UHF X11: X11 Built for VisionOS and Apple Vision Pro

(lispm.net)

222 points | by zdw a day ago ago

51 comments

  • fp64 a day ago ago

    >3D in 2D in 3D. OpenGL clients can use GLX rendering over X11. Compatibility varies, as it did in the 2000s.

    Made me chuckle. I think at one point in my life I actually knew which exact GL versions and features were working on which servers. Also it's pretty cool.

    Still won't buy an AVP.

    • fragmede 21 hours ago ago

      why not? Personally, I tried but the crap with my prescription because I wear glasses was too much, so I didn't end up getting one because I fail at executive function.

      • solid_fuel 15 hours ago ago

        I've been interested in VR for a while and would be interested to try out a headset I could actually work in, but personally my interest in the Apple Vision Pro basically disappeared when the Steam Frame was announced.

        It's lower resolution, but I think it would probably be sufficient for light work, and I'm not really interested in the pass-through camera features of the AVP. The real differentiator though was that the steam frame will also work with my existing computer for gaming, and I think it's likely to be much more hackable than the Apple Vision.

        • ianlevesque an hour ago ago

          Yes I really hope the memory storage just leads to a delay and not a cancellation.

      • jitl 18 hours ago ago

        im an apple enjoyer with disposable income, i bought because my brother worked on the foveated rendering, but goddamn it’s so heavy that if i use for >2hrs i’ll have neck pain for >2 days. it’s neat and fantastic for chores and cooking if i wear for 30min at a time but super impractical for me to actually use if im not speed running exactly one task

        • joxdosba 10 hours ago ago

          Are you using the new better balanced harness?

          • jitl 5 hours ago ago

            yes. i think i need to do F1 driver neck training or something.

      • bayindirh 9 hours ago ago

        > why not?

        For me it's nausea and motion sickness. When my ears don't sync with my eyes, my brain calls bug(), and it doesn't end well.

      • bigyabai 18 hours ago ago

        I need a new couch more than I need an AR headset, for one. $3,500 is a lot of money for a glorified devkit.

        • wl 40 minutes ago ago

          You can pay half that on eBay at the moment.

        • mulderc 17 hours ago ago

          The Apple Lisa was introduced at around $10k (~$32k in today’s dollars). I do agree it is expensive but not historically out of line for a version one of a new product category for the company.

          • bigyabai 17 hours ago ago

            And thousands of Lisas went unsold, eventually getting dumped in a landfill after failing to find an eager audience like the Apple II enjoyed. There's a lesson, there.

            • mulderc 16 hours ago ago

              Without the Lisa we wouldn’t have the Mac. The Vision Pro is a first gen of a new product category for Apple and I fully expect whatever comes from it will be very different than what we have today.

              • Someone 12 hours ago ago

                The Mac arrived one year and five days after the Lisa. Vision Pro is over two years old now. It got a speed bump, but not a price decrease.

                I think the Vision Pro will be more like the Newton vs current iPads. Something will eventually replace it, but it will be significantly different, not slightly different, like Lisa vs Mac (I know they cut corners for the Mac, changing some nice OS features)

              • ChrisMarshallNY 6 hours ago ago

                > Without the Lisa we wouldn’t have the Mac.

                Without the NeXt Cube, we wouldn’t have the modern MacOS, or, for that matter, the iPhone (or Vision). Apple would certainly not be a multi-trillion-dollar company, and the Cube was a commercial flop.

                In that case, it wasn’t the hardware, but the operating system and app development framework that made the difference.

      • koolala 7 hours ago ago

        PrisonOS. It isn't a computer. They control everything to take 30% sales and monopolize the ecosystem including controlling your whole body.

  • thx67 a day ago ago

    I can't believe the screenshot isn't running xeyes. At least it is TWM.

    • dofm a day ago ago

      Right. The only thing I want to know is do the xeyes follow you around the room!?

    • jrmg 21 hours ago ago

      Apps don’t get access to gaze position on the Vision Pro, for privacy/security reasons.

    • TeMPOraL 11 hours ago ago

      Could you run xeyes on the outside? IIRC Apple Vision had this outer display for rendering the bits of user's face that are covered by it.

      • mietek 5 hours ago ago

        Indeed, it's annoying that there doesn't seem to be an Apple-approved method for customizing the outer display.

    • zer0zzz a day ago ago

      I was thinking the same thing

  • rezmason 20 hours ago ago

    Very creative!

    Does anyone else besides me suspect X11 will outlive visionOS?

    • somat 19 hours ago ago

      Hell I half expect X11 to outlast wayland at this point.

    • calvinmorrison 19 hours ago ago

      Certainly, XLibre just released a new version 25.2.0. I suspect X11 will long outlast Fedora

  • bigyabai a day ago ago

    WayVR is also worth checking out, if you're interested in using a native x11/Wayland desktop with a headset on Linux: https://github.com/wayvr-org/wayvr

  • pmkary 4 hours ago ago

    This is what I call interesting!

  • inigyou 7 hours ago ago

    I'm GLaD to see more X11 projects recently

  • exe34 a day ago ago

    May I ask what the recommendation is at the moment if I want a Linux AR headset that can take prescription lenses (or accommodate glasses)? I'd like to write my own code but not have to beg somebody else to let me run it.

    • SequoiaHope 17 hours ago ago

      Oh absolutely wait like two weeks and get on the list for a Steam Frame. It actually runs arch Linux and Steam says “it’s your computer, you can do what you want with it” unlike Meta and the Quest. I’m excited to do Kicad in mine.

      • exe34 11 hours ago ago

        Thanks, that looks tempting! Shame about the monochrome camera, but maybe I can use an add-on camera to colour in the world.

    • nolist_policy 21 hours ago ago

      Meta Quest, but treat it as a dumb headset with ALVR?

      • SequoiaHope 17 hours ago ago

        Steam frame is out soon and should be the ultimate Linux friendly headset. It runs real Linux and Valve is big on “it’s your computer to use as you please”.

        • SG- 8 hours ago ago

          right after Half-Life 3 comes out soon.

          • SequoiaHope 5 hours ago ago

            Signs really do seem to suggest it will be announced soon. There’s records of multiple large shipments of Virtual Reality headsets arriving at Valve, and they say it’s coming out this summer.

      • exe34 20 hours ago ago

        Thanks!

  • dipierro 21 hours ago ago

    Seem to be unavailable in German App Store?…

    • z3rocool 20 hours ago ago

      Lots of individual / hobbyist developers are no longer publishing to the EU App Store due to Digital Services Act regulation and compliance.

      • jitl 18 hours ago ago

        it’s too damn spooky. i know they rolled back or caveated some of the language after the uproar but i certainly would like to travel to the EU without any kind of anxiety about “do my open source apps mean im an EU felon if i forget to check github issues for security issues”

        • inigyou 7 hours ago ago

          Crimes require criminal intent, generally speaking.

    • saaspirant 17 hours ago ago

      I know startups who don't publish to certain EU countries because they have to fill "a big scary form"

    • piskov 17 hours ago ago

      You can always switch to US app store region (cancel exisiting subscriptions, leave family, and wait until apple music/tv subscription is expired).

      You won’t be able to use non-US credit card for the app store but you can always buy US virtual apple gift cards on amazon straight from apple shop there.

      • dipierro 9 hours ago ago

        I guess it’s easier to find a testflight link if one is set up, or just to create a new account altogether, and sign in to it temporarily.

      • ErneX 11 hours ago ago

        Just that easy! /s

  • yjftsjthsd-h a day ago ago

    Interesting. I wonder if it's based on Xorg or something else

  • sourcegrift a day ago ago

    On that note, anybody has rayneo air4 pro working with x11?

  • lorecore a day ago ago

    Neat, it would be cool if it also worked on the Quest.

  • dosisking a day ago ago

    I thought it would have something to do with Weird Al. Oh well

    • jeffreygoesto a day ago ago

      Bet Raul's wild kingdom would be awesome in 3D...

      • dosisking 11 hours ago ago

        It would be fun to teach poodles how to fly in 3D