost maxing out those 12 gigabytes doesn't mean you'd be in trouble with less.
two_handfuls · 3h ago
Oh that's a cool coincidence, I was just watching a video of someone coding a game without a laptop. In their case it's a VR game on a VR headset (based on Android), using Godot.
It's not really related I know but it's neat how all those not-strictly-computers are getting more useful!
> I really didn't want to root the phone, but nothing else did what I needed
Shame that rooting is such a pain, and risks bricking the device. (Apparently Google's introduction of an anti-rollback bootloader this month has caused a few people's devices to get bricked when they tried to root.)
hparadiz · 27m ago
Seriously. Why is using your own pocket computer so hostile to user intent these days?
aucisson_masque · 54m ago
I think the next version of Android is supposed to include a terminal that can run Linux.
I don't know the specifics but it would be better than having to root the phone and use chroot.
It's sad that a phone running java on top of Linux isn't able to run Linux app without big downside like termux and proot. Hopefully it changes.
kllrnohj · 21m ago
> It's sad that a phone running java on top of Linux isn't able to run Linux app
It can. It just can't run something expecting glibc, X11, Wayland, or any of the other large number of userspace libraries that Android doesn't have.
But a pure Linux app works no problem. Just shell in and run it, easy.
dzikimarian · 20m ago
I have Android 15 (regular release) and it's there. Feels snappy I didn't use it to run desktop environment though.
ErrorNoBrain · 41m ago
Android has a terminal in the newer beta versions, indeed - a proper one
it was sorta possible before too, but now, it can start up programs with a window etc (and of course someone ran doom on it)
npilk · 1h ago
The Xreal glasses are going to be the near-term winner for AR/VR form factor. A “personal screen” you can carry around with you and use to look at whatever is on your phone in a much larger, private format.
This just adds more value more simply than the new ecosystems most AR/VR glasses are trying to establish.
tomaskafka · 1h ago
Wow, I had little idea the readily available tech is this far
> Termux, which is an Android app that provides a mix of terminal emulator, lightweight Linux userland, and set of packages that are able to run in that environment.
Tim Cook, I know what you know (and fear losing Mac sales to iPad and iPad sales to iPhone, so you want them nerfed), but this would make me upgrade my 2018 iPad Pro. I’d love to be able to leave my expensive macbook home for the vacation, and still be able to do some emergency hotfix on a tablet with keyboard (ideally connected to eg. hotel TV).
flutas · 9m ago
> Tim Cook, I know what you know (and fear losing Mac sales to iPad and iPad sales to iPhone, so you want them nerfed), but this would make me upgrade my 2018 iPad Pro.
Can check out side-loading UTM using AltStore or a local dev account.
I know this isn't what you're asking for - I wasn't either - but I found a used surface pro (arm or x86) is better for this use case than I imagined. They're so cheap used on eBay or FB marketplace that I think it's worth trying if you're already willing to buy a new iPad anyway.
I have two now - the SPX - they're ~$200 used, with LTE and 16GB of ram, and a SP8 - i5/16gb of ram ~$350 used from FB marketplace. The SP8 runs Fedora 40 and it's light enough that I just keep it in my backpack whether I'll need it that day or not.
maleldil · 59m ago
Aren't there SSH clients for iOS? That should work for an emergency hotfix.
doublepg23 · 48m ago
iSH sort of works as well as BlinkSSH for remote clients.
rcarmo · 23m ago
I use Blink extensively, as well as RDP connections to Linux hosts (which can support hardware acceleration and low-bandwidth links very well)
tripdout · 30m ago
How do ARM64 binaries like window managers, Firefox, etc run and with graphical acceleration on Android?
I guess as a start the chroot provides glibc and all the other libraries that run natively, but how does any of this interact with hardware?
asveikau · 3h ago
> I unfortunately had to upgrade my phone, because to drive the glasses you need to have DisplayPort Alt mode. My very cheap, very crappy old phone did not.
I also run a low spec android phone, and I tried the same brand of glasses with it. My workaround was a screencast to HDMI adapter, paired with an HDMI to to DP over USB-C. Both are cheap.
Occasionally the screencast flakes out. But when the network is working well it's pretty good.
boomskats · 44m ago
One of the first times claude 3.7 blew me away with was with a 1am vibecoded driver that lets me use the IMU on my viture xr pros to control the cursor in wayland by moving my head to move the display around a fixed-in-space mouse pointer.
Now i can roam around the hills and be somewhat productive with no more than a bluetooth split in my jacket pockets and a steamdeck in my bag
ireadmevs · 3h ago
Awesome! Regarding the keyboard I would recommend going towards the mechanical path. Browse https://kbd.news/ for some inspiration. I built a 36 keys for myself that is portable and very capable. You can even map keys to control the mouse and much more.
Definitely going to keep an eye on the advancements of AR glasses from now on.
stevage · 16m ago
If working in cafes without annoying people is a requirement, mechanical probably isn't so good.
mikenew · 3h ago
Wow, there's some very nice builds there. I so far I hadn't seen anything that seemed genuinely pocket-able but there are a few there that look like they might work. I'd still really love something that can lock flat and be used on a lap, but that feels doable.
evanjrowley · 2h ago
I love kbd.news and was recently struck by the novelty of the Tackle keyboard[0]. Seems rather extreme but my first thought was it could be a great complement to AR glasses. The design could be improved with improved with some tenting, because those keys at the edges will be easy to accidentally trigger when reaching for other keys towards the center.
I could make people SO uncomfortable if I worked as a receptionist with this strapped on and threw in some very subtle signs of enjoying it. Reminds me of the south park nipple twisting guy. Very cool keyboard for VR and AR though. Can't really think of anything better if you wanted to type something quick in the middle of a physical VR game.
anonzzzies · 1h ago
I have the same setup, it works well, been doing this for years now. I like to be outside as much as I can and for that reason I like having 20 hour battery life (good phone with an external battery). My setup fits in my pants pocket and usbc chargers are everywhere (bars, restaurants, hotel lobbies, everyone has then at home) if you don't need to charge a laptop with them. Where I live is a lot of sun and seeing your laptop screen even in the shade is hard; no problem with this.
The issue with the top and bottom edges and the too low res are the only downsides; both will be fixed as time passes and the inconvenience beats lugging a laptop and charger around and finding outlets instead of literally never needing any except while sleeping.
bernardom · 2h ago
How do glasses like this work for someone who wears eyeglasses for myopia and astigmatism, and doesn't like contacts?
they don't work for me having astigmatism with or without prescription glasses.
mingus88 · 2h ago
When I did a Vision Pro demo they had lenses on hand to accommodate my astigmatism. It was pretty nice…and about 10x the cost of this
bernardom · 1h ago
Oh, that's really cool though that they can handle it!
It's funny that 3500 seems sooo much to spend for hardware now... over the last 25 years, it's gotten so much cheaper between lower price macbooks and not needing to upgrade phones and laptops nearly so often.
mncharity · 1h ago
> FOV is actually too big [...] Seeing the top and bottom edges of the screen means moving your eyeballs
Or head tracking.[1] Aphysical rotation exaggeration avoids trading eye for neck stress.
> I do feel a little weird wearing these in public, but not that weird.
Non-weird can be an expensive constraint, fruitful to relax if going beyond a minimalism setup. A baseball hat can barnacle quite a bit before people find it remarkable... at least around Boston. For instance, for head tracking, an Intel RealSense, or a hat fisheye camera and tennis ball on the table, or an optical marker on a hat chopstick, can be simpler, easier, lower power, and less expensive, than invoking "and it has to look non-weird". With current tech, that's almost as challenging as "and it has to be a product".
> as these AR glasses continue to improve and Linux continues to be flexible and awesome.
I suggest Nreal (now Xreal) made a bad call here. They developed internally on Ubuntu, but chose to shut out linux. (Caveat: I've not followed in a few years, maybe that's changed.) Unicorn dreams and race to mass market - maybe the right call if everyone started watching media on phones with glasses. But it could have been an inexpensive risk mitigation, and a worthwhile investment once market fit was clearly a long haul. Is there some doc which lays out alternatives for a company who thinks they have a crown-jewel binary blob, to allow the community to wrap it for linux consumption, with minimal "we just throw a blob over the wall - we don't support linuxes" cost? It's been a lot of years that something like TFA has been possible, during which a lot of developers could have been exploring for viable market niches. Instead of... not.
> The biggest downside of the glasses is that the FOV is actually too big. Seeing the top and bottom edges of the screen means moving your eyeballs to angles that are just a little uncomfortable,
Is there a window manager and/or eyeball tracking trick that could be added to this setup to bring content into the center?
k__ · 1h ago
That's not a FOV issue, that's a DOF issue.
You can't comfortably use any XR system for more than videos, if you can't use your neck to look around.
999900000999 · 3h ago
Technically wouldn't it be much easier to just do the actual programming in a GitHub code space ?
I guess you'd need a stable connection though. I might try this as soon as Android actually impliments desktop mode correctly. Surprised OP didn't use Samsung Dex.
stevage · 15m ago
OP wanted to work on a plane though.
Jarwain · 2h ago
Ive been thinking the same thing! Except with Code-server or some other way to get vscode's remote over ssh
Mortiffer · 2h ago
Thinking the same. Also considering the amount of speed up you get from the copilot .
Hey thanks (I'm the author)! BTW the "Pro" version has the electrochromic dimming, so I recommend paying a little extra for that unless you're really sure you're not going to need it.
EDIT: To clarify, I meant the "Xreal Air 2 Pro", not the "Xreal One Pro". The latter are much more expensive.
Blankono · 3h ago
Your price point for the used glasses is quite lucky to just play around with it or using it sometimes.
They cost 800 new :|
1080p is that really okay?
growthwtf · 3h ago
They are $299 on sale on the vendor website right now. I won't link because I don't want to promote them necessarily, but I think you must have seen a different vendor or something?
titzer · 3h ago
I also paid less than $300. OP must be referring to a different model.
josephg · 1h ago
Looks like they’re weirdly expensive through the EU store. Just navigate from xreal.com - I see them for $US 299
worldsayshi · 3h ago
I've been thinking about using xreal glasses for coding but all the reviews I've seen seems to think that the fidelity isn't good enough for reading text for lengthy stretches of time. This article is the first counter argument here.
gejose · 3h ago
What a shame that you really can't do this using an iPhone. Unless things have changed recently the closest you can come to this is using iSH to run some linux binaries (x86_32), but it's quite limited last I checked.
theturtletalks · 3h ago
UTM runs virtual machines on iOS and has been around a while: https://getutm.app
Issue is that Apple doesn’t allow apps to run JIT so if you want the JIT version of UTM, you need to sideload or Jailbreak. The non-JIT version is on the App Store.
josephg · 1h ago
What’s the performance penalty for the non JIT version?
theturtletalks · 1h ago
Reviews on the App Store say very slow and you can’t move windows without waiting minutes. A Linux distro that’s CLI only seems to work.
ukuina · 3h ago
Are there any OSes that have usable performance (<1min to boot) on iOS without JIT? I tried a few and they were impractically slow.
they arent that nice, compared to what im currently using (epo64: https://a.co/d/gRQnvjE apparently on sale atm)
that said, my surface pro 3's keyboard is quite old now, so maybe the new ones are nicer
8note · 1h ago
with the gen ai cli tools, i think if i go all in, i could skip lugging my laptop around. theres some UX warts to phones where i think i need a keyboard for tab, ctrl+c, ctrl+v, ctrl+d, delete, and so on, that arent in gboard, but i think it could be a fun side project to design and build a tiny mechanical keyboard that only had those buttons i need
im running the newer pixel fold, so ive already got a ton of screen real estate.
ive made a couple code changes phone-only now, using the amazon internal browser that has ssh access to my dev desktop.
im missing the ability to get cloudwatch logs and the like, but when i get a good mcp, i think i can leave my laptop at home
my previous workflow was mostly on pen/paper though, only touching the keys when i know what code im going to write, or when i need to lookup something specific, so i think im in a better spot for phone dev than somebody with ten monitors each showing some chunk of code
twism · 1h ago
I forked Hacker's Keyboard so it would work on newer versions of Android and some other customization for GNU Screen shortcuts. That with another personally forked ConnectBot (SSH client) and I do 95% of my hobby clojure (tersness helps) programming on my pixel.
hiatus · 7m ago
Would you be willing to share your fork?
cycomanic · 2h ago
I've been wanting a simulavr since I saw the first videos. A proper Linux dev environment in a pair of VR classes (and I really wouldnt want to hack around Linux on android). Too bad that they still far away from being real.
amelius · 33m ago
Do they have a USB-C cable running from the phone to the glasses?
mrbluecoat · 2h ago
> ultimately, the aarch64 glibc rootfs tarball of Void Linux fit the bill, and it's been running beautifully.
Void FTW!
tippytippytango · 2h ago
I hope they can figure out why these give some people headaches and eye strain (like myself) I really want to use this, but can't stand the pain for more than a few minutes.
For normal VR/AR, definitely, since you want to have objects moving in the Z direction. For this usecase it should be enough to show the "flat" virtual screen at the focal distance.
astrodude · 48m ago
really useful when you are travelling without laptop and you need to quickly fix a thing
Scipio_Afri · 1h ago
What about using this to replace a multi screen setup at home?
asdev · 2h ago
Apple is releasing Vision OS 2 which lets you do an ultrawide display on the Vision Pro. It looks phenomenal and has no lag
amelius · 35m ago
How can they fix the smallish FoV without a hardware upgrade?
aaronscott · 2h ago
They have an ultrawide mode available now. Personally I find it very uncomfortable. You have to move your whole head to see the sides, and the vision pro is heavy. Looking off to the side for a length of time is uncomfortable.
asdev · 1h ago
you would have to do the same thing with an ultrawide monitor, minus the weight of the AVP
hiatus · 5m ago
Not if it's curved.
conradev · 1h ago
The foveated rendering didn’t look phenomenal for me the last time I tried. It gives the perception of a wide FOV but your peripheral vision is still blurry.
xqcgrek2 · 1h ago
The Vision Pro is a joke. Way too low resolution (PPD), heavy, expensive, and over-engineered and power hungry. It's baffling how it was ever greenlit.
rramon · 4h ago
Might even use the phone as a trackpad/mouse for other non cli tasks.
k__ · 2h ago
With the new 6DoF glasses it could be a viable alternative to a laptop, yes.
teruakohatu · 1h ago
It is disappointing that this requires rooting. Essentially this requires deciding if you want a dev environment or banking apps/nfc wallet or be willing to play an endless game of cat and mouse.
tbrownaw · 2h ago
> 1080p
So good enough for gargoyling or other situations where even a laptop form factor is a pain, but not a proper replacement yet.
throwthro0954 · 2h ago
I'm quite far sighted, is it possible to use AR glasses for farsighted people?
mikenew · 2h ago
The focal plane of the glasses is around 10 feet, so I think you should be able to see it just as well as anything else at that distance.
sneak · 2h ago
> I wrote most of this blog post sitting at a picnic table in a park. Screen glare and brightness is not an issue. I can fit into tight spaces. This setup was infinitely more comfortable than a laptop when on a plane. Some coffee shops also have narrow bars that are too small for a laptop, but not for this.
The phone has a cellular connection, so I'm not tied to wifi. In other words, there's a sense of freedom that you do not get with a laptop. And I can be outdoors. One of the things I've grown tired of as software dev is feeling like I'm stuck inside all the time in front of a screen. With this I can walk to a coffee shop and work for an hour or two, then get up and walk to a park for another hour of work.
Am I the only one who wishes they could be inside in a windowless room 24/7/365? There’s climate control, HEPA filtration, good chairs, peace and quiet, precisely the light level and color and direction I like, etc, at all times. Every time I go outside, the environment is worse than being at home indoors.
Sometimes I feel like I’m the only one on the planet who doesn’t enjoy being outdoors at all.
Jtsummers · 2h ago
> Am I the only one who wishes they could be inside in a windowless room 24/7/365?
I spent a decade in a building like that for my 9-5 job. It gets old, unless you really hate sunlight and fresh air.
8note · 1h ago
i wish i could have those bright window spots everyone hates. the glare doesnt bother me.
i do just go outside on the building deck instead
tbrownaw · 1h ago
> Am I the only one who wishes they could be inside in a windowless room 24/7/365?
Seems like the sort of thing that might later turn out to have been a bad idea regardless of how it seemed at the time.
kristianp · 2h ago
I find that working outside or at a cafe is too distracting. I agree with what you're saying with regards to work or even reading.
I enjoy outdoors for relaxation and forgetting about work though.
craftkiller · 2h ago
Don't forget the lack of bugs landing on you and crawling on you!
scotty79 · 2h ago
Nah, there are at least few of us.
I still go out though to walk and cycle, sometimes eat, but anything else is more comfortable at home.
halyconWays · 2h ago
Air 2 Pros!? I have those and can't stand using them for work. I was hoping the One Pros would be a big enough step up that I could use AR glasses for daily productivity.
rasengan · 3h ago
Now that Google is rolling out native Debian with Android, this will only get better - in addition to Google's native DeX.
I'm sooo ready for the one device life! :D
VTimofeenko · 1h ago
AVF feels a bit janky with its constant crashing on startup. 16GB space is a bit restrictive, though I doubt it won't be raised at some point.
theflyestpilot · 4h ago
this is rad
flyinglizard · 1h ago
I can’t grasp tech professionals who nickel and dime over their setup. Like buying used, not using late gen hardware etc. You’re spending half your awake hours in front of the thing, just buy the latest and greatest.
luqtas · 52m ago
once i asked mom to buy me the most expensive knife and fork of the store, she looked at me and said: you are so silly and dumb! later that year she gave me a golden spork. since then all my meals are much better
8note · 1h ago
im debating rhe upgrade to the surface studio thing now that its eol.
the best and greatest is that pen+touch experience, and its gonna be gone maybe forever
The part that makes it so tough is monitor arms come in standard sizes and are nowhere near long enough or extend far enough for me to sit comfortably. My dad modified my desk for me years ago to mount a monitor arm on wooden blocks, but it means I can't move the monitor much.
Being able to wear glasses and ditch the monitor entirely would be a game changer for me. I know next to nothing about AR though, being as I assumed, perhaps wrongly, it isn't something that would work for me.
If your corrected vision needs stuff 6” away, don’t expect AR or VR to be a solution with current optics
It's not crazy to think you could move the microdisplay position and get a virtual display at 6". There might be other optical consequences (aberrations, change in viewable area) but in principle it can work.
My other recommendation would be to consider a standing desk. Even if you prefer to use it sitting, you can tweak the desktop height to your liking and help mitigate the posture issue.
So far I haven't seen anything that can deal with more than -8, and getting a custom prescription is usually prohibitively expensive. I can wear contacts to offset things somewhat, but they just cause added eyestrain.
The other problem is they aren't quite up against your eyes the way VR headsets are. They project a screen that appears to be quite far away. I imagine you could lower the resolution though, and it might look closer.
Xreal claims
> To mitigate this, the industry usually maintains the VID at over 1 meter; for instance, Apple's Vision Pro employs a distance of 1.1m, Meta Quest 3 sits at 1.25m, and Hololens boasts 2m.
https://us.shop.xreal.com/blogs/buying-guide/prescription-le...
Though strangely they don't give a number their for their own devices.
The article claims the focal plane on the xreal glasses is 10 feet (roughly 3m).
The keyboard I use and really like is the iClever BK05:
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B018K5EJCQ
It is backlit and has a standard full size PC layout, including function keys and an "inverted T" cursor key section. The key feel is nearly as good as my ThinkPad. And it comes with a nice little stand to support your phone at a typical laptop screen angle.
It comes with a soft pouch that holds the keyboard, the phone stand, and the manual. Folded up, it fits easily in the cargo pocket of my pants.
Like the keyboard described in the article, it is not suitable for use on your lap because it doesn't lock open. That doesn't matter for me, because I need a place to put my phone anyway.
If you read the reviews, note that the "top rated critical review" has a glaring mistake:
https://www.amazon.com/gp/customer-reviews/R1RVWODQ8SCS2X?ie...
The reviewer says that the keyboard has no support at the left and right edges, so those outer sections don't lay flat and tap against the table as you type.
Wrong! This reviewer didn't notice the two little black tabs that you need to flip out so the keyboard lays flat and well supported. This is also described in the short manual.
Guess it's good to hear I must have had a dud.
In full sunlight I think this requires opacity. I lost the plastic cover for the lenses and I hacked up some cardboard thing.
These glasses have a really cool 3D side-by-side mode. The button activation is awkward, but it effectively turns this into a 3840x1280 screen. I couldn't really find much desktop support for this, but there are a few YouTube videos that are 16x9 SBS and they look really really cool. Unfortunately in this mode the desktop is then super-wide and spread across two eyes, so it's almost impossible to use a regular laptop with them. A 3D OS desktop would be killer on these!
I didn't try to go full mobile with a phone.
The cord is somewhat annoying, but I think I prefer it over a big stupid battery and some wireless protocol.
One wrinkle is that the interface is USB-C. The glasses need power, and though you can/could power them over HDMI, they don't support that. You need the device to support HDMI over USB-C and recognize the glasses as a display. The manufacturer offers a completely hilarious battery-powered HDMI-to-USB-C adapter. I have no idea why there is no powered solution; maybe there is.
Yup, I found laying my head on the left side where the cord comes it also causes them to overheat quick. My solution is to always lay on the right hand side of them and I actually put some stick on heatsinks on the left "leg" body that also really helps keep them more comfortably cool.
Also weird quirk with them and USB-C I've found.
If you plug them in to a macbook it's 50/50 if they work or just turn on the tint. If that happens, rotating the USB-C plug causes them to work.
https://www.amazon.com/Formerly-Connects-Lightning-Compatibl...
As far as being outside, I imagine it's very dependent on personality. I often get restless and distracted working from home, and being outside or in a public space will help me feel a lot calmer and more focused. There's also a certain amount of intentionton it takes to "go to a specific place to do a specific thing" that helps me mentally.
It's not something I'm doing every day, but when the weather is beautiful and I'm feeling stuck behind a desk it's so nice to be able to work outside.
Working in a park is amazing. You are still enjoying the ambience/vibe, but yeah, you're also writing a blog post or whatever. For me, that doesn't distract from the park or the productivity. They both enhance each other.
Same with a coffee shop -- this is why coffee shops have wifi passwords, because many people in there are on the internet, soaking up the ambience/vibe.
grab a set on a ledge somewhere and think. that works for work, if the thinking is about work.
major benefit is that none of the people walking by are going to try disrupt what thing youre working on to be different work
Isn’t this just a function of the parallax when rendering both screens?
Usually your brain learns a strong correspondence between focus and convergence, but this can be unlearned quite easily, and indeed must be in order to view e.g. VR, 3D films, Magic Eye pictures, etc... - all of which encode 3D information through convergence, while requiring your eyes to focus on a fixed plane.
So to your eyes you're focusing at an object 2-3+ meters away rather than 2-3 cm in reality.
> RAM usage often gets close to that 12GB ceiling.
Unused memory is wasted memory. Just because you're almost maxing out those 12 gigabytes doesn't mean you'd be in trouble with less.
It's not really related I know but it's neat how all those not-strictly-computers are getting more useful!
Edit: forgot the video link! It's https://youtu.be/4ZAzi-4Ko3g?feature=shared
Shame that rooting is such a pain, and risks bricking the device. (Apparently Google's introduction of an anti-rollback bootloader this month has caused a few people's devices to get bricked when they tried to root.)
I don't know the specifics but it would be better than having to root the phone and use chroot.
It's sad that a phone running java on top of Linux isn't able to run Linux app without big downside like termux and proot. Hopefully it changes.
It can. It just can't run something expecting glibc, X11, Wayland, or any of the other large number of userspace libraries that Android doesn't have.
But a pure Linux app works no problem. Just shell in and run it, easy.
it was sorta possible before too, but now, it can start up programs with a window etc (and of course someone ran doom on it)
This just adds more value more simply than the new ecosystems most AR/VR glasses are trying to establish.
> Termux, which is an Android app that provides a mix of terminal emulator, lightweight Linux userland, and set of packages that are able to run in that environment.
Tim Cook, I know what you know (and fear losing Mac sales to iPad and iPad sales to iPhone, so you want them nerfed), but this would make me upgrade my 2018 iPad Pro. I’d love to be able to leave my expensive macbook home for the vacation, and still be able to do some emergency hotfix on a tablet with keyboard (ideally connected to eg. hotel TV).
Can check out side-loading UTM using AltStore or a local dev account.
https://docs.getutm.app/installation/ios/
You do lose JIT support in newer iOS though.
I have two now - the SPX - they're ~$200 used, with LTE and 16GB of ram, and a SP8 - i5/16gb of ram ~$350 used from FB marketplace. The SP8 runs Fedora 40 and it's light enough that I just keep it in my backpack whether I'll need it that day or not.
I guess as a start the chroot provides glibc and all the other libraries that run natively, but how does any of this interact with hardware?
I also run a low spec android phone, and I tried the same brand of glasses with it. My workaround was a screencast to HDMI adapter, paired with an HDMI to to DP over USB-C. Both are cheap.
Occasionally the screencast flakes out. But when the network is working well it's pretty good.
Now i can roam around the hills and be somewhat productive with no more than a bluetooth split in my jacket pockets and a steamdeck in my bag
[0] https://kbd.news/Tackle-keyboard-2549.html
The issue with the top and bottom edges and the too low res are the only downsides; both will be fixed as time passes and the inconvenience beats lugging a laptop and charger around and finding outlets instead of literally never needing any except while sleeping.
It's funny that 3500 seems sooo much to spend for hardware now... over the last 25 years, it's gotten so much cheaper between lower price macbooks and not needing to upgrade phones and laptops nearly so often.
Or head tracking.[1] Aphysical rotation exaggeration avoids trading eye for neck stress.
> I do feel a little weird wearing these in public, but not that weird.
Non-weird can be an expensive constraint, fruitful to relax if going beyond a minimalism setup. A baseball hat can barnacle quite a bit before people find it remarkable... at least around Boston. For instance, for head tracking, an Intel RealSense, or a hat fisheye camera and tennis ball on the table, or an optical marker on a hat chopstick, can be simpler, easier, lower power, and less expensive, than invoking "and it has to look non-weird". With current tech, that's almost as challenging as "and it has to be a product".
> as these AR glasses continue to improve and Linux continues to be flexible and awesome.
I suggest Nreal (now Xreal) made a bad call here. They developed internally on Ubuntu, but chose to shut out linux. (Caveat: I've not followed in a few years, maybe that's changed.) Unicorn dreams and race to mass market - maybe the right call if everyone started watching media on phones with glasses. But it could have been an inexpensive risk mitigation, and a worthwhile investment once market fit was clearly a long haul. Is there some doc which lays out alternatives for a company who thinks they have a crown-jewel binary blob, to allow the community to wrap it for linux consumption, with minimal "we just throw a blob over the wall - we don't support linuxes" cost? It's been a lot of years that something like TFA has been possible, during which a lot of developers could have been exploring for viable market niches. Instead of... not.
[1] https://x.com/mncharity/status/1225091755667853318#m
Is there a window manager and/or eyeball tracking trick that could be added to this setup to bring content into the center?
You can't comfortably use any XR system for more than videos, if you can't use your neck to look around.
I guess you'd need a stable connection though. I might try this as soon as Android actually impliments desktop mode correctly. Surprised OP didn't use Samsung Dex.
EDIT: To clarify, I meant the "Xreal Air 2 Pro", not the "Xreal One Pro". The latter are much more expensive.
They cost 800 new :|
1080p is that really okay?
Issue is that Apple doesn’t allow apps to run JIT so if you want the JIT version of UTM, you need to sideload or Jailbreak. The non-JIT version is on the App Store.
Unless they have a way to lock open, foldable keyboards will always subtly bend which is annoying enough for me to ditch the folding part entirely.
There’s also https://www.esrgear.com/products/ipad-air-13-2024-ascend-key... which I think are standard Bluetooth as well.
Tempting!
that said, my surface pro 3's keyboard is quite old now, so maybe the new ones are nicer
im running the newer pixel fold, so ive already got a ton of screen real estate.
ive made a couple code changes phone-only now, using the amazon internal browser that has ssh access to my dev desktop.
im missing the ability to get cloudwatch logs and the like, but when i get a good mcp, i think i can leave my laptop at home
my previous workflow was mostly on pen/paper though, only touching the keys when i know what code im going to write, or when i need to lookup something specific, so i think im in a better spot for phone dev than somebody with ten monitors each showing some chunk of code
Void FTW!
So good enough for gargoyling or other situations where even a laptop form factor is a pain, but not a proper replacement yet.
Am I the only one who wishes they could be inside in a windowless room 24/7/365? There’s climate control, HEPA filtration, good chairs, peace and quiet, precisely the light level and color and direction I like, etc, at all times. Every time I go outside, the environment is worse than being at home indoors.
Sometimes I feel like I’m the only one on the planet who doesn’t enjoy being outdoors at all.
I spent a decade in a building like that for my 9-5 job. It gets old, unless you really hate sunlight and fresh air.
i do just go outside on the building deck instead
Seems like the sort of thing that might later turn out to have been a bad idea regardless of how it seemed at the time.
I enjoy outdoors for relaxation and forgetting about work though.
I still go out though to walk and cycle, sometimes eat, but anything else is more comfortable at home.
I'm sooo ready for the one device life! :D
the best and greatest is that pen+touch experience, and its gonna be gone maybe forever